1. GERUNDS

2. Jogging can be good exercise. [subject] My favorite hobby is fishing. [predicate noun] Lock the door before leaving. [object of preposition] Did they go hiking? [direct object] A gerund is a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a noun.

3. Because the gerund acts as a noun, it can be modified by adjectives and adjective phrases. The quiet gurgling of the water was restful. The adjective quiet and the adjective phrase of the water both modify the gerund gurgling.

4. Because gerunds are also verb forms, they can be modified by adverbs and adverb phrases, too. We crossed the stream by stepping carefully from stone to stone. The adverb carefully and the adverb phrase from stone to stone both modify the gerund stepping.

5. Remember that gerunds are nouns. Do not confuse a gerund with a participle used as part of a verb or as an adjective. Pausing, the deer was sniffing the wind before stepping into the open meadow. Pausing is a participle modifying deer, and sniffing is part of the verb phrase was sniffing. Stepping is a gerund, serving as the object of the preposition before.