By Carrie A. Madalena

Introduction Complement means to complete. Complementation has to do with completing the meaning of a verb. Gerunds are words that function as nouns, but appear to be verbs. They end in –ing. Example: Swimming is fun. Q. What is fun? A. Swimming. Here, swimming is a noun.

Compare this with: Mary is swimming. Q. What is Mary doing? A. Swimming. Here, swimming is a verb in the present progressive. A gerund may be the direct object of a verb, the object of a preposition, or the subject of the sentence in which it occurs. We can combine two simple sentences into one complex sentence by creating gerunds.

Gerund As Object Example #1: The teacher watched it. The students were reading. Label sentences: S v o s AV v The teacher watched it. The students were reading Now we want to combine the sentences. Locate the direct object in the first sentence. Put an X through it. The teacher watched it. The students were reading. Locate the auxiliary verb in the second sentence. Put an X through it. The teacher watched it. The students were reading.

Gerund As Object Locate the gerund in the second sentence. (*Remember a gerund ends in - ing.) Underline it. The teacher watched it. The students were reading. Combine the sentences by placing the gerund after the verb. The gerund is now the direct object of the sentence. The teacher watched the students reading. *Check: ask a question about the verb to make sure the gerund answers it. Q: the teacher watched what? A: watched the students reading.

Example #2: Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda. Label the sentences: S v o s AV v o Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda. X the direct object in S1. Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda. X the auxiliary verb in S2. Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda. Underline the main verb in S2. Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda.

What is the subject of the first sentence? What is the subject of the second sentence? Here we notice that the subject of the sentence is the same in both sentences. We do not need to repeat the subject twice, so we can eliminate the second occurrence of Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson finished it. Mr. Johnson was drinking his soda. Now we are ready to combine the two sentences. Mr. Johnson finished drinking his soda.

Gerund As Object of a Preposition Example #1: The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. Label the sentences. S v o p op s AV v The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. Locate the preposition in the first sentence. Circle it. The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. The word that follows the preposition is the object of the preposition. Put an X through the object of the preposition in the first sentence. The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. The auxiliary verb is the to be verb that comes before the main verb. Put an X through the auxiliary verb in the second sentence. The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping.

Locate the main verb in the second sentence. Under line it. The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. What is the subject of the first sentence? What is the subject of the second sentence? What do you notice here? The subject of the first sentence, Jim, is repeated again in the second sentence. It does not need to be repeated. Put an X through the subject of the second sentence. The teacher thanked Jim for it. Jim was helping. Combine the two sentences. Keep the same word order of the original sentences, making sure that the main verb of the second sentence, which now becomes the gerund of the combined sentence, immediately follows the preposition. The teacher thanked Jim for helping.

Example #2: The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work. Label the sentences. S V Adj P OP The students were good about it. SAV V O The students were finishing their work. Circle the preposition in S1. The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work. X the object of the preposition in S1. The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work.

X the auxiliary verb in S2. The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work. Underline the main verb in S2. The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work. X the subject of S2 if it is the same as the subject in S1 and is repeated. The students were good about it. The students were finishing their work. Combine the sentences. The students were good about finishing their work.

Gerund as Subject Example #1: I play basketball. It is fun. Label the sentences. S V O S VAdj I play basketball. It is fun. Underline the verb of S1. I play basketball. It is fun. Notice that basketball and it refer to the same thing in both sentences. It is the subject, or noun, of S2. Since we do not need to repeat, X the subject of S2. I play basketball. It is fun.

Gerund as Subject I play basketball. It is fun. Convert the verb of S1 to the –ing form. It becomes the subject, or noun, of the sentence, so we can delete the original subject I, because we dont need two subjects in the sentence. Playing basketball. It is fun. Combine the sentences, beginning with the gerund as the subject of the new sentence. Playing basketball is fun.

Example #2: Frank played the drum. It annoyed Lisa. Label the sentences. S V O S V O Frank played the drum. It annoyed Lisa. Underline the verb in S1. Frank played the drum. It annoyed Lisa. Are the subjects of the two sentences the same or do they refer to the same thing? X the subject of S2. Frank played the drum. It annoyed Lisa. Convert the verb in S1 to the –ing form. Also, here we need to change something else. We need to make Frank possessive because it is his playing that is annoying Lisa. Frank becomes Franks Franks playing the drum. It annoyed Lisa. Combine. Franks playing the drum annoyed Lisa.

Complete and Identify The man yelled. It disturbed the neighbors. The man yelled. It disturbed the neighbors. The mans yelling disturbed the neighbors. The mans yelling disturbed the neighbors. What is the function of the gerund? The gerund is in the subject position.

2. Mom heard it. The baby was crying. Mom heard it. The baby was crying. Mom heard the baby ___________. Mom heard the baby crying. What position is the gerund in? The gerund is in the object position. 3. The boys are good at it. The boys were cooking. The boys are good at it. The boys were cooking. The boys are good at cooking. What is the function of the gerund? The gerund is the object of the preposition at.