Well hey there! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!
I can tell you that I didn't even know what a gerund was
before I started studying to be a teacher.
But native English speakers use gerunds a lot in English.
So it's important that you understand them too
and in today's lesson, I'm going to show you how.
Okay, I'm going to start by answering your question
Gerunds look like a verb but they're actually a noun.
Okay, perhaps you still don't know what that means.
We all know that a verb is an action, right?
For example, 'I jog every morning'.
But sometimes, I just want to talk about an action,
Jogging is one of my favourite ways to exercise.
I'm talking about 'jogging' as an action.
I'm just talking about something that I love to do.
I'm referring to the action of jogging as a noun.
I used a word that looks like a verb, as a noun.
So that's not too difficult, is it?
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really needs some help with their English!
I make new videos answering your trickiest
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So how can we recognise the gerund?
Well the gerund is formed by adding '-ing'
'jogging'
'jog' is the base form, 'jogging' is the gerund.
So obviously, the reason why this is confusing
looks a lot like the continuous form of the verb, right?
So to recognise a gerund, you need to pay attention
to how it's used in a sentence.
But performing in public makes me really nervous.
Standing on a stage in front of a crowd is terrifying.
So did you hear all of those gerunds?
But performing in public makes me really nervous.
Standing on a stage in front of a crowd is terrifying.
Okay. So far, we've learned so far generally
gerunds can be used in many different situations.
They can be used as the subject of a sentence.
They can be used after prepositions.
They can be used with fixed expressions.
And we can sometimes use a gerund
That's a lot of different possibilities!
So let's break them down together.
Firstly, you can use a gerund when you want to
use a verb as the subject of a sentence or a phrase.
to give back to your community.
is important for a healthy diet.
Studying gerunds doesn't have to be frustrating!
I want you to write a sentence
in the comments below this video to practise.
Tell me, what can be frustrating?
what else is important to your health?
Write a sentence, write an answer to that question
in the comments below this video
and make sure you're using a gerund
We're practising gerunds today, right?
Pause the video if you need to.
But tell me what frustrates you in the comments.
Next you can use a gerund as the object of a sentence.
Now there are some very common verbs
All of these verbs can be followed by a gerund.
but my fiance is a much better cook than me!
She really enjoys taking pictures of sunsets.
I prefer buying meat from my local butcher.
Write your sentence in the comments below.
When you see a verb after a preposition,
You remember prepositions, right?
I talked about them here in this lesson
They're words like: on, at, in, under,
She walked out of the room without saying a word.
And so these rules about prepositions include
expressions that end in prepositions like
In spite of training for years, she got
knocked out of the tournament in the first round.
There's no point in taking your jacket,
I'm fed up with asking you to be quiet!
There are some really common expressions
that are followed by gerunds too.
you do just need to memorise these ones.
I can't help being a perfectionist!
I can't stand working with people
It's no use leaving a message,
It's not worth spending so much money!
These are all really common expressions
that are followed by a gerund.
It's your turn to write a sentence.
What are some of the things that you can't stand doing?
Write it in the comments below.
Now you may also see gerunds used
Now some verbs can be followed by a gerund
And this can be a little confusing.
can change the overall meaning of a sentence.
Because in one sentence, the word is a noun
and in the other, it's a verb.
I'll never forget driving along the coast of Sicily.
Don't forget to take your grandma to the supermarket!
I've actually opened a can of worms there!
I've made an extra lesson, a separate lesson
and you can watch it right here
on the mmmEnglish channel next week.
It's going to be my next lesson
so I'll go over more details about the difference between
infinitives and gerunds in that lesson.
Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss it!
So let's practise what we've learnt already in this lesson.
I want you to find the gerund in each of the examples
is it being used as a subject,
He'll keep asking you until you say yes.
And it's a gerund used with a common expression.
It's no use avoiding. It's no use asking.
Do you feel like watching a horror movie
And it's a gerund used as an object, isn't it?
Not realising that one of my kids
is sick is one of my biggest fears!
And it's a gerund used as a subject.
she still managed to finish the marathon!
and it's a gerund used after a preposition.
So do you feel a little more confident
I'm going to go down into the comments and check
so I can make sure that you've been using
And for all of those other pesky English topics
make sure you subscribe to the mmmEnglish channel,