Unit 6
Chapter 3
Gerunds (pp.476-478)
Gerunds in English look similar to present participles (V+ing). Gerunds, however, are always used as nouns - as subjects or objects,
i.e. : Swimming is good exercise.
I like swimming.
The following verbs are always followed by gerunds, not infinitives: enjoy, mind, stop, avoid, consider, appreciate, finish, deny, admit, risk, dislike.
The following verbs are followed by either gerunds or infinitives: start, begin, continue, like, neglect, hate, cease, love, prefer, intend.
I. Writing
- Find the seven gerunds in the Comprehensive Reading.
- Tell whether they are in subject or object positions.
II. Exchanges
A: Do you like flying?
B: Well, I like landings but not take-offs.
A: Doesn't that guy do a lot of travelling?
B: Sure. It's part of his job.
A: Sailing is a great sport, isn't it?
B: Yeah, but I've never tried it.
III. Quotations
All travelling becomes dull in direct proportion to its rapidity.
I travelled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea,
Nor, England! did I know till then,
What love I bore to thee.
III. Quotations (continued)
The fool wanders, the wise man travels.
Travels far, he that knows much.
IV. Writing
Make sentences out of the following groups of words.
- educational/is/travelling
- to/crash/make/landing/had/he/a
- not/is/profitable/wandering/often/foreign/through/countries
- rapidly/travelling/place/the/look/makes/every/same
- country/appreciate/makes/own/us/our/travelling
V. Writing
Write five things that:
- are educational
- are not profitable
- make us appreciate our own country