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Language Ladder GRAMMAR Language Skills

Gerunds

Read this sentence :

It was a small victory, but it was a beginning.

The highlighted word is a gerund. Gerunds are also non-finite forms of verbs that do the work
of nouns.

A gerund can be

1. the subject of a sentence. Reading is a good hobby.

2. a complement. My cat’s favourite activity is sleeping.

3. the object of a sentence. He enjoys painting city scences.

A complement is any word or phrase that completes the sense of a subject, an object or a verb.
A. Complete the sentences with the correct form of words given in the box.

watch, fish, paraglide, play, read, drive

1. I finished the book yesterday.
2. Madhuri prefers films to reading books.

3. Nisha is fond of table tennis.

4. We need to keep till we find hotel.
5. I find very frightening.

6. My father often goes in the village pond.

B. Say whether the highlighted words are participles (P) or gerunds (G).
1. We saw Aman standing near the post office.

2. Talking on the phone is prohibited.

3. Hearing the doorbell, Aman ran to open the door.
4. Mr Ajay scolded Anita for shouting in the library.

5. He is spoiling his health by eating junk food.

6. Vinay enjoys playing basket ball.

Let's Speak! Speaking Skills

If you were designing a robot to help with a specific problem in society, what problem would you
choose, and how would your robot address it? Discuss your ideas with a partner.’’

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