Grammar: Active and Passive Gerunds

Did you know that you can use gerunds in active AND passive forms? Did you know you can actually use gerunds in past forms as well as present and future? This grammar lesson is for advanced students, so if you're having a hard time understanding the constructions, get yourself prepared by checking out my lesson on the uses of gerunds (www.engvid.com/..., and my lesson on common verbs followed by gerunds (www.engvid.com/.... Once you feel confident, come back here and challenge yourself even more!
www.engvid.com...
TRANSCRIPT
Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on active and passive gerunds. Those of you who don't know, a gerund is a verb + "ing". And if you'd like to check out the various uses of gerunds and where a gerund can go in a sentence, you can check out my previous lesson on the various uses of gerunds. That lesson is very essential to understanding this one, so please check it out if you haven't already.
In this lesson, we're going to look at how to use a gerund in a passive form and in an active form. Now, very simply, let's begin with the easiest which is the active simple which is basically the simple gerund use, just verb "ing". Now, in this situation, this means you can put the gerund as a subject, as an object, as a subject complement, you can also put it as the object of a preposition, possessive. All that stuff is explained in the other lesson.
So, for example, let's look at these sentences: "I like swimming." "Swimming" is the gerund, it's the object of the sentence. In the present, I enjoy swimming; I like swimming.
"Smoking is bad for you." As we know and have discussed, a gerund can be the subject of a sentence, and here, "smoking" is the subject. "I regret not calling you." "Not calling", "calling" being the gerund in this situation. So this is your basic gerund use that most
students at the advanced level are familiar with at some level or another.
Okay, now let's look at the active past. Okay? Not the active simple, but the active past. If you specifically want to put a gerund into the past, you can do it by using: "having" + a past participle. In this structure, "having" is actually considered the gerund. So, let's look at this. "I'm proud of having completed university." Now, we call this active past because you are the one who completed university, you are the one who did the action. Right? And you are proud of... And again, we use a gerund here because of "of" which is a preposition. And I'm proud of having completed university, I'm proud now because I completed university in the past. Okay?
And let's look at another example: "Having gone to college is one of the best things I've ever done." So here, "having gone" is considered the active gerund. Again, "having" is the gerund in this construction. Okay? So having gone to college is one of the best things I've ever done. So any time you have: "having done", "having done", "having done" something in the past, you're actually using a gerund. And in this situation, a passive - sorry - an active past gerund.
Now, let's look over on this side and let's look at how we use passive gerunds. So this might be new for a lot of students here. Passive simple, basically all you're doing is you have "being" + p.p. Remember: "passive" means the person is receiving the action. Okay? So being done... Something is being done to the person.
So, for example: "She hates being told what to do." "Being" is the gerund in this construction. She is receiving the action of someone telling her what to do. She hates being told what to do. And, again, if you're wondering, you know: "Why are you using 'being'? Why not 'to be'? Why are we using 'ing' and not 'to' plus the base verb in some of these?" Basically, it follows the constructions that I describe in the previous video about the uses of gerunds. So, again, another reminder to check that out before this.
Okay, another example: "I'm tired of being insulted!" And, again, you have "of" which is a preposition, and after a preposition, you have to use a gerund. So I'm tired of being insulted by other people, or by him, by her, by someone. Okay? And, finally: "Being robbed is an awful experience." And here, we're using a gerund as a subject which is possible. Being robbed by someone - passive construction, you receive the action - is an awful experience. So here, you're speaking in general; here, you're speaking about the present; here, again, she hates being told what to do in general, in the present.
Now, let's look at how we can refer to the past with this construction. So for the past...This is actually the least common form of all of these that we're... That are up here just because it's such a long construction that there are not many opportunities you get to actually use it.

[@joelmasamba6762]

I'm proud of having understood a lot about your lesson

[@anastasiyannsm1370]

I fell in love at first sight! Thanks a lot! Your explanation is easy to understand to everyone, cause your speech and your pronouncation are wonderful 😍

[@nataliiayarmolenko9599]

Alex is a talented tutor ! Thank you for your good job 👍🇬🇧🌈

[@biancaamalia2860]

Agree

[@iradareimbayeva3753]

i couldnt solve my gerund problem until i found ur channel u r best teacher i havent meet by far like u thanks for all ur lessons :)

[@pabloandressaenzarias]

I really appreciate this class !!! Thank you :)

[@joelmasamba6762]

I was happy to have watched your Lesson last time

[@pratibhabhandari9164]

Initially I watched yr lessons but nowadays kinda skipping it . After a prolong period, I enjoyed it again. Thanx.

