Introduction to English Gerunds The English gerund form of the verb is the 'ing' form of the verb. Gerunds are verbs that are used as nouns. In other words, by adding 'ing' to any verb you can change that verb into a noun. Gerunds are often used at the beginning of sentences when focusing on activity as the subject of conversation. Examples: Playing tennis is good for your heath, and good fun! Listening 10 minutes a day to English will help you improve your understanding of the language. It's also possible to use gerunds in any other position in a sentence. As a direct object of a verb: Examples: Hanna enjoys listening to classical music.Verbs + Gerunds There are many verbs that are always followed by the gerund form. Here are some of the most important: admit advise avoid consider delay deny discuss enjoy finish keep postpone recommend regret risk suggest tolerate Examples: He avoided paying late fees on the account. She denied knowing anything about the crime. I postponed making a decision until Monday. She regrets not studying French in college. NOTE: Notice that the negative gerund form is 'not + verb + ing'. Jason admits spending too much money on toys. Phrasal Verbs + Gerunds Gerunds are used with phrasal verbs that end in prepositions. Phrasal verbs are verb phrases which are made up of two or more words, generally the verb plus one or two prepositions. Not all phrasal verbs combine with other verbs. Here are some of the most common phrasal verbs that do combine with other verbs in the gerund form: bring about call off check into cut out figure out get over look into put off take over Examples: The coach called off practicing for the day. Tom looked into finding a new job. She took a long time to get over losing her dog.