USES OF THE GERUND A Gerund may be

USES OF THE GERUND A Gerund may be used as : 1. Subject of a verb Giving is better than receiving Hunting is a favourite sport in this country Advising others is easy

2. As an Object e. g. I love writing letters Stop talking He enjoys watching T. V.

3. Object of a preposition e. g. He is fond of eating I am tried of waiting Hendry has no intention of leaving the country now

Some verbs must always be followed by the gerund e. g. admit appreciate avoid consider deny enjoy finish mind miss postpone practise quit recall report resent resume

He admitted having stolen the car Why have they delayed opening the school? The goalkeeper just missed stopping the ball Journalists reported being tired He suggested taking children to the zoo They appreciated being invited She denied knowing anything about it Let’s postpone making a decision until we have more information Does she resent my being cat She enjoys playing tennis He practised reversing the car into the garage Peter couldn’t resist making jokes about his baldness We can’t help thinking he’s still alive He has quit smoking The two sides have resumed fighting He was considering buying a car until the prices went up Do you mind my closing the window? I recall her giving me the key You should not talk marrying unless you are absolutely sure about it

Some Verbs + Prepositions are followed by the gerund e. g. approve of insist on think about give up succeed in put off rely on count on think of postpone practise quit recall worry about keep on

I approve of your trying to earn more money David has given up smoking John relied on your supporting him Sarah is not worried about passing the examination The manager insisted on his coming to the office on time He succeeded in passing the examination You can't count on his helping you Don’t keep on talking She’s thinking about changing her job He keeps putting off going to the dentist They’re thinking of moving to America

Some Verb + Preposition expressions must also be followed by the gerund e. g. Object to look confess to forward to

I strongly object to your talking like this We’re really looking forward to seeing you again She finally confessed to having stolen the money

Some adjectives + Preposition are also followed by the gerund e. g. accustomed capable to of interested in intent to successful in tired of fond of afraid of

We are accustomed to getting up early in the morning He’s intent on getting promoted I was afraid of hurting his feelings The company is interested in selling its products overseas I’m sure he is capable of running a mile in four minutes He was successful in running the business She is fond of cooking You soon get tired of eating the same thing every day