Gerunds and Gerund Phrases

1. Gerunds and Gerund Phrases

2. Verbals and Verbal Phrases: A Review • Remember, when verbs do what they’re told, they are an action or a state of being… • John, a 10th grader, plays Playstation 2 until PS3 comes out on the market. • Easy! PLAYS is our verb, right?

3. Verbals and Verbal Phrases: A Review • But sometimes, verbs act like NOUNS, which as we all know, can be confusing…. • Playing Playstation 2 is something that John, a tenth grader likes. • Now….”playing” is acting like a noun • Our verb in the sentence becomes “likes” • Crazy!

4. Gerunds • Gerunds always, always, always end in –ing. • They act like nouns in a sentence. • So they can be: • Subjects, Direct objects, Indirect Objects, and Objects of a preposition.

5. Gerunds • Let’s try a few…. • To swim • Swimming • To eat • Eating • To dance • Dancing

6. Gerunds • Okay, now a few examples within sentences… • Leaving one’s school during senior year is painful. • Gerund: leaving • The result was winning the football game with a safety in the fourth quarter. • Gerund: winning

7. Gerunds vs Present Participles • A gerund ends in –ing and acts like a noun in a sentence. • A present participle ends in –ing and acts like an adjective in a sentence

8. Gerunds vs Present Participles • Francisco’s first love is swimming. • Swimming is a gerund • Francisco’s swimming coach was eaten by a great white shark • Swimming is a participle, it modifies “coach”

9. The “it” test • One last thing….a trick if you will…try to replace –ing verbs with “it” • If the sentence makes sense, you’ve got a gerund • If not, it’s a present participle….