Gerunds

Below is an article about gerunds in English Grammar Lexicon - a blog (in Real Life Log ) providing ‏Grammar and Usage Guide (which is noted to have stopped publishing new articles since its last one on February 17, 2007) together with my comments.




Gerunds
Written January 28. 2007 in Uncategorized Gerunds A Gerund is a noun created from the -ing form of a verb; gerunds act as subjects and objects in sentences... Gerund phrase are phrases that begin with the -ing form of a verb and have objects and modifiers; a gerund phrase always acts as a noun in a sentence, not as an adjective... First and foremost, a gerund is the form of a verb, but it is not a verb. Second, it is a noun. And finally, it ends in "ing."..[In the following examples, the gerund is in italic and the verb is underlined.]..
Many local governments and school districts forbid releasing student information to any outside group, including the military, colleges or corporations.
First find the subject and verb: GOVERNMENTS and DISTRICTS are the subjects and FORBID is the verb. Is it an action verb? Yes? Do they forbid something? Yes. What? RELEASING. So, RELEASING is a direct object, which is a noun. A form of a verb that ends in ING and acts as a noun is a gerund.
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Burning oil and smashing atoms are good for the environment.
First find the subject and verb: BURNING and SMASHING are the subjects and ARE is the verb. Therefore, BURNING and SMASHING are nouns. A form of a verb that ends in ING and acts as a noun is a gerund.
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Coal mining yields 5,000 watts per square meter per day, and an oil field yields close to 10,000.
First find the subject and verb of the clause: MINING is the subject and YIELDS is the verb. Therefore, MINING is a noun. A form of a verb that ends in ING and acts as a noun is a gerund.
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The story is the same for high-tech farming.
STORY is the subject. IS is the verb. FARMING is the object of the preposition FOR. An object is a noun. A form of a verb that ends in ING and acts as a noun is a gerund.
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Kids enjoy surfing the 'Net, but it doesn't mean that their minds are engaged.
KIDS is the subject. ENJOY is the verb. SURFING is the direct object of the verb. An object is a noun. A form of a verb that ends in ING and acts as a noun is a gerund.
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The study does not show a link between using computers and improving student performance
The subject is STUDY. The verb is DOES SHOW. USING and IMPROVING are objects of the preposition BETWEEN.
Comments
Kengt, Penang
Written January 29. 2007
For "forbid releasing student information" and "enjoy surfing the 'Net", shouldn't 'releasing' & 'surfing' be indirect objects, and 'information' & 'Net' direct objects instead?