Verbals, Part II: Gerunds

Gerunds are verb forms (words that you recognize as verbs or “action” words) which end in –ing, and behave as nouns. As such, they are NOT verbs, nor are they adjectives.

Verb: We were running in the race.
Participle:  I wore my running shoes for the race.
Gerund: Running is good exercise.

Here, “running” is the subject of the sentence. Since subjects can only be nouns, pronouns, or words acting as nouns, “running,” though we recognize it as action, is actually behaving as a noun. 

Verb: We are finishing our project now.
Participle:  He put the finishing touches on the birthday cake.
Gerund: The difficulty is not ordering all this food, but in finishing it.

Verb: When we saw him, he was falling off the cliff.
Participle:  Who hears the sound of falling trees?
Gerund: Falling off my bicycle at an early age has caused me to avoid them later in life.

Determine whether the underlined word is being used as a verb, and adjective, or a noun. On the line, write verb, participle, or gerund.

1.	Their giggling annoyed the other viewers.  __________________________
2.	Sally gave cycling a try. __________________________
3.	Sneezing, the enemy scout gave away his location. __________________________
4.	My fascinating sister asked to hear more about our wild plot. __________________________
5.	Making friends in a new school can be difficult, but she is doing it well. __________________________
6.	The highlight of the season was watching our team improve from week to week. __________________________
7.	Spinning one full turn, the ballerina gracefully completed a pirouette. __________________________
8.	In the summer, Candace makes money by walking dogs for our neighbors. __________________________
9.	My grandmother and I enjoy digging up the garden and planting new flowers. __________________________
10.	Sensing danger, he shouted for help. __________________________

Use each of the following gerunds in a sentence. You may have the first five gerunds be the subject, but the last five may not be used as subjects.

1.	speeding
2.	giving
3.	reading
4.	watching
5.	going
6.	sailing
7.	eating
8.	driving
9.	hiking
10.	flying