Gerunds are special verb forms that can be used instead of nouns. Almost all verbs have gerund forms. Gerunds are formed using: base verb + ing
You will notice that it is the same verb form as is used in the present continuous.
| Verb | Gerund |
| work | working |
| make | making |
| run | running |
| lose | losing |
Notice that the same rules regarding how to change verb endings before adding -ing also apply here, just like they did when you were making the present continuous.
Gerunds as Subjects
We can use gerunds as the subject of a sentence, in place of a noun. For example, look at the noun in the sentence below.
Runners generally lead very healthy lifestyles.
We can change the sentence by using a gerund to replace the noun 'runners' in this sentence.
Running is part of a healthy lifestyle.
The gerund form is very useful when we want to make general statements about a concept or idea. In the first example, the sentence talks about runners specifically. In the second example, the sentence talks about the concept of running in general.
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