Gerunds – English Grammar Exercises for A2
Choose the best answer (A, B, or C) to complete each sentence. The context of this test is a job interview or a CV profile where you are describing your professional skills, work habits, and personal strengths to an employer.
1 ______ in a team is very important to me.
(a) Work
(b) Working
(c) Worked
2 I really enjoy ______ difficult problems for my customers.
(a) solve
(b) to solve
(c) solving
3 ______ new skills every day helps me grow in my career.
(a) Learning
(b) Learn
(c) Learned
4 I am highly organized and very good at ______ large company events.
(a) organizing
(b) to organize
(c) organizeing
5 ______ customers find what they need makes me feel proud of my job.
(a) Help
(b) To helping
(c) Helping
6 ______ a busy schedule is one of my best professional skills.
(a) Manage
(b) Managing
(c) Manageing
7 ______ clearly with colleagues is essential for this position.
(a) Communicating
(b) To communicating
(c) Communicate
8 I have three years of experience in ______ modern websites.
(a) to design
(b) designing
(c) design
9 ______ emails quickly shows that I am a responsible and reliable person.
(a) Answer
(b) To answered
(c) Answering
10 I don’t mind ______ late on Fridays if the project requires it.
(a) working
(b) to work
(c) work
11 ______ the weekly meetings takes a lot of time, but I do it efficiently.
(a) Plan
(b) Planing
(c) Planning
12 I am very excited, and I look forward to ______ your team in person.
(a) meet
(b) meeting
(c) met
13 ______ positive during stressful times is my secret to success.
(a) Being
(b) Been
(c) Be
14 I am very interested in ______ your company because I love your products.
(a) to join
(b) join
(c) joining
15 ______ up when things get hard is my greatest strength.
(a) Don’t give
(b) Not giving
(c) Not give
16 Writing daily reports and ______ presentation slides are my main tasks.
(a) creating
(b) create
(c) to create
17 In my previous job, I was used to ______ angry clients on the phone.
(a) handle
(b) handleing
(c) handling
18 ______ new employees requires a lot of patience and clear instructions.
(a) To training
(b) Training
(c) Train
19 In my last role, I suggested ______ a new software system to save time.
(a) using
(b) to use
(c) use
20 ______ early for business meetings shows respect for other people’s time.
(a) Arrive
(b) Arriveing
(c) Arriving
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b)
Explanation: “Working” is the correct answer. When an action is the subject of a sentence, we use a gerund (V-ing) because it acts as a noun (“The act of working…”). (a) “Work” is a bare verb and cannot be the subject here. (c) “Worked” is the past tense.
2 (c)
Explanation: “Solving” is correct. The verb “enjoy” must be followed by a gerund. (b) “to solve” is a common mistake for learners. (a) is a structural error.
3 (a)
Explanation: “Learning” acts as the subject of the sentence. (b) “Learn” is a bare infinitive and cannot act as a subject. (c) “Learned” is past tense.
4 (a)
Explanation: Following the preposition “at” (good at), you must use a gerund. Also, drop the ‘e’ from “organize” to make “organizing”. (b) is incorrect after a preposition. (c) “organizeing” is a spelling error.
5 (c)
Explanation: “Helping” acts as the subject of the sentence (“The act of helping customers”). (a) “Help” is a verb, not a noun. (b) “To helping” incorrectly mixes an infinitive with a gerund.
6 (b)
Explanation: “Managing” is the subject of the sentence. You must drop the ‘e’ from “manage” before adding “-ing”. (a) is a bare verb. (c) “Manageing” is a spelling mistake.
7 (a)
Explanation: “Communicating” functions as the subject of the sentence. (c) “Communicate” is a bare verb. (b) “To communicating” is a structural error.
8 (b)
Explanation: “Designing” correctly follows the preposition “in” (experience in). (a) “to design” is a common error. (c) is a bare verb.
9 (c)
Explanation: “Answering” acts as the subject of the sentence. (a) “Answer” is a verb, which cannot be a subject. (b) is grammatically invalid.
10 (a)
Explanation: The phrase “don’t mind” (willing to do something) is always followed by a gerund. (b) “to work” is a very common learner mistake. (c) is structurally invalid.
11 (c)
Explanation: “Planning” is the subject of the sentence. Because “plan” is a one-syllable verb ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant, you must double the final ‘n’. (b) “Planing” is a spelling error (and means something else). (a) is a bare verb.
12 (b)
Explanation: THIS IS A TRICKY ONE. In the phrase “look forward to”, the word “to” is a PREPOSITION, not an infinitive marker. Therefore, it must be followed by a gerund (“meeting”). (a) “meet” is a classic learner mistake. (c) “met” is past tense.
13 (a)
Explanation: “Being” (the gerund form of the verb “to be”) acts as the subject of the sentence. (c) “Be” is the base verb. (b) “Been” is the past participle.
14 (c)
Explanation: “Joining” follows the preposition “in” (interested in). (a) “to join” is a common mistake. (b) is a structural error.
15 (b)
Explanation: To make a gerund negative, simply put “Not” before the V-ing (“Not giving”). This acts as the subject of the sentence. (a) “Don’t give” is an imperative verb phrase, not a noun subject. (c) is structurally incorrect.
16 (a)
Explanation: The sentence has a compound subject linked by “and”. Since the first part is a gerund (“Writing reports”), the second part must also be a gerund (“creating presentations”) to maintain parallel structure. (b) and (c) break this balance.
17 (c)
Explanation: In the phrase “be used to” (meaning accustomed to), the word “to” is a PREPOSITION. Therefore, it must be followed by a gerund. Drop the ‘e’ from “handle” to make “handling”. (a) “handle” is a very common trap. (b) “handleing” is a spelling error.
18 (b)
Explanation: “Training” acts as the main subject of the sentence. (c) “Train” is a verb. (a) “To training” is grammatically invalid.
19 (a)
Explanation: The verb “suggest” must be followed by a gerund when proposing an action. (b) “to use” is a frequent learner mistake. (c) is a bare verb.
20 (c)
Explanation: “Arriving” acts as the subject of the sentence. Drop the ‘e’ from “arrive”. (a) “Arrive” is a bare verb. (b) “Arriveing” is a spelling error.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Gerunds as Subjects: When you want to talk about an action as a concept or a “thing” (especially in a CV or interview), use the Gerund (V-ing) form at the beginning of the sentence. The gerund acts exactly like a noun.
- Example: Working under pressure is my strength. (Not Work under pressure…)
- Negative Gerunds: If you want to make a gerund subject negative, just add the word “Not” immediately before the V-ing.
- Example: Not giving up is important.
- The “To” Trap in Professional Phrasing: In English, “to” is usually followed by a base verb. However, in professional emails and interviews, there are two extremely common phrases where “to” is a preposition, and you MUST use a Gerund after them:
- Look forward to + V-ing: Expecting something with pleasure. (I look forward to hearing from you.)
- Be used to + V-ing: Being accustomed to something. (I am used to dealing with clients.)
- Parallel Structure: If you list multiple skills connected by “and,” keep the grammar forms the same. If you start with a gerund, the next item must also be a gerund.
- Example: My duties included writing emails and answering calls.
- Spelling Reminders:
- Drop the ‘e’: manage -> managing, create -> creating.
- Double the final consonant (C-V-C rule): plan -> planning.