gerund

  • A gerund is a non-finite ‘verbING’ that does not refer to time/tense.
  • Gerunds can take the position of noun phrases.
  • Unlike nouns, but similar to verbs, gerunds can have direct objects.

Gerunds (verbING)

A2, abstract, B2, C1, gerund, NOUNS, object, phrases, PREPOSITIONS, subject

Here’s a student example of using a verb-ing form as a noun subject: Studying for an exam won’t be hard for you if you follow these steps. PELIC: Chinese male level 3 writing class. Here’s an example in educational materials of the news: Closing the gas pipeline is one action Western nations have taken against Russia. BreakingNewsEnglish Here’s an example of verb-ing after ‘to’: The find goes a long way to solving the mystery of why the Stonehenge bluestones were brought from so far away  when all other stone circles were erected within a short distance of their quarries. thebritishacademy.ac.uk In the English Grammar Profile, point 22 in NOUNS […]

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RATHER THAN + non-finite clause | phrase

B1, B2, CLAUSES, comparatives, complex, emphasis, gerund, non-finite, phrases, PREPOSITIONS

Let’s look at how ‘rather than‘ is used to compare.  In the English Vocabulary Profile, at B1 the meaning is:  ‘instead of ‘ rather than examples: I‘d like coffee rather than tea. I usually wear a swimsuit rather than shorts. In the above examples: coffee, tea, a swimsuit, shorts are nouns or noun phrases, so ‘rather than‘ or ‘instead of‘ are complex prepositions. Here’s

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