Gerund Phrases Worksheets & Exercises (Free PDF Download + Answer Key)

These gerund phrases worksheets and exercises are designed to help learners identify, use, and create gerund phrases confidently. The activities include fill-in-the-blanks, sentence rewriting, and identification tasks, making them suitable for both classroom practice and self-study.

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Gerund phrases—formed by a verb ending in -ing along with its objects or modifiers—function as nouns in English sentences. They can act as subjects, objects, or complements.

For example: Swimming in the ocean is fun. In this sentence, swimming in the ocean is a gerund phrase acting as the subject.

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Gerund Phrases Exercises

Quick Summary: A Gerund Phrase starts with an -ing word and acts as a noun.

• As Subject: Eating vegetables is good for you.
• As Object: I enjoy eating vegetables.
• As Complement: My favorite habit is eating vegetables.
• As Object of Preposition: I am interested in eating vegetables. 

Exercise 1: Identify the Gerund Phrase

Direction: Underline the gerund phrase in each sentence and identify its function (Subject, Object, Object of Preposition, or Complement).

1. Jogging every morning helps me feel energized. (Function: __________)
2. He enjoys watching cartoons with his little brother. (Function: __________)
3. Reading long novels takes a lot of patience. (Function: __________)
4. Her favorite activity is swimming in the lake. (Function: __________)
5. I’m interested in learning how to bake cakes. (Function: __________)

Exercise 2: Rewrite the Sentences Using a Gerund Phrase

Direction: Rewrite each sentence with a gerund phrase.

1.I like to ride my bike in the park.
→ ___________________________________________________________

2. It is a pleasure to cook Italian food on weekends.
→ ___________________________________________________________

3. He has quit the habit of smoking. (Use the verb “quit”)
→ ___________________________________________________________

4. He is interested in the process of building model airplanes.
→ ___________________________________________________________

5. We discussed the idea of going camping this summer.
→ ___________________________________________________________

Exercise 3: Challenge – Gerund vs. Present Participle

Direction: Identify whether the bolded phrase is a Gerund Phrase (acting as a noun) or a Present Participle Phrase (acting as an adjective or adverb).

1. Working out every day is good for your health. (__________)
2. The man working out at the gym is my trainer. (__________)
3. I saw a bird building a nest in the tree. (__________)
4. Building a nest requires a lot of effort for a small bird. (__________)
5. She enjoys singing loud songs in the shower. (__________)

Answer Key 

Exercise 1

1. Jogging every morning – Subject
2. watching cartoons with his little brother – Object
3. Reading long novels – Subject
4. swimming in the lake – Complement
5. learning how to bake cakes – Object of preposition

Exercise 2

• I like riding my bike in the park.
• Cooking Italian food on weekends is a pleasure.
• He has quit smoking.
• He’s interested in building model airplanes.
• We discussed going camping this summer.

Exercise 3

1. Gerund Phrase (Subject)
2. Present Participle Phrase (describes “the man”)
3. Present Participle Phrase (describes “a bird”)
4. Gerund Phrase (Subject)
5. Gerund Phrase (Object)