writing is a valuable lifelong long skill

Question

how is the gerund writing used in this sentence ?

Answer 1

Hi Vanessa,

 

In Grammar, whenever you are asked how a word is used in a sentence ... think "parts of a sentence" and "parts of speech."

 

Remember, the 8 parts of speech are: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

 

The 2 essential parts of a sentence are: the subject (who or what the sentence is about; usually a noun); and the verb or predicate (what the subject is doing or being).

 

Most of the time, a noun (the name of a person, place, or thing) is the subject of a sentence. But sometimes, the name of an action is the subject of a sentence.

 

A gerund is a verb (with the suffix ing), being used as a noun (name of an action) in a sentence. Some examples are: reading, sleeping, and eating.

 

Examples of Subjects:

 

Fred ate dinner. (Fred is the subject of this sentence.)

Rome is in Italy. (Rome is the subject of this sentence.)

The fish costs too much money. (Fish is this subject of this sentence.)

No, skydiving is not for me. (Skydiving is the subject of this sentence.)

 

Writing is a valuable lifelong skill.

 

You already know that the word "writing" is a gerund. This also tells you this word is being used as a noun. But how is this noun being used in this sentence?

 

What person, place, thing, or action is this sentence about? Whatever or whomever this sentence is about is the subject of the sentence.

 

Then, what is being said about the subject? Whatever is being said about the subject of the sentence is the verb or predicate of the sentence.

 

Which one of these two do you think the noun "writing" is in this sentence? The subject or the verb/predicate?

Answer 2

In the sentence, "Writing is a valuable lifelong skill." the gerund "writing" is used as the subject of the sentence. The subject of a sentence is what the sentence is about. In this case, "writing" is the thing performing the action of being (via the verb "is"). Because gerunds always function as nouns, they can do anything a regular noun can do.