gerunds in English 

There are three common functions for -ing verbs:

• the present progressive

• participial adjectives

• gerunds.

Let’s look at gerunds in a little more detail about gerunds.

We like to think a verb is a verb, and an adjective is an adjective, and a noun is a noun right? That would make sense. But by now you probably know that English doesn't always make sense!

Form vs. Function

Words can have both a form and a function. For a simple example, think about the word dog. A noun, right? But what about in the sentence Pablo bought some dog food? Here dog is describing the type of food. It works like an adjective. The form is a noun, but the function is an adjective.

So...What exactly is a gerund?

A gerund has the form of an -ing verb, but it functions is like a noun. That is, it does things that a noun usually does. What do nouns usually do? Often they work as subjects, direct objects, or objects of prepositions in sentences. And gerunds can do the same.

Take a look at these examples:

In the first sentence, rowing is the subject. In the second, sewing  is the direct object of love. And in the third, going is the object of the preposition about . Notice that, even though the form of thinking looks like a gerund, it is not. It is a present progressive (or present continuous) verb. 

So, one more time: a gerund is a verb ending in -ing that works like a noun, as a subject or object in a sentence.  

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