[@engvidAlex]

Welcome back. :)

[@IbrahimKhalil-yg4pt]

It's been a huge help to learn gerunds from the 2 tutorials you've made. I appreciate your effort. I'm having trouble with participle, messing up this with gerunds. can you please make a tutorial on participle? If you already have tutorial on participle, can you please provide me with the links for those tutorial, thanks.

[@Risayout]

You’re great!!!!! It’s have been a long time since I got the lecture, you know what you doing 🧡

[@giftp1703]

This is the first time I understand Gerunds, really clear!! thank you

[@israsirkuh4965]

omg alex out of all the videos on youtube in this topic only yours has been helpful thank you so much

[@dimamedvedev4124]

I like watching kind of lessons. I regreat having been seen such video back then I started learning english. Without being shown this video we couldn't help improving our awareness about gerund.

[@joelmasamba6762]

I'm happy about having written a lot when I went there.

[@AhmedSoufi-fx3rc]

I’m pretty pleased about havin found ur channel 🙌 greetings from a Syrian guy from Germany

[@periklisgewrgiou5327]

Thank you so much, for your simple, clear, and useful lesson. for me, it was listening for the first time

[@kel7484]

Very clear Alex! Great job!

[@leticiasilva2007]

Having watched your video IS or WAS such a great idea? Thans a million!

[@shobhavidwath5354]

We r gratful to have u on the earth to teach us.. thank u so much ur vedios are very useful i am shobha from INDIA

[@julianameneses5975]

Hey Alex!! You are simply the best teacher ever!!

[@TheSofi8585]

Awesome! Thanks a lot Alex!.. Watching your videos is one of the best ways to understand english grammar for me.. :D keep doing it!

[@purplemoon1741]

Thank you sir. You are helping that my proficiency exam studies.

[@dipsomania0]

the clearest instruction I have seen!

[@alexthai2456]

why use having instead of have??? what's the different

[@Ishaakismail-u4o]

Iam so grateful for your helping us.❤

[@corjd4991]

Very very useful Thanks !!!!! It’s very clear I would have loved having you as a teacher when I was younger

[@rumanapervin5594]

You are my best teacher. I love you so much.

[@ezzovonachalm7534]

It were very useful for the student being told which sort of english is being teached : ENGLISH or AMERICAN ?

[@CreativeSpacebyAshwani]

Hi Haseen Dillruba’ has its moments of being preposterous and unbelievable In this given example, can we use "being+adjective" after preposition?

[@emirhannky8008]

Hello teacher 😊 I'd like to ask you something if it is possible. Can I use these structures with past tense ? To give an example, can I say ' I was proud of having completed my assignment. ' Or ' Having eaten this traditional dish was amazing. ' If you answer my question, I would be very happy . Thanks in advance. Have a nice day .

[@bengalisinne6654]

Nicely explained.from tripura,india❤️

[@parvinderkaur8408]

Very useful lesson for me. Loads of thank

[@ГлебГлубина]

What different is "I dislike being told what to do " and "I dislike to be told what to do"

[@domybarahona8985]

Hello Teacher, Is this the same as participle clauses?

[@youreadygo2414]

Thanks a lot friend! I hadnt managed to understand the topic in my books before i watched the video! Gonna subscribe! Perfect!

[@engvidAlex]

Welcome to my channel! I'm glad you found it and I hope it's useful for you.

[@Fippie3004]

Thanks Alex) But I have a question: Is it correct to start sentence with Aren't not just Are?

[@waqarhussainshahwaqari5132]

Sir, your way of teaching is outstanding, really wonderful.

[@engvidAlex]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy it.

[@ccn3498]

Your lessons are good sir

[@arnulfohernandez7627]

You are a master bro love your teaching you are the best man. 🥰

[@englishenglish66]

Very nice presentation. I would like to be clarified a thing, as we know basically a subject is the doer of the action. In the examples above smoking is the subject of the sentence. The question is : what is the difference between the two subjects the normal one ( she hits the ball) and the other one ( smoking is bad for you). Many thanks

[@ramuganesan]

Thank you sir,.. only today , i understood the differences among those ...

