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Verbs and Gerunds in Speech and
Fiction Writing |
The American rock group Journey released the song "Don't
Stop Believin'" in 1981.
This song, still popular in karaoke music bars, can help
you learn about English grammar.
Let's listen to some words from the song:
Don't stop believing
Hold on to that feeling
Today, we are going to examine the grammar behind the
song's famous words.
Specifically, we will talk about verb + gerund
structures. "Stop believing" is one example of this kind
of structure.
Gerunds and Infinitives
Let us begin with a few definitions.
A gerund is the form of a verb that ends with the
letters “ing”. Such words act like a noun. For example,
in the sentence "I love learning," the word "learning"
is a gerund.
An infinitive is the basic, or simplest form of the
verb. Sometimes it has the word "to" in front of it. In
the sentence "I like to read books," the words "to read"
are an infinitive.
Some verbs can be followed by an infinitive or a gerund.
Knowing when to use an infinitive and when to use a
gerund is difficult.
The good news is this: only a few verbs commonly appear
with gerunds. Verb + gerund structures are less common
than verb + infinitive structures.
When English speakers use verb + gerund structures, the
verbs often come from one of three groups.
The groups have meanings that suggest beginnings and
ends, thoughts and memories, and sights and sounds.
These three groups are common in everyday speech and
fiction writing, but rare in school-related or academic
writing.
We will now look closer at each of the groups.
#1 Begin, continue
Here is our first meaning group: beginnings and ends.
Gerunds often follow verbs that suggest a beginning or
ending. The most common examples include the verbs
begin, start, and stop.
Famous works of American fiction have examples of this
structure.
The 1988 novel Tracks, written by Louise Erdrich, begins
with the following words:
"We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we
continued to fall."
In the example, the gerund "dying" follows the verb
"started" - a verb that suggests a beginning.
The words from Journey's song show how speakers use
verbs that suggest an ending:
"Don't stop believing."
Here, the gerund "believing" follows the verb "stop."
Now, we will begin exploring our second meaning group.
#2 Remember, think about, think
of
The second group is thoughts and memories. Gerunds often
follow verbs that suggest that the mind is at work. The
most common examples include the verbs remember, think
about, and think of.
Consider this example:
"Do you remember playing at that park when we were
young?"
In the example, the gerund "playing" follows the verb
"remember" – a verb that suggests the mind is working.
Let's consider another example. Imagine you see a car
that has been severely damaged. The owner might say:
"Well, maybe I should think about buying a new car."
Here, the gerund "buying" follows the verb structure
"think about." Think about means to consider something.
It suggests that a person will examine different
possibilities and make a decision.
Perhaps we should think about exploring one more meaning
group…
#3 Hear, see
Our final meaning group is this: senses. Gerunds often
follow verbs that suggest sights and sounds. Common
examples include the structures see + a noun phrase + a
gerund and hear + a noun phrase + a gerund.
A noun phrase is a group of words that acts like a noun
in a sentence.
William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury gives you one
example of these grammatical structures.
"Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I
could see them hitting."
Here, the verb "see" is followed by a pronoun: the word
“them”. The gerund, "hitting", comes after the pronoun.
Here is another example. Imagine you are reading a crime
novel and you see the following words:
"He could see a large man waiting in the alley."
Here, the noun phrase "a large man" comes between the
verb "see" and the gerund "waiting."
What can you do?
The next time you are reading fiction in English or
speaking to an American, try to find examples of verb +
a gerund. Ask yourself why the speaker may have used the
gerund instead of the infinitive. Does the verb relate
to one of the groups we talked about today?
Gerunds can be hard to master. It takes time to become
skilled in their use. But the most important thing is
that you do not stop trying to use them.
I'm Jill Robbins.
And I'm John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English.
George Grow was the editor. |
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