Gerunds

In the example:

Playing is fun.

"playing" is called a gerund.

A gerund is a verbal ending in -ing that is used as a noun. They are also called verbal nouns. Because it acts as a noun, a gerund can be used in a sentence as:

  1. a subject of a sentence
    • Example:
    • Living as a teenager in another country is challenging.
  2. a subject complement, where the gerund follows the verb to be
    • Example:
    • Her favorite pastime is riding her bike to school.