01/03/13 22:00:54

Gerunds. English Grammar Lessons

As you may know I’m an active learner of the English language. As such I’m driving sometimes myself up the wall by some things… Such as Gerunds.

I want to give the interested reader some resources to look at if he or she is learning English too.

What is a Gerund?

Some information is given in the Wikipedia article:

"In English grammar, the gerund is a verb form in -ing when used to make a verb phrase that can serve in place of a noun phrase (thus being similar in function to the Latin gerund). The same -ing form also serves as the English present participle (which has an adjectival or adverbial function), and as a verbal noun."

The fact that gerunds serve two purposes is the crux of all of this.

Apparently one of the easiest things a foreigner can do is to learn a list of all verbs that are followed of the -ing form of a verb. That’s the best approach I have found.

To Be Or Being? That Is The Question!

Now I have to figure out how “going to” and “gonna” is used. (I can’t figure this out for almost two years. Though I learned to say “going to” when it’s appropriate.)