Gerunds – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence. All questions are part of a conversation between you and a new friend about what you both like to do in your free time.
1 I really enjoy ______ books on Sunday mornings.
(a) to read
(b) reading
(c) read
2 My sister loves ______ pictures of nature when we go to the park.
(a) take
(b) takes
(c) taking
3 We like ______ to pop music when we clean the house.
(a) listening
(b) listen
(c) listened
4 Do you enjoy ______ dinner for your family on weekends?
(a) to cook
(b) cook
(c) cooking
5 I absolutely hate ______ up early on Saturdays!
(a) waking
(b) waked
(c) wake
6 I am very interested in ______ new languages in my free time.
(a) to learn
(b) learning
(c) learn
7 My friend is really good at ______ chess.
(a) playing
(b) play
(c) played
8 We often spend our Saturday evenings ______ movies.
(a) watch
(b) to watch
(c) watching
9 Are you fond of ______ in the mountains?
(a) hiking
(b) hike
(c) to hike
10 Instead of ______ at home, let’s go to the park this afternoon.
(a) staying
(b) to staying
(c) stay
11 I am crazy about ______ vintage comic books.
(a) to collect
(b) collect
(c) collecting
12 How about ______ a big pizza tonight?
(a) order
(b) ordering
(c) to order
13 She is really tired of ______ the same chores every Sunday.
(a) do
(b) to do
(c) doing
14 I prefer ______ books to watching TV.
(a) reading
(b) to read
(c) read
15 I don’t mind ______ you with your garden this weekend.
(a) to help
(b) help
(c) helping
16 My brother recently gave up ______ video games to focus on sports.
(a) playing
(b) to play
(c) play
17 I can’t stand ______ in long lines at the cinema.
(a) waiting
(b) wait
(c) to wait
18 What are the benefits of ______ regularly on weekends?
(a) exerciseing
(b) exercising
(c) exercise
19 We are thinking about ______ to the beach tomorrow.
(a) to travel
(b) travel
(c) traveling
20 She suggested ______ a picnic by the lake.
(a) have
(b) having
(c) to have
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b)
Explanation: “Reading” is correct. After the verb “enjoy”, you must use a gerund (V-ing). (a) “to read” is a common mistake because many learners overuse the infinitive. (c) “read” is structurally incorrect.
2 (c)
Explanation: “Taking” is correct. We use a gerund after verbs of preference like “love”. (a) “take” is the bare infinitive and cannot follow “love” directly here. (b) “takes” is grammatically invalid in this position.
3 (a)
Explanation: “Listening” is correct after the verb “like”. (b) “listen” is structurally incorrect. (c) “listened” is the past tense form, which cannot be used as an object.
4 (c)
Explanation: “Cooking” is correct because it follows “enjoy”. (a) “to cook” is a common error since “enjoy” strictly requires a gerund. (b) “cook” is a basic structural error.
5 (a)
Explanation: “Waking” is correct after “hate”. (c) “wake” is structurally incorrect. (b) “waked” is an incorrect past form and doesn’t fit the sentence structure.
6 (b)
Explanation: “Learning” is correct. You must always use a gerund after a preposition (in this case, “in”). (a) “to learn” is a very common mistake. (c) “learn” is the bare verb.
7 (a)
Explanation: “Playing” is correct after the preposition “at” (good at). (b) “play” is a basic structural error. (c) “played” is past tense.
8 (c)
Explanation: “Watching” is correct. The structure “spend time + V-ing” is very common for expressing hobbies. (b) “to watch” is a common mistake. (a) “watch” is structurally invalid.
9 (a)
Explanation: “Hiking” is correct after the preposition “of” (fond of = like something a lot). (c) “to hike” is a common mistake. (b) “hike” is incorrect.
10 (a)
Explanation: “Staying” is correct after the preposition “of” (instead of). (b) “to staying” incorrectly mixes an infinitive marker with a gerund. (c) “stay” is a bare verb.
11 (c)
Explanation: “Collecting” is correct after the preposition “about” (crazy about = love something very much). (a) “to collect” is a common error. (b) “collect” is structurally incorrect.
12 (b)
Explanation: “Ordering” is correct. The phrase “How about” ends with a preposition (“about”), so it must be followed by a gerund to make a suggestion. (a) “order” is incorrect. (c) “to order” is a common mistake.
13 (c)
Explanation: “Doing” is correct after the preposition “of” (tired of). (b) “to do” is a very common learner mistake. (a) “do” is structurally incorrect.
14 (a)
Explanation: “Reading” is correct. The structure for comparing preferences is “prefer + V-ing + to + V-ing”. (b) “to read” breaks the parallel structure with “watching”. (c) “read” is grammatically invalid.
15 (c)
Explanation: “Helping” is correct. The phrase “don’t mind” (not bothered by something) must be followed by a gerund. (a) “to help” is a frequent mistake. (b) “help” is structurally incorrect.
16 (a)
Explanation: “Playing” is correct. The phrasal verb “give up” ends with a preposition (“up”), so it takes a gerund. (b) “to play” is a common error. (c) “play” is incorrect.
17 (a)
Explanation: “Waiting” is correct. The phrase “can’t stand” (hate something strongly) must be followed by a gerund. (c) “to wait” is a very common mistake. (b) “wait” is a basic structural error.
18 (b)
Explanation: “Exercising” is the correct spelling. When a verb ends in ‘e’ (exercise), you must drop the ‘e’ before adding ‘-ing’. (a) “exerciseing” is a spelling mistake. (c) “exercise” cannot follow the preposition “of”.
19 (c)
Explanation: “Traveling” is correct after the preposition “about”. (a) “to travel” is a common error because learners often associate “think” with infinitives. (b) “travel” is a bare verb.
20 (b)
Explanation: “Having” is correct. The verb “suggest” must be followed by a gerund when proposing an activity. (c) “to have” is a very common trap for learners. (a) “have” is structurally incorrect.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Verbs of Preference: Always use a Gerund (V-ing) when talking about hobbies after verbs that express likes or dislikes, such as: enjoy, love, like, hate, prefer. (e.g., I enjoy reading.)
- After Prepositions: If a verb comes immediately after a preposition (like in, at, on, of, about, for), it must be in the Gerund form. This applies to adjective-preposition phrases too: interested in, good at, fond of, crazy about, tired of. (e.g., She is good at playing chess.)
- Special Phrases: Some common phrases used in everyday conversation strictly require a Gerund:
- spend time (doing something)
- How about (doing something)?
- don’t mind (doing something)
- can’t stand (doing something)
- give up (doing something)
- suggest (doing something)
- Spelling Rule Reminder: If a verb ends in an “e” (like exercise, write, make), drop the “e” before adding “-ing” (exercising, writing, making).