How to use gerunds

In English, the ing form, for example swimming or smoking, is both a noun and a verb. You can follow it by an object, smoking cigarettes, by a verb, swimming is good, or you can make it the object of a sentence, I like swimming.

After verbs

You use the ing form after some verbs such as enjoy, admit, appreciate, can't stand / help / bear, deny, avoid, mind, understand.

For example, "I can't stand doing nothing", or "she denied breaking the copier".

With 'from' and 'to' with some verbs

Prevent / stop someone from doing: "He prevented her from leaving."

Look forward to doing: "We look forward to hearing from you soon."

Object to doing: "Does anyone object to me smoking?"

Get used to doing: "It took him a long time to get used to living in a city."

Prefer something to doing something else: "I prefer cooking to doing the dishes."

After prepositions

"Before going out he turned off the heating."

"I'm tired of arguing."

"These are used for cracking walnuts."

"I passed the exam by remembering the equations."

In some fixed expressions

"As well as doing…"
"It's no good doing…"
"It's no use doing…"

Some verbs can use either the 'to do' or the 'ing' form


See
/ hear / watch someone do / doing

With the verb form do, you see or hear the whole action. For example,"I heard him tell you about the letter."

With the verb form ing you only see or hear part of the action. For example, "I saw her drinking a coffee in the bar."

Remember / regret

If you use ing after these verbs, you are talking about something that happened before. "I remember coming here as a child" – I'm not a child any more, but I remember the times when I came here before.

"I regret not studying." (I didn't study in the past and I regret it now.)

If you use the to do form after these verbs, then you are referring to something in the future.

"Please remember to turn off the lights." (Please don't forget to do it later.)

"I regret to inform you that…" (I'm just about to tell you some bad news.)

Stop

"I want to stop smoking." (I want to break my habit.)

"She stopped to sit down." (She stopped walking so that she could sit down.)

Try

Try + ing = try out this experiment.

Try reading something in English every day." (You may be surprised at the results!)

Try to do = try hard to do something.

"Please try to be quiet when you come in." (Please make an effort.)

Share with a friend who's learning English:




More English reading articles on Rich Reads


How to use the Present Perfect Continuous in English
Irregular Past Participle Verbs Quiz
Learn Informal English

Hundreds of English reading articles on our sister site Rich Reads

56 comments on “How to use gerunds”

nasrul

My question is…normally after "to" is root word right?…however, I did come across a sentence with something like this " ….to helping someone"…

could you please explain why?

There are some fixed expressions where we use the gerund, such as "There's no point in…" and "It's no use …..".

We also use the gerund after prepositions, such as in the example "look forward to". So you could say "We look forward to helping people."

haiyen

I do not know about difference between error and mistake. please tell me

They mean the same thing.

Beatrice

Hello, am I "prone to be sick" or "prone to being sick"? I think it is the latter, correct? I am also prone to sickness, right?
What is a good English grammar book?
Thanks, Beatrice

You are right: "I am prone to sickness" or "I am prone to being sick" are correct.
I use "Practical English Usage" by Michael Swan as my grammar reference book.

Ghada

i don't understand the meaning of "object to", could you please explain it to me.
let's say in this example: Does anyone object to me smoking?

If you object to something, it means that you don't accept it.

Mary

Is it still correct to use a gerund form when a perfectly good noun already exists? Example:
Your participating at the conference is appreciated.
Your participation at the conference is appreciated.
Is it a matter of personal preference or is one more correct?

Both are correct, although in your example, the noun "participation" would probably be more popular.

sandi

is there any differences between verb form after "to be used to" and "used to"?

Yes. "To be used to + gerund / noun": I am used to living in a foreign country
"Used to + infinitive": I used to go to the seaside when I was a child.

Moon

" We regret to inform you that your application has been unsuccessful ." Why don't we use gerund in this case ?Is it a future action ? I think the action " inform " happened in the past .

No. The "inform" is in the future. We haven't informed you yet.

The same question with this sentence :" Did you remember to feed the cat "

I remember feeding the cat = I still have the memory of giving food to the cat.
I remembered to feed the cat = I knew I had to feed the cat, and so I didn't forget.

Follow " need" is infinitive ? gerund ? to infinitive ?

Infinitive: You need to contact the secretary.

karen

Somebody told me that when "to" has meaning in spanish you should put a gerund after it. Is it true?

I don't know Spanish, so I don't really know what you mean!

Ayman

I would like to add a comment on what Haiyen asked on the 2nd of Aug 2007. She asked about the difference between mistake and error.
when we say a mistake we refer to a minor mistake it could be a spelling mistake or a mistyped word. But an error is something that is wrong as a result of misunderstanding the rule,it's a major mistake. An error is more fatal than a mistake.
My bag is biger than yours. This is a mistake.
My bag is more big than yours. This is an error.

Claus

As he`s very argumentative , he is … a) hard to get on with or b): hard getting on with

please let me know which one is correct.
thanks

Clare

Claus »
He is hard to get on with.

musa

in which condition is gerund used at the beginning of a sentence?

Clare

musa » You can use the gerund at the beginning of a sentence as a noun and the subject of the sentence.

"Smoking is bad for you."
"Eating too late at night is bad for your digestion."

komal

before going out i always turned off the heating..is that right?

Clare

komal » Yes!

annie

"desire for doing something" and "desire to do something", which is correct?

Gabriela

I really appreciate your page, I'm 45 I started to study English four years ago. Nowadays I´m an English teacher. When I was a child I'd always wanted to speak English and now I know dreams come true. Thanks for all your information.

Clare

annie » A desire to do something.

