Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 82 views

    What Is A Gerund Phrase

    Uploaded by

    Karla MC
    A gerund phrase consists of a gerund (a verb ending in "-ing" used as a noun) and any modifiers or objects associated with it. A gerund phrase functions as a noun within a sentence and can act as the subject, object, or predicate nominative. Gerund phrases behave grammatically like single noun elements. However, when used as a modifier rather than a noun, the gerund phrase is actually a participle phrase. Gerund phrases can also function as direct or indirect objects within a sentence, similar to regular noun objects. Care should be taken to avoid "dangling gerunds" where the gerund phrase does not logically match up with the intended subject of the sentence.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    What Is A Gerund Phrase

    Uploaded by

    Karla MC
    82 views3 pages
    A gerund phrase consists of a gerund (a verb ending in "-ing" used as a noun) and any modifiers or objects associated with it. A gerund phrase functions as a noun within a sentence and can act as the subject, object, or predicate nominative. Gerund phrases behave grammatically like single noun elements. However, when used as a modifier rather than a noun, the gerund phrase is actually a participle phrase. Gerund phrases can also function as direct or indirect objects within a sentence, similar to regular noun objects. Care should be taken to avoid "dangling gerunds" where the gerund phrase does not logically match up with the intended subject of the sentence.

    Original Description:

    English

    Original Title

    What is a Gerund Phrase

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    A gerund phrase consists of a gerund (a verb ending in "-ing" used as a noun) and any modifiers or objects associated with it. A gerund phrase functions as a noun within a sentence and can act as the subject, object, or predicate nominative. Gerund phrases behave grammatically like single noun elements. However, when used as a modifier rather than a noun, the gerund phrase is actually a participle phrase. Gerund phrases can also function as direct or indirect objects within a sentence, similar to regular noun objects. Care should be taken to avoid "dangling gerunds" where the gerund phrase does not logically match up with the intended subject of the sentence.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    82 views3 pages

    What Is A Gerund Phrase

    Uploaded by

    Karla MC
    A gerund phrase consists of a gerund (a verb ending in "-ing" used as a noun) and any modifiers or objects associated with it. A gerund phrase functions as a noun within a sentence and can act as the subject, object, or predicate nominative. Gerund phrases behave grammatically like single noun elements. However, when used as a modifier rather than a noun, the gerund phrase is actually a participle phrase. Gerund phrases can also function as direct or indirect objects within a sentence, similar to regular noun objects. Care should be taken to avoid "dangling gerunds" where the gerund phrase does not logically match up with the intended subject of the sentence.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    What is a Gerund Phrase?

    A gerund phrase is a phrase consisting of a gerund and any modifiers or

    objects associated with it. A gerund is a noun made from a verb root

    plus ing (a present participle). A whole gerund phrase functions in a sentence

    just like a noun, and can act as a subject, an object, or a predicate nominative.

    If you look up the definition of gerund (pronounced JER-und), you will find that it

    means “an English noun formed from a verb by adding -ing”; that is, a present

    participle used as a noun.

    Traveling is a good way to expand your worldview.


    My passion is reading.

    My doctor suggests running to improve my health.

    In all three of these examples, words ending with -ing are acting as

    nouns. Traveling is the subject of the first sentence. In the second

    sentence, reading is a predicate nominative, a word (or group of words) that

    completes a linking verb and renames the subject. The verb is, a form of the

    linking verb to be, is followed by reading, which renames the subject my passion.

    In the third sentence, the gerund running is acting as the object of the

    verb suggests.

    How Do Gerund Phrases Work? They Act Like a Noun

    Gerunds can appear alone or band together with other words to form a gerund

    phrase. Collectively, this phrase behaves like a single noun.

    Running is a favorite activity of mine.


    Running with scissors is a favorite activity of mine.
    Both the gerund and the gerund phrase above function as subject nouns and

    take the third-person singular verb is. We could substitute a non-gerund noun

    such as chess to mentally confirm its function.

    Chess is a favorite activity of mine.

    Not Acting Like a Noun? It’s a Participle Phrase

    Gerund phrases can easily be confused with participle phrases. It is possible,

    for example, to encounter the gerund phrase we used above in a context where

    it is not acting like a noun. When used as a modifier—that is, as an adjective or

    adverb—it is now a participle phrase.

    Running with scissors, Tim charged after the cat.

    Here, running with scissors modifies the verb charged. It gives us further

    information about how Tim charged.

    Gerund Phrases as Objects

    Just as nouns sometimes function as objects in a sentence, so can gerund


    phrases.

    Tim enjoys running with scissors.

    In this sentence, the gerund phrase running with scissors is the direct object of

    the verb enjoys. We could easily replace it with a simpler object noun to confirm

    that it really is an object.

    Tim enjoys racquetball.

    (That would be a much better idea, Tim.)

    We could also use this gerund phrase as an indirect object.

    Tim attributes his high blood pressure to running with scissors.


    Like many indirect objects, the gerund phrase running with scissors is

    introduced with the preposition to.

    Dangling Gerunds

    You may have heard of dangling participles; dangling gerunds are quite similar.

    Dangling gerunds are somewhat less frequent, but they can crop up when

    gerunds or gerund phrases are acting as objects of a preposition such

    as before, after, by, or with.

    By running with scissors, Tim’s cat suffered some battle scars.

    The gerund phrase is said to be dangling here, because it is mismatched with

    the subject that follows, creating an illogical scenario. The writer of a such a

    sentence no doubt intended to convey that when Tim ran with scissors, his cat

    was injured. But as the sentence reads, it is the (atypically scary) cat who ran

    with scissors.

    The best thing to do with a sentence that contains a dangler is to rewrite it to give

    the sentence its proper subject. There may be a number of ways to do that

    correctly.

    By running with scissors, Tim gave his cat some battle scars.

    Tim wounded his cat when he ran with scissors.

    Tim’s penchant for running with scissors has left some battle scars on his cat.

    You can read more about the hazards of danglers in our blog about dangling

    participles.

    You might also like