Start with these examples. Remember that prepositions are often the last word in phrasal verbs. trying on new shoes) Gerunds as indirect objects: I never gave reading enough of a … She was screaming. Just add "not" before the gerund. An Introduction to Using Gerunds Subject. Just follow the rule of gerunds after prepositions, and you will get it right most of the time! “To be or not to be—that is the question.”, “To mourn a mischief that is past and gone is the next way to draw new mischief on.”, (Both sentences are quotes from William Shakespeare’s works.). (Mary only stopped to get gas. Hw had seen a lion coming. I have an interest in becoming a painter. Phrasal verbs are verb phrases which are made up of two or more words, generally the verb plus one or two prepositions. Are you able to remember all the facts without googling them? Note that this technique is used when both clauses have the same subject. Alison enjoys not eating fatty food, and she's lost a lot of weight. Here are some of the most common: She's interested in taking French lessons. They can be used in many situations. Object of a Verb. Bhola saw the tiger. When you describe something with an adjective (underlined in the examples above), an infinitive should follow (in bold). Sometimes you have to choose between the two, because using one may be completely wrong. For example: Playing tennis takes lots of physical and mental skill. And the same is true about “[adjective] + enough”: My child is not tall enough to ride this rollercoaster. Notice how the underlined objects are all followed by infinitives. “Sleeping” here is part of the verb. In this situation, try changing the sentence and saying what you want to say in a different way. Combine by using participle: He took his walking stick. Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you Playing video games? There is one exception. She heard the baby cry. Look at how the word is being used in the sentence; if it's functioning as a noun, it's a gerund. We also participate in other affiliate advertising programs for products and services we believe in. She got up quickly. Spelling Tip. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Sign up for our weekly blog newsletter for a chance to win a free FluentU Plus subscription (value $240), Get regular language learning tips, resources and updates, starting with the "Complete Guide to Foreign Language Immersion" e-book. Making friends has become more difficult since I moved to a new city. There are some exceptions, however. A gerund has the same form as a present participle (again, the -ing form of a verb) but functions as a noun (Our school encourages studying). FluentU videos come with interactive captions that tell you the definition of any word, and also show you how that word can be used in a sentence. Example: The dog howled and whined all night long. SECTION IX: USING GERUNDS TO COMBINE SENTENCES Use gerund phrases to combine each set of sentences into one sentence. When followed by a verb, prepositions always take the gerund form. Maybe all you want to do is to read comic books. He wanted to run a four-minute mile. ), Mary made no stops on the way except to get gas. Tom is proud of donating his free time to the charity. The phrase will have singular agreement with a verb. When “but” is used as a preposition, it is the same in meaning as “except.”. Maybe you are learning to draw. My favorite pastime is reading books quietly Gerunds … Some verbs require a gerund and some will require an infinitive. Ex. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.