Gerunds are a hybrid of nouns and verbs. You remember that nouns and verbs are two of the eight parts of speech, right?

Here is a silly way to think of it: If a noun and a verb got married, their children would be gerunds.

Gerunds are words that are formed from verbs but function as nouns. They always end in -ing.

(Remember that verbs show an action or a state of being, and nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.)

Here are some examples of gerunds:

Swimming is fun.

She loves reading.

Before we can explore how those example words are gerunds, we need to have a little lesson on nouns.

The tricky thing about nouns is that they have many different jobs in sentences. Nouns can be subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nouns, objects of the preposition, and other things. They are very overworked.

Because gerunds act as nouns, they can also do any of the noun jobs. Here is a review of the noun jobs.

Subjects Tell us whom or what a sentence is about. (Mary played outside.)

Direct Objects receive the action of certain action verbs called "transitive active verbs." (Joe kicked the ball.)

Indirect Objects receive the direct object. (Joe kicked Mary the ball.)

Predicate Nouns come after linking verbs. They rename the subject of the sentence. (Joe is a great soccer player.)

Objects of the Preposition are nouns that follow a preposition. They are a necessary part of prepositional phrases. (Joe kicked the ball to Mary.)

Gerunds Can Function in Any Way that Nouns Can Function

Subject: Swimming is fun.

Swimming is a gerund. It is formed from a verb (swim), it ends in -ing, and it is acting as the subject of the sentence. It tells us what the sentence is about.

Direct Object: She loves reading.

Reading is a gerund. It is formed from a verb (read), it ends in -ing, and it is acting as the direct object in the sentence. This means that it is receiving the action of the verb loves.

Predicate Noun: My favorite sport is swimming.

Swimming is a gerund. It is formed from a verb (swim), it ends in -ing, and it is acting as a predicate noun renaming the subject sport.

Object of the Preposition I won a trophy for running.

Running is a gerund. It is formed from a verb (run), it ends in -ing, and it is acting as the object of the preposition for. It is a part of the prepositional phrase for running.

I think you're getting the hang of it now! Just remember three characteristics of gerunds, and you'll be able to spot them easily: They are formed from verbs, they end in -ing, and they act as nouns.

Diagramming gerunds is an excellent way to understand them better. Click here to learn about diagramming gerunds: http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/gerunds.html.

Elizabeth O'Brien invites you to learn more about English grammar, sentence diagramming, and confident teaching at her website http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com