The Gerund: (Verbal Noun)

The form of the Verb ending in ‘-ing’ used as a Noun is called Gerund or Verbal Noun.

The form of the Present Participle and Gerund is the same but the usage is different.

Gerund: It has the force of a Verb and Noun. It is a Verbal Noun. 

Examples:

• Seeing is believing.
• I like playing chess.
• Teaching is my profession.

Present Participle: It has the force of an Adjective and Verb. It is a Verbal Adjective.

Examples:

• Seeing all these things, he believed.
• Playing chess, he became popular.
• Teaching for many years, I got good experience.

Uses of the Gerund:

As the Subject of a Verb

Examples:

• Reading books is a good habit.
• Smoking cigarettes is injurious to health.
• Trespassing is prohibited.
• Seeing is believing.
• Swimming is good for your health.
• Brushing your teeth is a regular activity.

As the Subject Complement (or Complement of the Verb)

Examples:

• My brother’s favorite activity is cooking. 
• One of her duties is maintaining the Computer Lab.
• His main goal is developing the school.
• The government’s main motto is reducing poverty.

As the Object of a Verb

Examples:

• I love reading books
• Start driving.
• They don’t like watching TV.
• They enjoy swimming.

As the Object of a Preposition

Examples:

• My son is good at painting.
• He is interested in attending the classes.
• He is fond of playing chess.
• They are thinking of starting a school.
• She is desirous of owning a big car.
• They are prevented from entering the airport.
• The child is confident of winning the match.
• They are tired of waiting for their friend.
• There’s no point in arguing.
• He was awarded for telling the truth.

Verbs with Prepositions followed by Gerund

Absolute Construction

Examples:

• Playing piano being his passion, he requested his father to buy the piano.
• Writing being his area of interest, we asked him to write short stories.
• Blogging being my hobby, I have created the blog ‘schoollead.in’.

In Apposition to a Noun

Examples:

• His idea, helping the poor people, has been appreciated by all.
• Their plan, forming a new organization, seems difficult for him.

After Phrasal Verbs

(a verb + preposition or adverb)

Examples:

• It is easy to give up smoking.  I gave up so many times.
• He went on giving his lecture for a long time.
• She kept on postponing it several times.
• My friend ended up starting a new business.

Note:

We use Gerund after some phrasal verbs with “to” as a preposition like:

 to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to, to get around to, and to be used to.

Examples:

• I was accustomed to getting up early. (means: I was accustomed to it)
• She was used to singing songs.
• I look forward to meeting you.

In some fixed expressions

Examples:

• It’s no good doing…
• It’s no use doing…

Correct use of the Gerund:

When Noun or Pronoun is used before a Gerund, we have you use its possessive form.

Examples:

• They insisted on my attending the programme. ( not me attending)
• We are not aware of his coming to the party. (not he/him coming)
• They don’t not like Rajan’s playing in the team. 
• I didn’t observe Rina’s entering the room.

Note:

But, we don’t use Possessive Case with the Gerund in the following situations.

1. When the Gerund is used with Proper Noun and in the Passive Voice.

Examples:

• They don’t like Rajan being praised by the teacher.
• She is happy at Rina being selected for the award.

             2. When the Noun refers to a lifeless thing and comes before a Gerund.

Examples:

• There is a chance of the system crashing down. (not system’s)
• There is no danger of the building collapsing. (not building’s)

In certain compound Nouns, Gerund + Noun is always used as only Nouns but not as     Adjectives.

Examples:

Use of ‘Being’ and ‘Having’ as a Gerund:

Use of ‘Being’ as Gerund

Here, “being” is used with an adjective, a prepositional phrase, and a noun. 

Being expresses the experience or condition.

Examples: 

• I avoid being late. (Being + Adjective)
• He enjoys being in the position of Manager. (Being + Prepositional Phrase)
• Do you like being a Principal? (Being + Noun)

More Examples:

• Being healthy is always good. (Being +Adjective)
• Not being healthy makes life miserable. (Being +Adjective)
• Being in a dark room would be scary. (Being Prepositional Phrase)
• Being a teacher is a responsible job. (Being +Noun)
• She doesn’t spend time being alone.
• Being stuck in traffic is really a big punishment.
• Not being stuck in traffic would be a smooth journey.

Use of ‘Having’ as Gerund

‘Having’ can be used as the Subject, Object of a Preposition, or Subject Complement in a sentence. 

Having is always followed by a Noun Phrase. 

‘Having’ expresses the idea that we possess something.

Examples:

• Having a Mercedes car is my dream. (Subject)
• I dream of having a Mercedes car. (Object of a Preposition)
• My dream is having a Mercedes car. (Subject Complement)

More Examples:

• Having a big screen in my hall is what I want.
• He does not like having too much work.
• Not having a big screen in my hall is very boring.
• Having too many doubts is a silly thing.
• You have to worry about having health problems.
• Not having any doubts would be a good idea.

The main difference between ‘being’ and ‘having’ as a Gerund:

“Being” expresses a state or experience.

Examples:

• Being an entrepreneur is highly recommended nowadays.
• Being a principal is not an easy job.

‘Having’ expresses the idea that we possess something.

Examples:

• I don’t know about having a job vacancy in your school.
• Having a comfortable life is what I want.

Compound Gerunds with ‘being’ and ‘after’ + Past Participle.

Examples:

• He always likes being flattered.
• He is aware of having committed the mistake.
• He knew of his friend having been selected in the Civil Services.
• The student complained of having been punished by the teacher.

After some verbs:

We use only Gerund but not Infinitives after the following verbs. 

Examples:

• She enjoys painting.
• I can’t stand doing anything.
• They practised doing yoga.
• I can’t help laughing.

Gerund or Infinitive:

We can use either Infinitive or Gerund after the following Verbs.

Examples: 

• I started to read. (or) 
• I started reading it.
• They began to work. (or) 
• They began working.
• I love to write poems. (or) 
• I love writing poems.

Related Reads:

• Participles
• Infinitives
• Finite and Non-finite Verbs
• Infinitive and Gerund PDF1
• Infinitive, Participle and Gerund PDF2
• Infinitive and Gerund PDF3