Gerunds

Gerunds are verbs in noun form. In Japanese, gerunds are called 動名詞 (どうめいし; doumeishi).

Here are some examples of gerunds.

• I started writing a letter.
• Playing baseball is fun.
• We like eating ice cream.

Continuous tense verbs are not gerunds. For example, the following sentence doesn't have a gerund.

• I am working.

Activities

• Gerund Crossword Puzzles
• Study schedule.
• Gerund or Infinitive? Students learn which verbs are followed by a gerund and which are followed by an infinitive, and then practice using them in a paragraph.

Notes

• Students might translate "started doing" as 「して始めた」. Here a better translation is 「することを始めた」. The latter translation is more accurate, and you probably want to use it, even if you don't explain why.

See also

• Infinitive.
• JHS 2nd grade.
• Verbals: Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives. A very detailed explanation of gerunds.