Gerunds and Infinitives: Gerund

Are you often confused about using the gerund form of a verb or the Infinitive form? Deciding which to use is not always an easy task, but the more you read and listen to English, the easier this will become. In this unit we examine the Gerund.

Form and Use

The gerund has exactly the same form as the present participle: eating, walking, listening …

It can be used in the following ways :

1. As a subject of a sentence

• Reading Spanish is easier than speaking it
• Skiing can be a dangerous activity

2. After prepositions 

• They were accused of smuggling
• She is good at writing
• Peter is quite used to waiting in queues

3. After some verbs  e.g. admit, appreciate, avoid, consider, delay, deny, detest, dislike, enjoy, excuse, finish, forgive, hate, imagine, keep, like, miss, postpone, practise, prevent , propose, remember, resist, save, start, stop, suggest, understand :

• John practises swimming every weekend
• I detest writing letters
• Stop speaking please

4. In noun compounds

• a diving license
• a waiting room