The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The forms of the gerund

The gerund is an -ing form. It can be simple or perfect, active or passive:

Active

Passive

Simple gerund

writing

being written

Perfect gerund

having written

having been written

Note the changes in spelling when forming the simple gerund:

read

»

read

ing

study

»

study

ing

grow

»

grow

ing

relax

»

relax

ing

answer

»

answer

ing

writ

e

»

writ

ing

; arg

ue

»

arg

uing

(a final

-e

is omitted)

agr

ee

»

agr

eeing

(a final

-ee

does not change)

l

ie

»

l

ying

(a final

-ie

changes to

-y-

)

pu

t

»

pu

tting

; regre

t

»

regre

tting

; readmi

t

»

readmi

tting

(we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant, with the exception of

w

,

x

and

y

, and only has one syllable or has the stress on the last syllable)

In the negative, not usually comes before the gerund:

There is no point in

applying

for the grant.

There is no point in

not applying

for the grant.

In some cases, the verb in the main clause is negative, not the gerund:

I

like

getting up early.

I

don't like

getting up early.

As the gerund has no tense, it does not in itself indicate the time of the action that it refers to. However, it can show whether this time is the same as or earlier than the time of the verb in the main clause.

Simple gerund

The simple gerund can refer to the same time as that of the verb in the main clause:

I

hate

arguing

with you.

(

arguing

refers to the same time as

hate

: I hate when we argue.)

Tom

suggested

going back

to our tents.

(

going

refers to the same time as

suggested

: Tom suggested that we should go back to our tents.)

The simple gerund can also refer to a time before that of the verb in the main clause:

I

don't remember

saying

anything like that.

(

saying

refers to a time before

don't remember

: I don't remember that I said anything like that.)

She

regretted

not studying

harder when she was at school.

(

not studying

refers to a time before

regretted

: She regretted that she hadn't studied harder when he was at school.)

Perfect gerund

The perfect gerund refers to a time before that of the verb in the main clause. However, it is only used if the time of the action expressed by the gerund is not obvious from the context:

He

denied

being

married.

(the simple gerund

being

refers to the same time as

denied

: He denied that he was married.)

He

denied

having been

married.

(the perfect gerund

having been

refers to a time before

denied

: He denied that he had been married.)

If it is clear that an earlier time is meant, we use the simple gerund:

He

denied

stealing

the car.

(He denied that he had stolen the car.)

Passive gerunds

Passive forms are also possible:

I hate

being lied to

.

(passive simple gerund: I hate it when people lie to me.)

He complained of

having been

unjustly

accused

.

(passive perfect gerund: He complained that they had unjustly accused him.)

Related topics:

The perfect aspect

Form: passive voice