[@teena6051]

How do yoy distinguish between perfect gerund and perfect participle? Could you also recommend to me a good book on advanced English grammar and become a grammarian.? Thanks

[@englishonly2569]

Thank you, sir. can you discuss the difference between a possessive gerund and present participle?

[@laisatuljannat953]

Take love from bangladesh ❤️

[@payambehtash7124]

so if instead of your last example we say: aren't you tired of being lied to? is not correct?

[@mardisiswanto7610]

I like learning English here, thanks so much dear teacher.

[@engvidAlex]

My pleasure, Mardi. I'm glad you enjoyed this!

[@pouyaafsharifard1735]

You are a life saver dude thanks a lot😍🌹

[@alexthai2456]

how am I gonna know when to use a gerund and when to use a present simple verb in sentence and speaking.

[@RuwanGajanayaka]

Hi Sri, In passive simple, She hates being and I’m tired of being, Why ‘ of’ isn’t in 1st phrase, please explain Thank you

[@cesarsantacruz993]

Nice video, having seeing this video helped me a lot about Gerunds, thanks!

[@engvidAlex]

My pleasure! Thanks for checking out the lesson.

[@MrSergb]

Thanks Alex! I really like you lessons, they are so much clear and concise! I have a question related to the quiz. In the question #5 I think both answers 1st and 3rd are valid? If not why "We're teaching English" grammatically incorrect? thanks in advance!

[@denioal2644]

"was being verb-ed" sounds like an action had been occurring for a while and that it wasn't caused by something else in the sentence. "was verb-ed" sounds more like something happened only once, or that the verb was the result of something else in the sentence. I hope this helps. Best of luck and keep studying!

[@lamees866]

Thanks teacher Alex. you are the best

[@RezaFarokhi27]

Hi sir Can i ask how we can use gerund and infinitive in passive modals? is it possible to use gerund and infinitive with passive modals ? For example which one is correct ? People shouldn't be allowed smoking ? Or People shouldn't be allowed to smoke ?

[@sometimessumit6784]

You are so good Alex..!

[@hellosun8965]

I do like watching your videos more than other engVid teachers. All your videos are very useful. I have a question: I like swimming. Can I say I like to swim? Can u teach me when the sentence use a gerund and when I use an infinitive (verb to be)? Thanks.

[@wendygomez256]

Passive Gerung Practice: Carmela is tire about having been carried old situations.

[@yigitcan824]

Hi Wendy I'm looking for a speaking partner to practice and improve my English speaking skills I wonder if you are interested in

[@lida3749]

you are the best teacher......

[@engvidAlex]

That's very kind, Li. Thank you.

[@LuEvora]

Hi there Alex, Does the passive gerund have an active gerund?

[@noranwe5359]

Thank for teaching me how to use gerunf form in writing of proper way. :)

[@engvidAlex]

I'm glad it was useful!

[@karasucorp.2538]

Great lessons! It is very interesting to listen to you.

[@farookali6693]

Thanks a lot for the fantastic and clear information or explanation. Bye

[@aurorae2177]

Thanks I learned so much

[@zayedkhan2669]

Hi Alex.thanks for this great lesson.From the long time I was looking for this lesson.Please make one lesson on participle too also i,e present participle ,perfect participle etc

[@student-ui8xf]

You are great. Your grammar lessons are awesome!

[@engvidAlex]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you're enjoying them.

[@jacquespare5863]

It’s complicated but I like leaning

[@ashokreddy7298]

Very short explanation . please provide more examples so it is helpful greatly.

[@josueigl1977]

the best teacher...! thanks so much.!

[@OA_2121]

What is the active voice of "She hates being told what to do" ?

[@effieskitsa]

Thank you so much!!! Everything is so clear now!!!

[@alymansaray9369]

Thank you this really helped.😀😀😀😀

[@carolinaraizza2658]

You are helping me so much!!! Thank you!!!

