In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the direct object in the sentence. Travelling across France should be a rite of passage for all writers.Running with scissors on a slippery floor was a terrible idea.Watching bad television defined my teenage years.Making noise is what happy children and almost all teenagers do best.Sleeping through the night is difficult for me.The subject is the thing or person that carries out the action of the verb.
In the following examples, the gerund phrase is acting as the subject of the sentence. They have a variety of roles in a sentence and can be acted upon in varying ways: Sometimes the gerund phrase is the subject sometimes it is the object or indirect object other times it is the object of a preposition and finally, it can also be the predicate nominative.Įxamples of gerund phrases for each group are given below: While the rules of gerund phrases set out earlier help us recognize them in a sentence, gerund phrases have various uses in a sentence. Tip: If the phrase is followed by a comma, then it is more likely to be participle phrase and not a gerund phrase. Alcohol, Tom and Jim became more raucous.We can see this by replacing the phrase with a noun and seeing that it does not make sense: It is a participle phrase, which acts like an adjective. How do we know the second example is not a gerund phrase? Well, it is not acting like a noun and thus does not satisfy the four rules of gerund phrases. Drinking beer heavily, Tom and Jim became more raucous.Drinking beer heavily is bad for your health.The differences are subtle, as shown below: However, you should be careful not to confuse gerund phrases with participle phrases. I recommend television to pass the time.Remember that the purpose of a gerund phrase is to act like a noun, so you can check it by replacing it with a noun and seeing if the sentence still makes grammatical sense: Regardless of where the gerund phrase reading books quietly appears in the sentence, it satisfies the four rules listed above. I recommend reading books quietly to pass the time.
Reading books quietly is my favorite pastime.Look at these examples with the gerund phrases used in different ways: The phrase will have singular agreement with a verb.The entire phrase will function as a noun.The gerund phrase will either have a modifier, an object or both.The phrase will always start with a gerund.Start writing with Ginger How do you recognize a gerund phrase when you see one?Ī gerund phrase will follow these rules, which can help you identify a gerund phrase in a sentence:
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