A gerund is a word that contains the idea of a verb but functions in a sentence as a noun. The words “escaping,” “coughing,” “being,” and “laughing” are all in the form of gerunds. Gerunds are made by adding “-ing” to the end of any verb (sometimes with a small spelling modification to the original word). Take the word “swim,” for example. If we say “I swim every day” or “I swam at the pool yesterday,” we are using “swim” as a verb, but if we add “-ing” and use the word as the subject of a sentence, for example, we turn the verb into a noun, as in the sentence “Swimming is great exercise” or “Swimming makes me tired.” Similarly, if we say “I love swimming” or “I hate swimming,” we are taking a verbal notion and turning it into a noun, grammatically the same as any other noun, such as “potato chips,” “tigers,” or “basketball.”
In the following sentences, we can see again how gerunds function grammatically as nouns. In the first sentence, we see it as a subject, and, in the second sentence, as an object.
Escaping is impossible. [“Escaping” is the SUBJECT]
We heard that awful drilling all morning. [“We” is the subject. “Drilling” is the OBJECT]
Like ordinary nouns, gerunds can be modified by adjectives, as in “awful drilling,” “tedious filling out of forms,” and “ridiculous arguing over nothing.” In addition, like typical nouns, gerunds can follow words that are prepositions (for example, words like “on,” “to,” “with,” “for,” and “of”). By contrast, verbs themselves cannot follow prepositions.
| We’re planning on going to the beach this Saturday. | [gerund form, CORRECT] |
| *We’re planning on go to the beach this Saturday. | [infinitive of verb, INCORRECT] |
| I look forward to meeting you next week. | [gerund form, CORRECT] |
| *I look forward to meet you next week. | [infinitive of verb, INCORRECT] |
Both gerund forms and infinitive verb forms can directly follow other verbs in a clause, but some verbs, such as “enjoy” and “deny” allow only the gerund form to follow them, while some verbs allow either form, and some allow only the infinitive form.
Only the gerund is correct:
| I enjoy listening to music. | [gerund form, CORRECT] |
| He denied trying to cheat. | [gerund form, CORRECT] |
| *I enjoy to listen to music. | [infinitive of verb, INCORRECT] |
| *He denied to cheat | [infinitive of verb, INCORRECT] |
Either is correct:
| I like dancing. | [gerund form, CORRECT] |
| I like to dance. | [infinitive of verb, CORRECT] |
Only the infinitive is correct:
| I want to go next week. | [infinitive of verb, CORRECT] |
| *I want going next week. | [gerund form, INCORRECT] |
Click here for further discussion of the difference between the use of the gerund versus the infinitive.