Sentence-Composinq
Tools: Gerund
Phrase
DEFINITION
A verbal ending in ing used to name activities. A verbal is a verb that also works
like another part of speech. Gerunds show action, so they act like verbs, but they
also name, so they act like nouns by naming activities.
To see how gerunds act like nouns, insert any of these phrases into any of the
blanks: playing chess, learning new things, climbing mountains in distant lands, building sand castles on the beach, taking a computer apart to investigate its guts, etc.
1. __
is fun. (subject)
2. We like __
o
(direct object)
3. They talked about __
o
(object of preposition)
4. A great leisure activity is __
5. Their favorite pastime, __
o
(predicate noun)
, is enjoyed by many. (appositive)
Difference Between Gerunds and Present Participles: Like gerunds, present
participles (pages 48-52) are verbals that end in ing, but it's easy to tell the difference. Present participles can be removed from the sentence without destroying
the sentence, but gerunds cannot be removed without destroying the sentence.
In each pair, the first contains a present participle, and the second contains a
gerund. Notice that only the present participles can be removed.
la. Feeling so much beitet after the nap, Gunster dressed and went out.
I b. Feeling so much better after the nap relieved Gunster.
2a. Ricky, going down the staircase backward, was very unsteady.
2b. His mom had warned Ricky about going down the staircase backward.
3a. The damaged plane landed poorly, skidding left and right with sparks flying
everywhere.
3b. The captain during touchdown
worried about skidding left and right with sparks
flying everywhere.
Sentences can contain single or multiple gerund phrases:
54
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Single gerund: Making new friends didn't come easily, but in time he developed a
(ï
skill at that.
j
x
Robert Ludlum, The Prometheus Deception
Multiple gerunds: My mother told me about dressing in her best party clothes on
Saturday nights and going to the town's plaza to promenade
in front of the boys they liked.
with her girlfriends
Ortiz Cofer, "The Myth of the Latin Woman"
PRACTiCE 1: MATCHING -------------------
Match the gerund phrases with the sentences. Write out each sentence, inserting
and underlining the gerund phrases.
1. Building the railroad involved
~.
".
Gerund Phrases:
Sentences:
a. making notes in the margins of a book
/>.
Stephen E. Ambrose, Nothing Like It ill the World
2. God had not struck Westley dead for/\.
b. getting easier to see through until
all your failing insides are in plain
view and everyone's business
Langston Hughes, Tile Big Seo
(
c.. building a grade, laying ties, laying
rails, spiking in rails, filling in ballast
3. /\ is literally an expression of your
differences, or agreements of opinion,
with the author.
Mortimer Adler, "How to Mark a Book"
d. gaining om rightful place
4. In the process of !\ we must not be
guilty of wrongful deeds.
Martin Luther King jr., "I Have a Dream"
e. taking His name in vain or for lying
in the temple
S. Getting old is just a matter of ":
Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven
PRACTICE 2: UNSCRAMBLING TO IMITATE -------------
In the model and the scrambled list, identify the gerunds. Next, unscramble and
write out the sentence parts to imitate the model. Finally, write your own imitation of the model and identify the gerunds.
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f
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MODEL: We had to pray without ceasing and work without tiring.
Maya Angelou,
The Heart of a vvoinan
a. and
b. to study without tiring
c. we had
d. listen without daydreaming
PRACTICE 3: COMBINING TO IMITATE ---------------
In the model, identify the gerund phrase. Next, combine the list of sentences to
imitate the model. Finally, write your own imitation of the model and identify the
gerund phrase.
MODEL: After making ten paper birels, Sadako lined them up on the table beside
the golden crane.
Elean or Coerr, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
a. This happened
before taking the nasty medicine.
b. Before he took it, James put it down.
c. He put it on the sink.
d. He put it down near the toothpaste
tube.
PRACTICE 4: IMITATING
Identify the gerund phrases in the models and sample imitations. Then write an
imitation of each model sentence, one sentence part at a time. Read one of your
imitations to see if your classmates can guess which model you imitated.
Models:
1. After untangling
himself) he ran to the wall.
Mark Bowden)
B/nek Haw]:
DOWIl
Sample: For preparing herself) she listened to the music.
2. He remembered seeing the blood bursting through that mari's fingers in a
flood, drenching his uniform.
Stephen
King,
Henris in Atlantis
56
r,
~1
'.
t
•
Sample: He anticipated hearing the applause filling up the entire theater in a
wave, fulfilling his dream.
3. Feeding our bellies seemed a more vital job to us than trying to feed our minds.
Christy Brown, My Left Foot
Sample: Sharing my mind was a more acceptable activity to me than attempting to share my heart.
PRACTICE 5: EXPANDING
The gerund phrases are omitted at the caret mark el) in the following sentences.
For each caret, add a gerund phrase, blending your content and style with the rest
of the sentence.
1. Some parents, upon II, had their hair turn white overnight,
catatonia,
heart attacks, or sudden death.
Keith Donohue,
I
were stunned into
Tile Stolen Child
2. I remember the bitter fifth-grade conflict I touched off by
1\
and
1\,
Jon Katz, "How Boys Become Menil
3.
(
and 1\ were routine procedures, and Eliza lost her horror of blood and learned
to stitch human flesh as calmly as formerly she had embroidered sheets for her
trousseau.
1\
Isabel Allende, Daughter
of Fortune
(
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