Gerunds

It can be difficult to know when you can use gerunds, a bare infinitive or ‘to’ + infinitive, and whether it is correct. A gerund is an –ing ending. For example, running, enjoying, playing etc. So, there are three rules as to when you need to use the gerund (verb + –ing):

When to use gerunds in English

1. We use gerunds after specific verbs that usually always take the gerund form afterwards.
2. We use the gerund after prepositions, e.g., until, by, before etc.
3. The gerund is used as the subject or the object of a sentence, e.g., playing football is great.

We use gerunds after specific verbs that usually always take the gerund form

These verbs take the gerund form:

Fancy	She fancies leaving early.
Discuss	I’ve discussed going on vacation with her.
Avoid	Mary usually avoids partying.
Keep	I keep insisting to her.
Recommend	Harry recommends getting a head-start.
Suggest	Joseph had suggested travelling to Paris.
Mind	I don’t mind getting dirty.
Dislike	She really dislikes smoking.
Enjoy	Let’s enjoy spending our time together.
Finish	I’ll finish running through your work.
Risk	Don’t risk losing your job.
Can’t help	Harry can’t help cheating.
Can’t stand	Maria can’t stand getting up early.
Appreciate	Samuel appreciates being able to come.
Practise	I will have been practising swimming for two years by tomorrow.
Postpone	Please don’t postpone meeting the venture capitalist.
Miss	She was missing studying.
Delay	They delayed flying.
Consider	I shall consider coming tonight.
Involve	My education involves learning lots about geography.
Deny	The accused denied stealing.
Complete	They will complete training in thirty minutes.
Understand	I understand living here is difficult.
Tolerate	The courts won’t tolerate shouting.
Mention	I think he mentioned leaving at around 20:00h.
Imagine	Last night she imagined arriving late.
Recall	The man recalled saving the guy’s life.
Report	The journalist reported interviewing the chief in stuff.
Anticipate	You must anticipate arriving at that time.

Gerunds (verb + –ing) must be used after prepositions

Prepositions include simple prepositions, double prepositions, participial prepositions, compound prepositions, phrasal prepositions.  

Before	Before arriving, please take your shoes off.
Of	I received a lot of complaining.
By	By discovering the new properties we were able to go ahead.
Until	Not until writing my book did I know.
For	For smoking in the hallway, you will be punished.
Through	I’ll go through with taking the choice.
Under	Under ‘pressing the button’.
Over	I’ll speak to her over handling the situation properly.
Aside from	Aside from not knowing the problem she hadn’t met anyone previously.
Pursuant to	The clause states that pursuant to finalising the deal, we must…
According to	Well, according to him, opening the account there isn’t a good idea.
Upon	Upon arriving in New York we suddenly got lost.
Amid	We were amid making some very serious decisions.
Without	Don’t speak to him without consulting me first.

We use the gerund (verb + –ing)  as a subject or an object of a sentence 

Subject	Smoking is an unhealthy habit.
Object	I liked your taking part in the activity.
Subject	Imagining things instead of telling the truth isn’t a good idea.
Object	I let him know that understanding the issue is vital.
Subject	Getting out of this city is my main priority.
Object	You mustn’t tell Ann over my leaving late today.
Subject	Telling lies is not a good idea.
Object	Explain to her about my telling off.
Subject	Jumping is fun.

Subjects and objects in random order (more on subjects and objects): Pronouns; subject, object & possessive pronouns + possessive adjectives.

See also