Gerund Phrases Lesson

A Participle is a verbal that is used as an adjective and most often ends in “ing” or –”ed” (from the present & past participle form of the verb). 

The crying baby had a wet diaper. 

Shaken, he walked away from the wrecked car. 

The burning log fell off the fire. 

Smiling, she hugged the panting dog.

a verb that ends in -ing and functions as a noun

A gerund with modifiers or a complement, all acting together as a noun.

Example: The Aztecs were skilled at building in dense forests.

Gerund as subject:

Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. 

(Traveling is the gerund.)

Gerund as direct object:

They do not appreciate singing. 

(The gerund is singing.)

Gerund as subject complement:

My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. 

(The gerund is sleeping.)

Gerund as object of preposition:

The police arrested him for speeding. 

(The gerund is speeding.)

Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do.

-Finding (gerund)

-a needle (direct object of action)

-in a haystack (prepositional phrase)-

My teacher likes questioning us on our math skills.

questioning (gerund)

us (direct object of action)

on our math skills (prepositional phrase

The Bears are winning the game (main verb)

The winning team scores the most points (adjective)

Winning is everything! (Gerund)