Gerunds

1. take a verb2. add -ing3. use it as a noun

I flexed my muscles. - “flexed” is a verb.Flexing my muscles over and over is a favorite hobby of mine. - “flexing” is a noun.

Gerunds are NOUNS

What do nouns do?They identify person, place or thing.

They do not describe things!!! Something that describes something else is an adjective. When an -ing word describes something, it’s NOT a GERUND!

How to find gerunds:

Seeking a shortcut to the California gold fields was fatal for twelve members of a party of thirty in 1849.

Eating an apple was almost fatal to Snow White.

These are gerund phrases b/c they are noun phrases.ALSO, THESE ARE SIMPLE SENTENCES, SO IT’S EASY TO SEE THE NOUNS.

Articles

Nouns get articlesThe appleUne pomme (in French)

Verbs don’t“Madison the likes tacos”? Why is that wrong?

When an -ing word is an adjective, it isn’t a gerund.

Struggling across a desert region in California, the other eighteen members barely survived.

This phrase is a participle (it describes what the subject of the sentence (other 18 members) was doing). ONLY WORRY ABOUT GERUNDS.

Gerunds (NOUNS) & participles (ADJ)

1. gerund seeking2. participle (struggling goes with

“members” --tells you what the subject is doing, so is an adj.)

3. gerund (upon reaching (obj of a preposition)

4. 5 & 6 - visiting & extending are participles (just like #2--tells you what the sub. is doing

7--10. gerunds (the drying of, the stunting of, the forming of, the shining of) These all have “the” in front of them.

11. gerund (because it’s the object of the preposition “Except for working”)12. & 13 gerunds the uncovering of, the building of (just like 7-10)14. participle (drawing wagonloads tells you what the mules were doing--an adj.)15. gerund (the finding of)16. & 17-- participle (dropping & rising -- both tell you what the sub. (the mountains) do)18. gerund (Establishing...--it’s one big noun phrase)

Write your own sentence using gerunds. Make sure they are NOUNS.

1. The gecko can run on walls and ceilings by clinging to things with the suckers on its feet.

2. We drove almost constantly by travelling 2,000 miles in 4 days, 3. The cormorant spots a fish, and then, diving and swimming, he catches it.4. Establishing a standard time system brought order out of confusion.5. The kangaroo defends itself by hitting with its forepaws.6. Bees keep busy with the gathering of nectar and pollen, the making of bee

bread, the care of babies, the keeping of the hive, and the protection of the hive.

7. Galileo made his first telescope by placing a lens at each end of an organ pipel

8. Riding to the top of the Eiffel tower was scary. 9. The eagle got his dinner by forcing an osprey to drop its fish.

Comma errors:

What is wrong with #7?

they’re

they’re

their

their their

there

there

there

there

there

their

they’retheretheir/their

theirthere

they’re

their

therethey’re

their