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Gerunds

Foundation

A gerund is a verb acting as a noun. Wherever a noun could stand, a gerund can.

The -ing form does two unrelated jobs: as a gerund it is a noun, as a participle it is an adjective. Nearly every question in this subtopic turns on telling them apart.

Swimming is good exercise, and he enjoys swimming.

subject in one, object in the other

To swim is good exercise and he enjoys to swim.

the second is not English

Where it bites

After a verb, where either the gerund or the infinitive would scan. Which one the verb takes is fixed by the verb, and the next card lists them.