[@aliozkasap113]

active and passive topic most confusing side of english for me . very beneficial video thanks

[@oswaldlobo1990]

thanks sir for this lesson . now i want this type of subject where and when can we use this (to be verb ing). to be facing , to be absconding etc these type of lessons i need to learn please upload,

[@royalchallenges8173]

I love ur class from India

[@igorzinenko4182]

thank you Alex. Gr8 lesson. Would you so kindly to answer to my following question. What difference in the meaning between these two sentences. She hates being told what to do. and She hates to be told what to do.

[@БотаСидикова]

I like being taught by Alex.

[@Rajeshkumar-li2rz]

Thanks alot alex for sharing wonderful lessons...

[@arafathusein6735]

Is being and was being. When we use it in passive voice

[@ebtihaljassim98]

The 1st With present continuous and the 2nd with past continuous+past participle

[@pinkbird3089]

How do i know when to use the inventive or the gerund?

[@jaishreeram9553]

I am from India I like Ur lecture

[@rabiali9705]

Thank you so much for this lesson it really very nice video

[@raflifadilah2086]

Should we use having for past? Could we say "im still angry about being fired" ??? Hope you answer it. Btw do you have social media or something like that for asking about english, especially for english learner.

[@engvidAlex]

"Having + been + pp" is what you should technically use for the passive past, but "being" works in most situations too because people generally understand the context. I'm on FB and Twitter, but I don't offer private lessons there. If you're still interested, check me out here: facebook.com/AlexEnglishVid/ twitter.com/AlexEngVid

[@raflifadilah2086]

Learn English with Alex [engVid] i wanna ask you out of topic. Can we use present or past continuous for emphasizing our statement in conversation? Sorry for asking a lot.

[@rudiiswanto9756]

Learning it again.

[@pratiknakarmi4216]

7:00 tap it

[@ronenr1405]

Such a great teacher 🤙🏽👌🏼👋🏾

[@chilakashalemraju3668]

Great stuff sir. Thank you

[@farhanaziz9638]

Sir, are not the structures "Having + p.p." and "Having been + p.p." perfect aspects?

[@alexandrmaximenko2161]

Thank you for your lesson....

[@stargazertargaryen]

great lesson!

[@veereshkumar7827]

I like u

[@YanaYana-v6n]

Thank you!

[@buhaysabulod9269]

Active past is the same as perfect participle

[@explorenuevaecija]

You're a great teacher, Alex. Thank you very much. I'm learning a lot of things from you. 👍👏😊

[@ezzovonachalm7534]

I am furious having been teached American instaed of English !

[@user-zc6fh4id7z]

Having + done / had is it a gerund? I thought it was present participle (😱) Confused now.

[@NeeSan4]

This is very helpful. Thanks! could you please tell me what is the difference between: "essential to understand" and "essential to understanding"? as you said the last sentence in the video.

[@engvidAlex]

+NeeSan4 In one, you are using ESSENTIAL + INFINITIVE, and in the other you are using ESSENTIAL TO + GERUND. "Essential to understand" means "It is important to understand something/it." "Essential to understanding" means "Something/It is important in order to understand."

[@nisarahammed9506]

NeeSan4

[@marye5437]

NeeSan4 Remember this: Gerunds and infinitive are enemies, so you can’t say “Essential to understanding”

[@amitgupta696]

Hi I have leaned a lot from your video, thank you so much. i am from India. i have one sentence which i am not understand its grammar . "Food being distributed to passengers stranded due to cyclone". i want to know about the uses of "being distributed ". can i get revert please ?

[@engvidAlex]

Hi Amit, this is a shortened adjective clause. I'm assuming this is a news paper headline? The full sentence would be "Food which was to be distributed to passengers has been stranded due to a cyclone." I hope this helps!

[@amitgupta696]

@@engvidAlex first of all I am so happy to get response immediately. Which I never expected . About sentence, you are right it was new paper headlines, which was reduced via passive participle. I was understanding that it was gerund passive which you teach me in your video. Example Being beaten by his mother.

[@mamalofmamalof9460]

well done Alex! appreciated.

[@alexthai2456]

being told is gerund or passive voice???

[@hesamvazife5073]

Both =)

[@oyutrade]

thank you Alex.

[@vineetchoudhary8671]

Why the word 'to' has been used in the last sentence which is 'aren't you upset about having been lied to ' . Please Sir help me out to resolve this problem or doubt

[@RSP13]

Thanks!

[@artemkovera5500]

very helpful lesson to me