Gerund in English: just about complicated

One of the most commonly used rules is gerund. Not the most difficult, but rather unusual for the understanding of a student who teaches English as a foreign language.

In this article, we explain how to properly use gerund and nowhere with
don’t screw it up.

What is gerund?

Gerund is a special form of the verb that behaves as a noun in a sentence.

To get the gerund, you need to add the ending “-ing” to the verb. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Read – reading (read – read)
Swim – swimming (swim – swimming)
Sing – singing (singing – singing)

The main difficulty is that the ending “-Ing” also characteristic of the present participle. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the gerund is before you or the sacrament, only from the context and by the form of the sentence.

– Jane is singing, don’t bother her. “Jane is singing now, don’t bother her.”
– Her singing is awesome! I like it! – Her singing is wonderful! I like!

But if at first glance it seems that everything is simple, then the gerund may surprise you.

Because when translated into Russian, gerund can be almost anything. A verbal noun, a participle, a participle, a verb in the infinitive – there are many options. So when translating, you need to look at the rules of the Russian language.

– Keep asking him questions. “Keep asking him questions.”

In literal translation, it would be something like “Keep asking him questions”. But they don’t speak Russian like that, so an adequate equivalent is chosen. In this case, it is an infinitive.

Functions of gerund and a couple of nuances

Gerund possesses all the functions of a noun, so in a sentence it can be subject, predicate and complement.

1. Subject

– Smoking is bad for your health. – Smoking is bad for your health.

This is a very common grammar for an English speaker. It is used constantly, so you need to be able to use it.

Please note that formally, instead of gerund, you can use the infinitive.

– To smoke is bad for your health. – Smoking is bad for your health.
– To be or not to be – that is the question. – To be or not to be – that is the question.

But this is not quite familiar to a native speaker and is more characteristic of poetry or any high-minded speeches.

By the way, gerund in the literature is also used very widely. If you are interested in reading something interesting and at the same time pumping gerund, take the works of Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice”, “Mansfield park”), Somerset Maugham (“Of human bondage”, “Theater”) or John Galsworthy (“The Forsyte Saga “).

And one extremely simple rule. If the verb with the ending “-ing” is at the very beginning of the sentence, then it is 100% gerund.

2. Predictable

Such a vile rule, because it can easily be misleading.
The “is / are” form + verb with the ending “-ing” is typical for Present Continuous sentences.

But here gerund can be hidden in the form of the nominal part of the predicate.

– The main skill of a good interviewer is asking the right questions. – The main ability of a good interviewer is to ask the right questions.

The context is very important here. But there is a little trick. If you can swap the subject and predicate, and the meaning of the sentence is preserved, then here is definitely gerund.

– Asking the right questions is the main skill of a good interviewer. – The ability to ask the right questions is the main skill of a good interviewer.

Yes, when translating, you have to adapt to the requirements of the Russian language, because there is no complete analogue of gerund in the Russian language. But the general meaning has not changed.

Now let’s take another example.

– The interviewer is asking questions right now.

If you swap the subject and predicate here, you get rubbish. Therefore, it is obvious that in this sentence, “asking” is a participle.

3. Addition

It is a common addition as a minor member of a sentence.

– Jane likes swimming very much. “Jane loves to swim.”

There are almost no surprises here. The only thing you need to know is after which verbs you need to use gerund as a complement, and after which – the infinitive.

Below the spoiler is a complete list of verbs, after which gerund should be used. If in doubt whether to use gerund or an infinitive, just check the word below.