What are Gerunds?

The term 'Gerunds' might sound complicated, but we unconsciously sprinkle our conversations liberally with them.

A gerund is a verb, but—ing-- gets tacked to its tail, thereby it is used as a noun.

A gerund word or gerund phrase can be the subject of the sentence.

Swimming is good for your health. (gerund—word)

Circumnavigating the globe was Columbus' passion from the beginning. (gerund—phrase)

Similarly, a gerund word or gerund phrase can be the object of the sentence.

Milkha Singh was famous for his running. (gerund—object)

They do not appreciate my finding a needle in the haystack. (gerund—phrase)

Gerund words or phrases do not take any specific punctuation signs.

The confusing part for most users is that 'present participles' or the 'present/past/future continuous' forms or adjectives, also end with 'ing', but they do not function as nouns. This is the main difference between them.

Running a hotel is easy. (Running---gerund)

It is difficult to leave a running hotel. (Running—adjective)

I was running for one hour. (Running—past continuous)

We should treat gerunds respectfully because they help us in economizing the usage of nouns in a sentence and they make our writing smooth and seamless.

The government will discuss the dismissal of the bureaucrat for his being in association with the opposition----a heavy sentence.

The government will discuss dismissing the bureaucrat for associating with the opposition--clean and crisp.

I am sure that you agree with me.