Gerund

Gabriel Aguilera Cortés – Carlos torrejón

 How to form the gerund?
 Is always formed with the suffix –ing-.
 When a verb ends in "Y", but before of the "y" goes a vowel, nothing happens.
Example: play-playing.

 The Verbs ending in "E", are removed the final "e" and added -ing.
Example: make-making.

 The verbs monosyllabic (short) that end in CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) is doubled the final
consonant.
Example: stop-stopping.

 Verbs that do not involve physical or mental movement such as: understand, like, want, etc. They
can not carry continuous present.
It is formed with a SUB + am, is, are + verb finished in
SHE IS EATING
"ING", and is translated by the Spanish "gerund". (Ella está comiendo)

(I am studying).
 How to use the gerund?
 After of a preposition (usually it is verbs or adjectives with preposition obligatory.
Example: I’m interested in learning English. // I’m fond of playing tennis.

 After of some verbs: deny, avoid, can not help, like, dislike, enjoy, mind, keep on,
suggest, finish etc.
Example: He finished doing his homework.
Mainly, we use the gerund to form continuous times. According to the form of the verb “to
be”, we know if it is present, past, future, etc.

Here we have the most used:

 Present continuous: am/is/are + gerund
 Continuous Past: was/were + gerund
 Future continuous: will be + gerund
 Present perfect continuous: have/has + been + gerund

Important: all continuous times have a form of verb “to be” and a “gerund”. If you do not
have these two things, it is not a continuum.
 Examples of continuous times
 She’s having a beer with her friend. Her friend is talking very loudly.
(Presente continuo. Se trata de algo que pasa ahora.)

 He was living in Berlin in 2005, and I was living in Dublin.

(Pasado continuo. Se trata de una acción de larga duración en pasado.)

 I’ll be studying engineering next year, and my best friend will be studying chemistry.
(Futuro continuo. Se trata de acciones de larga duración en el futuro.)

 I’ve been living in Madrid for 12 years.

(Presente perfecto continuo. Se trata de una acción continua que empezó en
pasado y sigue ahora.)
 The verb patterns with gerund
We use the gerund in the verb patterns that demand it. They are not continuous, simply
grammar requires certain verbs to be followed by another verb in the gerund.
The most important are like, love, hate and enjoy.
 Examples
I like running in the park. (like + gerund)
She enjoys watching horror films. (enjoy + gerund)
They hate going to the dentist. (hate + gerund)

 In my free time, I like going to the gym, watching films, or just meeting my friends for a
drink. (like + some gerunds)
 He loves eating, but he doesn’t like cooking. (love + gerund)

The Most other verb patterns use to + infinitive, or simply infinitive.

 The gerund as subject of the sentence
 We use the gerund when the verb is the subject of the sentence or has the form of a noun.

A verb like run speaks of the action, but transforming it into gerund - running - can also be used
as a noun.
I like running. (El gerundio sirve de complemento, como si fuera sustantivo.)

Here we do the opposite, using the gerund as subject of the sentence:

Smoking is dangerous for your health. (Fumar es peligroso para su salud)

 Example:
Shopping is fun, but I don’t have much money.
Smoking is prohibited in the airport.
Working all the time is very stressful.
THANKS