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 where you are giving general health and lifestyle advice to a friend who is currently feeling sick.
1 ______ enough water every day is very important for your body.
(a) Drink
(b) Drinking
(c) To drinking
2 ______ eight hours a night helps you recover from a cold much faster.
(a) Sleeping
(b) Sleep
(c) Slept
3 ______ fresh fruits and vegetables gives your immune system a boost.
(a) Eat
(b) Ate
(c) Eating
4 ______ for a short walk in the morning sunshine makes you feel better.
(a) Going
(b) Go
(c) To going
5 ______ too much fast food is terrible for your stomach right now.
(a) To eating
(b) Eating
(c) Eat
6 ______ yoga is a great way to reduce stress and relax your muscles.
(a) Do
(b) Doing
(c) Did
7 ______ your hands frequently prevents the spread of bad viruses.
(a) Washing
(b) Wash
(c) Washed
8 ______ warm green tea is much better for you than drinking cold soda.
(a) Drinking
(b) Drink
(c) To drink
9 ______ heavy meals late at night can make it hard for you to sleep.
(a) Having
(b) Have
(c) Had
10 ______ healthy soup at home is better than ordering takeout.
(a) Cook
(b) Cooking
(c) To cooking
11 ______ a few days off from work is exactly what you need to heal.
(a) Take
(b) Took
(c) Taking
12 ______ medicine on an empty stomach might make you feel dizzy.
(a) Taking
(b) Takeing
(c) Take
13 ______ positive and happy is sometimes the best medicine!
(a) Stay
(b) Staying
(c) Stayed
14 ______ hot water with honey and lemon soothes a sore throat.
(a) Mix
(b) Mixing
(c) Mixxing
15 ______ in bed all day can sometimes make your back hurt.
(a) Lieing
(b) Lying
(c) Lie
16 ______ deep breaths helps calm your nervous system when you feel sick.
(a) Taking
(b) Take
(c) To taking
17 ______ breakfast makes you feel weak and tired during the day.
(a) Skipping
(b) Skip
(c) Skiping
18 ______ regular exercise keeps your heart strong and prevents illnesses.
(a) Get
(b) Getting
(c) Geting
19 ______ smoking is the best decision you can make for your lungs.
(a) Quiting
(b) Quit
(c) Quitting
20 ______ extra sugar to your coffee is a bad habit for your health.
(a) Add
(b) Adding
(c) To adding
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (b)
Explanation: “Drinking” is the correct answer. When an action is the subject of a sentence, it must be in the gerund (V-ing) form to act as a noun. (a) “Drink” is a bare verb and cannot be a subject. (c) “To drinking” is grammatically incorrect.
2 (a)
Explanation: “Sleeping” acts as the subject of the sentence (“The act of sleeping”). (b) “Sleep” is a bare verb. (c) “Slept” is the past tense.
3 (c)
Explanation: “Eating” is the required gerund subject. (a) is a bare verb. (b) “Ate” is the past tense.
4 (a)
Explanation: “Going” is the correct gerund form acting as the subject. (b) is a bare verb. (c) “To going” mixes an infinitive marker with a gerund, which is incorrect.
5 (b)
Explanation: “Eating” functions as the subject here. (a) is a structural error. (c) is a bare infinitive.
6 (b)
Explanation: “Doing” is the subject of the sentence. (a) “Do” is a verb. (c) “Did” is the past tense.
7 (a)
Explanation: “Washing” correctly acts as the subject. (b) and (c) are incorrect verb forms for this position.
8 (a)
Explanation: “Drinking” is the correct gerund subject. (b) “Drink” cannot be a subject. (c) “To drink” is an infinitive (while infinitives can sometimes be subjects, gerunds are much more natural for general facts, and “to drink” breaks the parallel structure with the later phrase “than drinking”).
9 (a)
Explanation: “Having” is the correct subject. Drop the ‘e’ from “have”. (b) and (c) are incorrect.
10 (b)
Explanation: “Cooking” acts as the subject of the sentence. (a) is a bare verb. (c) is grammatically invalid.
11 (c)
Explanation: “Taking” is correct. Drop the ‘e’ from “take”. (a) “Take” is a verb, which would make this an imperative (command) sentence, but the sentence continues with “is exactly what you need”, requiring a noun subject. (b) is past tense.
12 (a)
Explanation: “Taking” is correct. You must drop the ‘e’ from “take” before adding “-ing”. (b) “Takeing” is a basic spelling mistake. (c) is a bare verb.
13 (b)
Explanation: “Staying” is the correct gerund subject. (a) and (c) are structural errors.
14 (b)
Explanation: “Mixing” is correct. (a) is a bare verb. (c) “Mixxing” is a spelling error (we do not double the letter ‘x’ when adding “-ing”).
15 (b)
Explanation: “Lying” is the correct spelling. The verb “lie” (to rest flat) changes exceptionally to “lying” in the gerund form. (a) “Lieing” is a very common spelling mistake. (c) is a bare verb.
16 (a)
Explanation: “Taking” acts as the subject of the sentence. (b) is a bare verb. (c) is grammatically incorrect.
17 (a)
Explanation: “Skipping” is the correct spelling. Because “skip” is a one-syllable verb ending in a consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C), you must double the final ‘p’. (c) “Skiping” is a spelling error. (b) is a bare verb.
18 (b)
Explanation: “Getting” is correct. The verb “get” follows the C-V-C rule, so you must double the ‘t’. (c) “Geting” is a spelling error. (a) is a bare verb.
19 (c)
Explanation: “Quitting” is correct. The verb “quit” acts like a C-V-C verb (the ‘qu’ acts as a consonant sound), so you double the ‘t’. (a) “Quiting” is a spelling error. (b) is a bare verb.
20 (b)
Explanation: “Adding” is the correct gerund subject. (a) and (c) are incorrect.
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
1 Gerunds as Subjects: In English, if you want to talk about an action as a general concept, habit, or fact, you turn the verb into a Gerund (V-ing) and place it at the beginning of the sentence. It acts exactly like a noun.
- Example: Drinking water is healthy. (Not Drink water is healthy.)
2 Giving Objective Advice: Using a Gerund as a subject is a great way to give advice. Instead of telling someone directly what to do (“Drink water!”), you state a general, objective fact (“Drinking water helps you recover.”). This sounds softer, more polite, and more scientific.
3 Important Spelling Rules for Gerunds:
- Drop the ‘e’: If the verb ends in ‘e’, remove it before adding ‘-ing’ (take -> taking, have -> having).
- The ‘ie’ Exception: Verbs ending in ‘ie’ change to ‘y’ before adding ‘-ing’ (lie -> lying, die -> dying).
- Double the Consonant (C-V-C Rule): If a short (one-syllable) verb ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the final consonant (skip -> skipping, get -> getting, quit -> quitting). Note: Never double ‘x’, ‘w’, or ‘y’ (mix -> mixing).