Gerunds

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Use

Gerunds are the -ing form of verbs. They are used when you want to make a verb the subject of a sentence and also when you want to use a verb after a preposition.

Gerunds as subjects

Studying is the most important part of school life.

Getting a good job isn’t easy at the moment.

Gerunds after prepositions

He’s really good at speaking English.

You can improve your English by watching films without subtitles.

Some common prepositions – at, on, in, to, by, after, before, of, about, for

Form

Gerunds are formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb

study + -ing = studying

(base verb + gerund)

Exceptions:

For verbs which end in consonant + e, drop the e and add -ing.

hope – hoping

make – making

write – writing

For verbs which end in ie, drop the ie and add -ying.

die – dying

tie – tying

lie – lying

For one-syllable verbs which end in consonant + vowel + consonant, double the last consonant.

jog – jogging

swim – swimming

stop – stopping

For two-syllable verbs which are stressed on the second syllable, double the last consonant.

admit – admitting

prefer – preferring

begin – beginning

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