Fadi

this is a akey to my subscribers in this site >To diferentiate between ING or TO infinitive take the followings: if the verb expresses about reality directly you have to use ing but if the verb expresses about future directly you have to use TO infinitive also if the verb tlk about emotions use ING

Antônio

Are both below sentences beginning with a gerund correct ?
Using this procedure, the results are more immediate.
By using this procedure, the results are more immediate.
Could you explain any difference?
Thank you
Antônio

Clare

Antônio » Both are fine, although "by" makes the relationship between the procedure and the results more specific.

Marion

In teh next sentence:
By inventing the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell assured himself a place in history.
I'm not sure is : inventing the telephone is a gerund phrase or participial phrase.
I would like your help.
Thanks

Abdul Rahman

I refer you to the answer of comment one. I do believe that linguist will surely tell you that there is a difference between a mistake and an error. Mistake is a slip of tongue and an error is when you say something wrongly and could not correct yourself afterwards because you are not in fact aware of it.

Clare

Marion » To be honest, I'm not sure. I would say that it's a participle phrase used as an adjective. Others may disagree.

TuanAnh

"Eventually they relented, assuming the pieces would soon wind up strewn around the kitchen."
Is assuming in this sentence a gerund?
If so, why don't I see this use of gerund listed above?

Justin

I was asked to turn the following active voice sentence into passive voice and I could not do it.
"I don't like people telling me what to do."
Then someone came and told me the change would be as follow: " I don't like being told what to do."
I desagree with that and would like your help.

Clare

Justin » The passive is correct. Can you say which part of it confuses you?

Clare

TuanAnh » It's a present participle, used as an adjective. (Not a gerund.)

Mohammed

Please, I have a question,
the verbs:
regret /remember
take after them verb+ing if they are referring to the past, but for example,refer to test your self ,
Did you remember (to feed) the cat.
Here, did is an evidence to the past, so the answer should be (feeding) and not (to feed).
This situation make me confused!!

Clare

Mohammed » Did you remember to feed the cat?
In this case, you're asking if the person knew they had to feed the cat, so it was a future action (even though it took place in the past).
I will remember to feed the cat = I will not forget that I have to feed the cat in the future
I remembered to feed the cat = I did not forget that I had to feed the cat (yesterday, or at another time in the past)

Panchar

In case, I need to put some details on the bill after worked for clean the swimming pool.
which one is correct :Swimming Pool cleaning or Cleaning Swimming Pool.
Also, please kindly give some explanation.

Thks & rgds

Clare

Panchar » You can write "Swimming pool cleaning".

arian

help me with these words "i can't help falling in love with you". can we say "falling in love" is gerund form? can we say preposition is "verb-phrase"?

Clare

After the verb "can't help", we need the gerund form.

Jorge

Hi, I'm trying to learn how to use properly the infinitive form after a verb… do you have more info about this? Thanks!

Clare

What sort of information do you need?

Tina

Hello. I realy want to know the difference between " can't stand +infinitive " and "can't stand+ gerund" . please help me.
Thank you .

Clare

No difference and both are fine. You might hear the first more than the second.

Javier

Do I have to use a gerund, an infinitive or a 'that-clause' after the verb 'recommend'?

Clare

You can use a noun or a gerund:
"I recommend going to visit this museum"
"I recommend this museum"

Or you can use a "that clause":
"I recommend that you visit this museum"

mazin

HELLO clare, The english language will not die if we have a teacher called clare, thanks a million.

mazin

hello. please can you help me to know that what is the difference between of and possessive s? thanks

Clare

We can use 's for people:
Clare's friend
The girls' school

We use "of" when we refer to objects:
The doors of the theatre (Or "the theatre doors)
The plans of the company (Or "the company plans)

Rihab

As I know 'v+ing' can be gerund = noun, adjective or verb. For instance, I like watching movies. (a gerund) This is an interesting movie. (an adjective) I am watching a horror film at the moment. (a verb)
Bye.

jay

"I am laughing going"
does it make any sense?
could u tell me its meaning?

Clare

It doesn't make any sense to me.

joe kwon

An employee was struck by a forklift, causing to bleed badly.
I would like to ask how the sentence can be written in two separate sentences without using the word"causing."
Does the word CAUSING modify the forklift or the employee.
Thanks,
joe

Clare

… causing him to bleed badly.

An employee was struck by a forklift. As a result, the employee suffered serious bleeding and required hospital treatment.

Amir

Clare,
I would like your help to know the perfect meaning of ' can't stand '.
I also have one confusion that where the modal ' would ' is used.

Clare

I can't stand = I can't bear / I hate.

Have a look at the page on modals (grammar section) for more advice on using them.

lucelia

can i use "would like" with another verb in gerund form?

Clare

No. Would like + infinitive
I would like to go out now.
He would like to play a game of tennis.

Steph Schiller

Which one is correct?
1) Mr Chimpanzee can do 3 things, these are, skate, ride a bicycle and ski.
or,
2) Mr Chimpanzee can do 3 things, these are, skating, riding a bicycle and skiing.

Clare

The second is correct, but you need a colon or a new sentence after "things", and not a comma. You should also delete the comma after "these are".

Lia

Hi, Clare,

I know that gerund can be used as subject and noun, but I have a few doubts. Could you please help me?

I was wondering if a verb is always in -ing form if there is no subject before it.

Thanks.

Clare

I'm not really sure what you mean.

Sometimes a participle can start a sentence (this is a verb, not a gerund)
"Sitting quietly, she could hear the conversation in the other room."
The subject of this sentence is "she", not "sitting".

Sometimes a gerund starts a sentence and is the subject of the sentence;
"Sitting on the ground can be bad for you."

Got a comment?

* To prevent junk / spam, comments are moderated and are published after a short delay.

Name


Email (required, but will not be published)


Comment