Grammar-licious: Making Grammar Fun - February

Let's talk about gerunds, those identifiable words with –ing tails. The recipe for a gerund is simple: take a verb, attach –ing and then use it as a noun. Baking is not required. Did you catch that? Baking is not required. A gerund is born!

How simple was that? And that’s all there is to it. Okay, well, not so much. The rule is: every gerund ends in –ing, but not every word that ends in –ing is a gerund.

A gerund always functions as a noun, so you’ll find them as subjects, objects, and subject complements.

Examples are always great, with some details, so here you go:

As the object of a preposition:
Before brushing her teeth, she washed her face.
After reading the details, he could make a decision.

Object of a verb:
She loves playing in the mud.
He enjoys climbing up the tree.

Subject of a verb:
Writing is difficult.
Winning is fun.
Since she was four, dancing has been her passion.

Subject complement with a linking verb:
Her complaints were making him crazy.
His favorite hobby is drawing landscapes.

After a preposition (a verb after a preposition must be a gerund):
Please water the plant before leaving.
Wash your hands before eating.
We are sharing information about writing.

This month’s recommended grammar book is: The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon.


I like finding ways to remember the ‘rules’ and hope you can find something helpful. It’s my hope the monthly grammar techniques and usage examples will make grammar a lot less frightening and potentially enjoyable (can you imagine?) for you.

If you have grammar topics you’d like to see covered, please leave a comment or email me!

(originally published in The TWC Spotlight for December,2008)