The Gerund

Gerund is an impersonal form of a verb ending in -ing, which has the properties of a verb and a noun. As an infinitive, the gerund names an action or process: reading, listening. Like the verb, the gerund has tense and state forms. The gerund is never used with an article or in the plural. In Ukrainian, a gerund can be translated as an infinitive, a noun, an adverb, or a predicate in a subordinate clause.

The Indefinite) form of the gerund is used:

• to express an action simultaneous with the action expressed by the substantive verb in the sentence;
• to express an action regardless of any specific time (“at all”);
• to express the action that precedes the one expressed by the substantive verb, in particular after the following verbs: to remember, to apologize, to excuse, to forget, to thank and after the prepositions on, after,
• after the verbs to intend, to suggest, to insist — the gerund conveys the future action relative to the one expressed by the substantive verb in the sentence

The perfect form of the gerund denotes the action that precedes the content verbs in the sentence.

The main functions of the gerund:

• Subject (the main member of the sentence)
• Appendix (secondary member of the sentence)
• Nominative part of a complex predicate (the main member of the sentence)
• Circumstance (Determines place, time, reason or form of action)

Verbs after which only the gerund is used