Gerunds

Gerunds are very similar to present participles, except that a gerund is a verb changed into a noun (whereas a participle is a verb changed into an adjective). Like a present participle, you usually add ‘ing’ to the verb to make it into a gerund. To make the verb ‘run’ into a gerund, simply add ‘ing’ to get ‘running’. Here’s a sentence with ‘running’ used as a gerund (which is a noun):

He takes his running very seriously.

‘Running’ in this sentence is a noun - it is the name of an activity which some guy does.

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