what is gerund?

give some examples of gerunds???

When the root form of verb is joined with a ‘ _ing’, the verb is known as a gerund. At times, they can even act as nouns and can become the subject or object of a sentence.

For example:

Jogging is good for health.

You can see in the above example that, ‘jogging’ (like a noun) is the subject of the sentence, but at the same time it also has an object (like a verb), and this object is ‘health’. This is why a gerund is called a verbal noun, or a noun that has the qualities of a verb.

: What Are Gerunds?

I’ve talked about gerunds before, in the episode on common resume mistakes and the episode on possessives and gerunds, but I’ve never talked about what truly interesting words gerunds are. As I said in those episodes, a gerund is a noun formed by taking a verb and adding the suffix “-ing.” The gerund form of “give,” for example, is “giving.”

If you listened to the podcast on possessives and gerunds, you may remember that the “ing” form of a verb can also be a present participle, another funny-sounding name. This is always true, even for the most irregular verb in the language, “be.” The form “being” is both a gerund and a present participle.

The Difference Between Gerunds and Present Participles

So how can you tell whether you’re dealing with a gerund or a present participle? It’s not always easy. In fact, some linguists even argue that it doesn’t make sense to have different names for these verb forms, and that we should just call the “-ing” form the even longer and funnier name “gerund-participle (1).” For now, we’ll just stick with gerunds, and leave present participles for other episodes—such as the episode on dangling participles!

Nouny Gerunds

The gerund may be a noun formed from a verb, but that’s not the end of the story. Even though a gerund is a noun, sometimes it acts more like a noun, and sometimes it acts more like a verb.

Here’s a sentence with a really “nouny” gerund: “The skillful defusing of the bomb saved the day.” The gerund is “defusing,” and it is part of the gerund phrase “the skillful defusing of the bomb.” The gerund is acting particularly nouny in this sentence, on three counts.

• First, the whole gerund phrase begins with the definite article, “the.” Definite articles usually come before nouns.

• Second, “defusing” is modified by an adjective, “skillful,” instead of by an adverb. Adjectives usually modify nouns.

• Third, the object of the “defusing” shows up in a prepositional phrase: “of the bomb.” “Of” is the preposition that heads the phrase, and prepositional phrases that start with “of” usually follow nouns.

• Examples -:

1. A friend of mine was accused of stealing food
(I think this is a gerund as it is the object of the verb accused?) ok

2. My wife is out shopping right now
(I think this is not a gerund as shopping is the main verb?) ok

3. When Sarah is playing music she is happy
(I think this is not a gerund, playing is the verb?) ok

4.Can you feel my heart beating?
(I think here beating is not a gerund but an adjective describing the action of the heart?, even though 'heart beating' is the object of the verb 'feel') Gerund here. You do not feel the heart; you feel the beating.

5. James was washing up when I saw him yesterday
(I think here washing is the main verb and not a gerund?) ok

6. I regret spending so much money on shoes
(I think spending is a gerund as it is the object of the verb 'regret') ok

7. The grass wants cutting this weekend
(I think cutting is a gerund as it is the object of the verb 'wants') ok

Any ideas on whether I am thinking along the right lines, or am I totally misunderstanding Gerunds?