Gerunds act like nouns. They are
verbs that end in –ing.
Verbs:
Run, think, act, throw
Gerunds:
Running, thinking, acting, throwing
 A verbal ending in “ing” used to name activities.
 A “verbal” is a verb that also works like another part of
speech. Gerunds show action , so they act like verbs,
but they also name, so they act like nouns by naming
activities.
 To see how gerunds act like nouns, insert any of these
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phrases into any of the blanks: playing chess, learning
new things, climbing mountains in distant lands,
building sand castles on the beach, taking a computer
apart to investigate its guts.
1.___________ is fun (subject)
2. We like ______________. (direct object)
3. They talked about _____________ (object of
preposition)
4. A great leisure activity is __________. (predicate
noun)
5. Their favorite pastime, ___________, is enjoyed by
many. (appositivie)
 Gerunds cannot be removed from the sentence
without destroying the sentence.
 Feeling so much better after the nap, John dressed and
went out.
 Ricky, going down the staircase backward, was very
unsteady.
 The damaged landed poorly, skidding left and right
with sparks flying everywhere.
Matching
 1. building the railroad
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involved ^
2. God had not struck
Wesley dead for ^.
3. ^ is literally an
expression of your
differences, or agreements
of opinion, with the
author.
4. In the process of ^ we
must not be guilty of
wrongful deeds.
5. Getting old is just a
matter of ^.
 A. making notes in the
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margins of a book
B. getting easier to see
through until all your
failing insides are in plain
view and everyone’s
business
C. building a grade, laying
ties, laying rails, spiking in
rails, filling in ballast
D. gaining our rightful
place
E. taking His name in vain
or for lying in the temple
Gerunds can be single words, or
they can occur in phrases
Throwing is hard for me.
the subject of this sentence is “throwing,” a verb
that acts like a noun because of –ing.
Throwing a ball is hard for me.
the subject of this sentence is “throwing a ball.” It
begins with the same gerund as above, but the
entire phrase acts like the subject.
Nouns function as 5 things in a
sentence. They can be:
 Subjects
 Direct objects
 Objects of the preposition
 Predicate Nominatives
 Indirect objects
Examples of nouns in sentences:
Subject: (“does” the verb)
 Play Station 3 is one of my favorite pastimes.
Direct Object: (determine if there’s an action verb. If
so, say the subject, then the verb, and ask who? or
what? The answer will be your direct object.)
 I really enjoy Playstation 3.
Object of the preposition: (locate the prepositions and
find their objects. Remember, a preposition is
anywhere a mouse can go)
Please keep your hands off my Playstation 3.
Predicate Nominative: (determine if there’s a linking
verb. If so, say the subject, then the verb, and ask
who? or what? The answer will be your predicate
nominative, and will rename the subject)
My favorite gaming system is Playstation 3.
Examples of single word gerunds:
Subject:
Running is one of my favorite pastimes.
Direct Object:
I really enjoy running.
Object of the preposition:
I never get tired of running.
Predicate Nominative:
My favorite pastime is running.
Examples of gerund phrases:
Subject:
Hanging out seems to be a popular thing for most
students these days.
Direct Object:
Most students like hanging out more than playing
basketball
Object of the preposition:
Students never seem to get tired of hanging out.
Predicate Nominative:
One of the hardest things we ever did was running ten
miles in the rain.
Your Turn
Write three sets of sentences with the following things correctly identified:
NOUNS
1.
Subject
2.
Direct object
3.
Object of the preposition
4.
Predicate nominative
Single word Gerund
1.
Subject
2.
Direct object
3.
Object of the preposition
4.
Predicate nominative
Gerund phrase
1.
Subject
2.
Direct object
3.
Object of the preposition
4.
Predicate nominative
Participial phrase
 A verbal ending in “ing” or “ed” used to describe.
 A verbal is a verb that also works like another part of
speech.
 Participles show action, so they act like verbs but they also
describe, so they act like adjectives.
 Present participles always end in “ing.” Unlike “ing”main
verbs, which cannot be removed from a sentence
participles are removable.
 Verb (not removable): He was clearing his throat loudly.
 Present participle (verbal, removable) Clearing his throat
loudly, he stepped out from behind the bookshelf.
Difference between present
participles and Gerunds
 Like present participles, gerunds are verbals that also end
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in “ing.”
It’s easy to tell the difference because present participles are
removable sentence parts; gerunds are not.
In each pair, the first contains a present participle, and the
second contains a gerund. Notice that only the present
participles can be removed.
1a. Feeling so much better after the nap, Gunster dressed
and went out.
1b. Feeling so much better after the nap relieved Gunster.