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 conversation with a friend where you are advising them to break their unhealthy habits, such as staying up too late playing video games.
1 You really need to stop ______ video games until 3 AM!
(a) playing
(b) to play
(c) play
2 Please stop ______ so much junk food right before you go to bed.
(a) eat
(b) eating
(c) to eat
3 You should stop ______ coffee late at night; it ruins your sleep.
(a) to drink
(b) drink
(c) drinking
4 I think you must stop ______ your eyes when you are tired. It’s bad for them.
(a) rubbing
(b) rub
(c) to rub
5 Stop ______ about feeling exhausted if you refuse to sleep early!
(a) complain
(b) to complain
(c) complaining
6 It’s time to give up ______ your smartphone in the dark.
(a) using
(b) to use
(c) use
7 You have to stop ______ your homework until the last minute.
(a) leave
(b) leaving
(c) leaveing
8 Why don’t you stop ______ energy drinks every single afternoon?
(a) buying
(b) to buy
(c) buy
9 You must stop ______ excuses for your terrible sleep schedule.
(a) makeing
(b) making
(c) to make
10 Please stop ______ the snooze button on your alarm clock. Just get up!
(a) hit
(b) to hit
(c) hitting
11 You should really stop ______ on the sofa. Go to your comfortable bed.
(a) sleeping
(b) to sleep
(c) sleep
12 Stop ______ your nails! It’s a terrible habit when you are stressed out.
(a) to bite
(b) bite
(c) biting
13 I advise you to stop ______ your precious time on silly internet videos.
(a) wasting
(b) waste
(c) to waste
14 Can you stop ______ so loudly at the screen while I am trying to study?
(a) to shout
(b) shouting
(c) shout
15 You must stop ______ meals if you want to stay healthy and strong.
(a) skipping
(b) skiping
(c) to skip
16 It is essential that you stop ______ to yourself about this gaming addiction.
(a) lieing
(b) lying
(c) to lie
17 You really need to stop ______ with your parents about your screen time.
(a) arguing
(b) argueing
(c) to argue
18 Stop ______ your eyes at me when I give you good advice!
(a) rolling
(b) roling
(c) to roll
19 You should stop ______ your shoulders and try to sit up straight.
(a) shrug
(b) to shrug
(c) shrugging
20 I hope you finally stop ______ your good health for granted.
(a) to take
(b) takeing
(c) taking
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (a)
Explanation: “Playing” is correct. The verb “stop” followed by a gerund (V-ing) means to quit a habit or finish an ongoing action completely. (b) “to play” means stopping another action in order to start playing (which is the opposite of your advice!). (c) “play” is structurally incorrect.
2 (b)
Explanation: “Eating” correctly follows the verb “stop” to indicate breaking the habit of eating junk food. (a) is a bare verb. (c) “to eat” changes the meaning to “stopping in order to eat”.
3 (c)
Explanation: “Drinking” is the required gerund form to mean “quit the habit of drinking coffee”. (a) “to drink” is a common trap. (b) is grammatically invalid.
4 (a)
Explanation: “Rubbing” is correct. Because “rub” is a short, one-syllable verb ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C), you must double the final ‘b’. (b) and (c) are incorrect.
5 (c)
Explanation: “Complaining” is the correct gerund form following “stop”. (a) is a bare verb. (b) “to complain” changes the meaning entirely.
6 (a)
Explanation: “Using” is correct. The phrasal verb “give up” (meaning to quit a habit) ends with a preposition (“up”), so it MUST be followed by a gerund. Drop the ‘e’ from “use”. (b) and (c) are structural errors.
7 (b)
Explanation: “Leaving” correctly follows “stop”. You must drop the ‘e’ from “leave” before adding “-ing”. (a) is a bare verb. (c) “leaveing” is a basic spelling mistake.
8 (a)
Explanation: “Buying” is the correct gerund form following “stop”. (b) “to buy” and (c) “buy” are incorrect for the context of quitting a habit.
9 (b)
Explanation: “Making” is correct. Drop the ‘e’ from “make”. (a) “makeing” is a common spelling error. (c) “to make” changes the meaning.
10 (c)
Explanation: “Hitting” is correct. The verb “hit” follows the C-V-C spelling rule, so you must double the final ‘t’. (a) and (b) are grammatically incorrect here.
11 (a)
Explanation: “Sleeping” is the required gerund form after “stop” to mean ending the habit of sleeping on the sofa. (b) and (c) are incorrect.
12 (c)
Explanation: “Biting” correctly follows “stop”. Drop the ‘e’ from “bite”. (a) “to bite” means pausing what you are doing in order to bite, which doesn’t make sense as advice. (b) is a structural error.
13 (a)
Explanation: “Wasting” is the correct gerund. Drop the ‘e’ from “waste”. (b) and (c) violate the grammar rule for quitting an action.
14 (b)
Explanation: “Shouting” is correct following “stop”. (a) “to shout” is a frequent learner mistake. (c) is a bare verb.
15 (a)
Explanation: “Skipping” is the correct spelling. The verb “skip” requires you to double the final ‘p’ (C-V-C rule). (b) “skiping” is a spelling error. (c) is structurally incorrect for this context.
16 (b)
Explanation: “Lying” is the correct spelling. When a verb ends in “-ie” (lie), you must change the “-ie” to “-y” before adding “-ing”. (a) “lieing” is a very common spelling mistake. (c) is a grammatical error.
17 (a)
Explanation: “Arguing” is correct. You must drop the ‘e’ from “argue” to form “arguing”. (b) “argueing” is a spelling error. (c) changes the meaning.
18 (a)
Explanation: “Rolling” is the correct gerund. The verb “roll” already ends in double ‘L’, so you just add “-ing”. (b) “roling” is a spelling mistake. (c) is incorrect.
19 (c)
Explanation: “Shrugging” is correct. The verb “shrug” follows the C-V-C rule, so you must double the ‘g’. (a) is a bare verb. (b) “to shrug” is a structural mistake.
20 (c)
Explanation: “Taking” correctly follows “stop”. Drop the ‘e’ from “take”. (a) “to take” is a common trap. (b) “takeing” is a spelling error.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- Stop + V-ing (Breaking a Habit): When you want to tell someone to quit a bad habit, finish an ongoing action, or break an addiction, you MUST use the structure Stop + Gerund (V-ing).
- Example: Stop playing games so late! (Meaning: Quit this action entirely).
- The “Stop to V” Trap: Be very careful! English also has the structure Stop + to V (Infinitive). However, it has a completely different meaning. It means “to interrupt what you are currently doing IN ORDER TO do something else.”
- Example: I was walking, but I stopped to play a game. (Meaning: I paused my walk so that I could start playing).
- Rule: For giving advice about bad habits, always use V-ing.
- Give up + V-ing: Another great phrase for breaking a bad habit is give up. Because “up” is a preposition, it must also be followed by a Gerund.
- Example: You should give up drinking soda.
- Important Spelling Rules for Gerunds:
- Drop the ‘e’: remove it before adding ‘-ing’ (make -> making, bite -> biting).
- The C-V-C Rule: for short verbs ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant, double the last letter (hit -> hitting, skip -> skipping).
- The ‘ie’ to ‘y’ Rule: verbs ending in ‘ie’ change to ‘y’ before adding ‘-ing’ (lie -> lying).