Gerunds

Gerunds Source: English for The SLTA-Structure Reference Book II & III, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. A gerund is a verbal that functions as a noun. The form of the gerund is: the first form of a verb + ing. The gerund may be used in the following ways: as a subject as an object as a predicate complement. as a noun modifier. A. Gerunds as Subjects. Frame 1. Gerund + Predicate SUBJECT PREDICATE 1 Cooking is a good hobby. 2 Being hungry is never fun. 3 Baking cake is very hard. 4 Riding a bicycle isn’t easy. Usage The gerund can be used as the subject of a sentence. Look at the sentences in the above frame: The subject of each sentence contains a gerund. The gerund may be used alone, as in sentence 1. The gerund may have a complement, ‘hungry’ (sentence 2), a modifier, ‘cake’ (sentence 3), or an object, ‘a bicycle’ (sentence 4). A gerund and its complement, modifier, etc. is called a gerund phrase. B. Gerunds as Objects Frame 2.1 Subject + Verb + Gerund SUBJECT VERB OBJECT 1. Bakri enjoys riding a bicycle. 2. I like swimming. Usage. 1. The gerund or gerund phrase can be used as the direct object of certain verbs. Look at the sentences above. The gerund phrase ‘riding a bicycle’ is the direct object of the verb ‘enjoys’, the gerund ‘swimming’ is the direct object of the verb ‘like’. 2. Other verbs that can be followed by a gerund are: admit, appreciate, avoid, begin,* can’t help, continue,* deny, dislike,* finish, forget, * hate, * keep, mind, neglect, * practice, prefer, * regret, remember, start, * stop. Note a. The verbs with * can be followed by a to-infinitive as the direct object with no difference in meaning (See Unit 3: To-infinitives as Objects). b. The verb: ‘forget’, ‘remember’, and ‘stop’ can be followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive, but the meanings of these two patterns are different. After the verbs ‘forget’ and ‘remember’, the gerund refers to a past action, the to-infinitive refers to the future. Example: He forgets telling her the story (= He. told her the story, but he forgets that he did it). He forgets to tell her the story (= He forgets that he is supposed to tell her the story) After the verb ‘stop’, the gerund is a direct object; the to-infinitive is a modifier indicating purpose. Example: He stopped working (= He stopped his work). He stopped to work (= He stopped in order to work). (See Unit 3: To-infinitives as Modifiers). Frame 2.2: Subject + Verb + Preposition + Gerund SUBJECT + VERB PREPOSITION PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT 1 I’m thinking about going home. 2 They left without eating. 3 She apologized for coming late. Usage. The gerund can be used as the object of a preposition. Look at the sentences in the above frame. In sentence 1, the preposition ‘about’ is followed by a gerund phrase ‘going home’. In sentence 2, the preposi¬tion ^without’ is followed by a gerund ‘eating’. C Gerunds as Predicate Complements Frame 3: Subject + be + Gerund SUBJECT PREDICATE BE COMPLEMENT 1. My hobby is swimming. 2. His favourite sport was bicycle riding. Usage. The gerund may be used as a predicate complement. It completes the predicate after the verb be. Look at the sentences above. The gerund ‘swimming’ in sentence 1 is used as the predicate complement after ‘is’. The gerund phrase ‘bicycle riding’ is used as the predicate complement after ‘was’. D. Gerunds as Modifiers of Nouns Frame 4: Gerund + Noun SUBJECT PREDICATE MODIFIER NOUN 1 The reading books are on the table. 2 The waiting room is full of people. Usage. 1. The gerund may be used as a modifier of a noun. It describes the use of the nouns it modifies. Look at the sentences in the frame. A reading book is a book that is used for reading. A waiting room is a room used by people who are waiting for someone or something. 2. The gerund comes before the noun it modifies, and is pro¬nounced with a stronger stress than the noun. E. Gerunds with their Subjects Frame 5.1: Subject + Gerund as a Subject SUBJECT PREDICATE 1 Tuti’s cooking is very good. Frame 5.2: Subject + Genind as an Object SUBJECT + VERB OBJECT 1 We enjoy her dancing. Usage 1. The gerund used as a subject or an object may have its own subject. The subject indicates the actor of the action expressed by the gerund. 2. The subject has the form of a noun + ‘s or a possessive pronoun. Look at the sentences in the above frames. In frame 5a, ‘Tuti’ is the subject of ‘cooking’. It takes the form of noun + ‘s: Tuti’s. In frame 5b, ‘she’ is the subject of ‘dancing’. It is in the possessive form: her.