Learn about gerunds and how to use them to talk about hobbies in English. Gerunds are verbs that end in ‘-ing’ (like reading, cooking, swimming) and they are very common in everyday English. By the end of this class, you’ll be able to use gerunds to talk about your own hobbies and ask others about theirs. This lesson is perfect for beginners and intermediate students who want to build confidence when speaking about their daily activities. After watching, take the quiz to practice: https://www.engvid.com/what-do-you-like-doing-gerunds-in-english-conversation/

Next, watch these English conversation lessons:
Easy English Conversation: Talk about your interests and hobbies https://youtu.be/azaCzXkxlIw
Easy English Conversation: Talk about your commute https://youtu.be/NcZMD1t_WXo

In this lesson:
0:00 Use gerunds to talk about hobbies
0:41 What is a gerund?
1:58 When do we use gerunds?
7:38 go + _____ing
9:52 Common verbs & expressions followed by a gerund

Transcript:
Hello. My name is Emma. Today, lets talk about hobbies and what you like doing. Okay, so I have two questions here. What do you like doing? And how do you spend your free time? We can use gerunds to help us answer these questions. Today, I will teach you how to talk about your hobbies with gerunds. So, with gerunds, and thats how you spell it.

What is a gerund? The gerund is the "ing" form of a verb, and its used as a noun. So, let me give you some examples. Its actually very easy. I like camping. What is the gerund? Camping is the gerund. It ends in "ing". I enjoy singing. What is the gerund? Singing ends in "ing". Its the gerund. Okay. Im interested in watching movies. Whats the gerund here? Well, if you look, watching ends in "ing". Its the gerund. So, lets talk more about gerunds and how we can use them to talk about our hobbies.

So, when do we use gerunds? Well, when we have two verbs, sometimes we use a gerund after the first verb. So, for example, I enjoy - "enjoy" is the first verb, so "play" is the second verb. After "enjoy", the second verb needs "ing". It does not matter the tense. I could say I - yesterday I enjoyed playing. I will enjoy playing in the future. So, any time after "enjoy", the second verb needs "ing". So, it depends on the verb. Some verbs, after the first verb, the second verb ends with "ing". For other verbs, you might have an infinitive. An infinitive is a "to" plus a verb. So, for example, I remember to study hard. So, "remember" is followed by "to" plus a verb. Today, we are focusing only on gerunds, so only on "ing". Another example of when you can use a gerund is with the verb "like". I like fishing. No, I dont. I do not like fishing. I like cooking. I dont like cooking, either. But just an example, I like hiking. Yes, I like hiking. So, notice "hiking", it ends in "ing". Its a gerund. Another time we use gerunds is after a preposition. A preposition is a word like "at", "in", "on", "over", "for". These little words are called prepositions, and after a preposition, we can have a gerund. So, for example, I am interested in dancing. When we talk about hobbies, we might say I am interested in something. "Interested in", "in" is a preposition. You can add a verb here in the gerund form. So, I am interested in playing computer games. Im interested in making music. Im interested in scuba diving - going scuba diving. So those are some examples. Heres another example. We have here the preposition "at". After "at", the verb needs "ing". Its a gerund. Shes good at singing. Hes good at playing the guitar. So, you will use a gerund after some verbs, and you will use a gerund after prepositions.

So, I will show you some more examples in a moment, but first, I want to know what are you interested in doing? Think about your hobbies. What are you interested in doing? Can you make a sentence using "I am interested in" plus gerund plus "ing"? So I can help you. I am interested in - okay, so I want you to choose a verb and then add "ing" to it to talk about a hobby. Okay, now lets try this again with "good". When someone is good at something, it means that they have a good skill, they have a good ability. I am not good at singing. Are you good at singing? So, again, because we have "at", our gerund comes right after.

So, I want you to think about your hobbies. What are you good at? And I want you to use a verb. What is something you are good at? And you can answer "I am good at", maybe its playing guitar. Maybe its acting. So tell me, what are you good at? And I want you to use a gerund with "ing" after.

Now lets look at some common gerunds you might see when talking about hobbies. One time you may see a gerund is for some activities after the word "go". So, if you see "go" and a verb, an "ing", this is a gerund. So, we use these a lot when talking about hobbies because these are activities people do for fun. […]