First Term, AY 2020-2021: Gerundial Phrase

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND HUMANITIES
Gerundial Phrase
First Term, AY 2020-2021
Course Code EEP 1

Course Description English for Tertiary Education
Prerequisite None
Credits 2 units; 36 hours (Lecture)
Mode of Delivery Online
Week Number 4
Lesson/Topic Gerundial Phrase
Micro-Learning Outcomes At the end of the lesson, students must be able to:
• identify gerundial phrase.
Assessment Measures
Video Transcript Hello everyone! This is Meldy A. Acabo from the Department of
Communication and Humanities. Welcome to our first lesson for this week.
Previous lessons tackled on prepositional and participial phrases. In this lecture
video, we will learn another kind of phrase which is called gerundial phrase.
What is a Gerund Phrase?

A gerund phrase is a phrase that begins with a gerund, and functions as a noun.
Let’s break down this definition to understand it better. A gerund is a verb
ending with –ing, but, it works as a noun and can act as a subject, object, or
complement in a sentence. Meanwhile, a phrase is a group of words that contains
either a subject (noun) or a verb — but not both. So together, a gerund phrase
can also act as a subject, object, or complement, while adding more details to the
sentence.
Parts of a Gerund Phrase

As mentioned earlier, a gerund phrase has two parts: the gerund, and the phrase.
a. Gerund
A gerund looks just like an –ing verb, but it is NOT being used in the sentence
as an action word. Instead, it is being used as a noun. The best way to
understand the difference between regular –ing verbs and gerunds, is to look at
the same word being used in both ways.
Example: swimming
The fish were swimming in the pond.

In this sentence, swimming is a verb because it is the action that the subject
(fish) takes.
English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase 1

Swimming is my favorite exercise.
In this sentence, swimming is a gerund because it is the subject – the thing that
the sentence is about.
b. Phrase
The second part of a gerund phrase is the phrase. Remember, a phrase is a group
of words that work together, and have only a subject (noun) or a verb – not both.
Often, a gerund phrase includes a preposition like at, for, in, and etc.
Example
Dogs enjoy barking at strangers.
In this sentence, the two parts of the gerund phrase are (a) the gerund ‘barking’,
and (b) the phrase ‘at strangers’.
Types of gerund phrases

We learned that a gerund phrase always works as a noun; therefore, the types of
gerund phrases match the ways that a noun can be used: as a subject, object, or
complement.
a. Gerund Phrase as Subject
Example
Eating after midnight is a bad habit.
In this example, the sentence is about ‘eating after midnight’, and so this gerund
phrase acts as the subject of the sentence.
b. Gerund phrase as object
Objects are words that ‘receive’ another part of a sentence. Gerund phrases can
be one of two types of objects.
▪ Direct objects – receive the action of the verb.
▪ Objects of prepositions – receive prepositions.

Example 1
Eric’s teammate tried setting a birthday party for him.
In this sentence, ‘setting a birthday party for him’ is the direct object of the verb
‘tried’; it is receiving the action of ‘tried’.
Example 2
Janice got a permit for running an online business.
Here, the gerund phrase ‘running an online business’ is the object of the
preposition ‘for’.
c. Gerund Phrase as Complement
A complement re-states or gives more information about a noun. It always

follows a state-of-being verb such as: is, are, am, will be, was, were.
English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase

Example
Pablo’s favorite hobby is playing the piano.
‘Playing the piano’ re-states what Pablo’s hobby is, and gives us more
information about it. Therefore, it is a gerund phrase acting as the complement
to ‘hobby’.
That ends our first lesson this week. I hope that you can now identify a gerund
phrase, its parts, and its types. See you on our next lesson. Enjoy learning and
stay safe!
-end of video transcript-
English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase

First Term, AY 2020-2021: Gerundial Phrase

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND HUMANITIES

Course Code EEP 1

What is a Gerund Phrase?

Parts of a Gerund Phrase

The fish were swimming in the pond.

English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase 1

Types of gerund phrases

a. Gerund Phrase as Subject

b. Gerund phrase as object

▪ Direct objects – receive the action of the verb.

▪ Objects of prepositions – receive prepositions.

c. Gerund Phrase as Complement

A complement re-states or gives more information about a noun. It always

English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase

-end of video transcript-

English for Tertiary Education| Gerundial Phrase

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