Adding Gerunds

Adding Advanced Structures: Gerunds

I’m interested in               learning how to fly an airplane                                                                               .

I’m nervous about ________________________________________________________________________.

I’m responsible for ________________________________________________________________________.

I’m concerned about ______________________________________________________________________.

I’m involved in ___________________________________________________________________________.

Gerunds - _________________________________________________________________________ Rules: 1.      All verbs, except modal verbs, have gerund forms. 2.      Gerunds can appear in many forms: a.      (one word):                 Eating is one my favorite activities. b.      ( + adverb):                 Eating quickly can lead to weight gain. c.       ( + noun):                     Eating chocolate makes me so happy. d.      ( + preposition):          Eating in a restaurant is often expensive. 3.      Gerunds can act as the subject of a sentence.                                  Listening to loud music is one way I get rid of stress. 4.      Gerunds can follow a verb. I like listening to loud music to get rid of stress. Gerunds can follow a preposition. I’m concerned about listening to loud music when I’m driving a car.

 

Practice: Complete each sentence with a gerund. Identify the location of the gerund.

________ 1. My brother really enjoys _________________________________________________________.

________ 2. ____________________________________________________ can be a wonderful experience.

________ 3. Many students dislike ___________________________________________________________.

________ 4. I’m most proud of ______________________________________________________________.

________ 5. If you want to avoid the flu, you should avoid ________________________________________.

________ 6. My father was angry about _______________________________________________________.

________ 7. ________________________________________________________________ is a difficult task.

________ 8. After the test, I finished _________________________________________________________.

Showing Cause and Effect: Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional Phrase	Cause	Cause/Effect Sentence
because of	the hot weather	Because of the hot weather, I stayed inside.
as a result of	our win	As a result of our win, we advanced to the finals.
as a consequence of	the fog	As a consequence of the fog, ___________________________.
due to	the injury	Due to the injury, ______________________________________.

Prepositional Phrases - __________________________________________________________________ Rules: 1.      Prepositional Phrase comes before a noun or noun phrase. a.      (Prepositional Phrase) (noun/noun phrase), (effect)    As a consequence of      my laziness              , I did not do well on the exam.          2.      Make a noun phrase by deleting the verb and moving the adjective before the noun. a.      Interest rates are low. Many people are buying homes for the first time. Because of low interest rates, many people are buying homes for the first time. Punctuation: The prepositional phrase can be first or second. Use a comma if it comes first. Because of heavy rain, our backyard flooded.         Our backyard flooded because of heavy rain.

 

Practice: Combine each pair of sentences to show cause and effect. Use the prepositional phrase in the parentheses.

1.       The economy failed. Many people are unemployed. (due to)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2.       Individual health care is expensive. People cannot afford treatment. (because of)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3.       The oil spill is spreading. Thousands of volunteers are going to the gulf to help. (as a consequence of)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

4.       The student’s work is excellent. He received the highest grade in the class. (as a result of)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5.       The weather is changing rapidly. She got sick. (as a consequence of)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6.       The semester is short. The students must learn a lot in a little time. (because of)

_____________________________________________________________________________________