Directions: Each of the following sentences has an uderlined word. Read the sentence carefully and identify which word class the underlined word belongs to. Indicate your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly. (Smoking) is injurious to health.
Identifying the Word Class of 'Smoking'
The question asks us to identify the word class of the underlined word "Smoking" in the sentence: "Smoking is injurious to health." To do this, we need to examine how "Smoking" functions grammatically within this particular sentence.
Analyzing the Role of 'Smoking'
In the sentence "Smoking is injurious to health," the word "Smoking" serves as the subject. The main verb is "is," and the sentence states a fact about the activity of smoking. Subjects in sentences are typically nouns or pronouns, indicating what the sentence is about.
Understanding Gerunds
A Gerund is a form of a verb that ends with "-ing" and functions as a noun. Gerunds can occupy positions in a sentence where nouns typically appear, such as the subject, object of a verb, or object of a preposition.
Key characteristics of a Gerund:
- Derived from a verb.
- Ends in "-ing".
- Functions as a noun.
Examples of Gerunds used as subjects include "Running is fun" and "Reading stimulates the mind." In our case, "Smoking" is used as the subject, indicating it is acting as a noun.
Distinguishing Gerunds from Other Verb Forms
It is important to differentiate Gerunds from other verb forms ending in "-ing":
- Participle: A participle (present participle ending in "-ing" or past participle ending in "-ed", "-en", etc.) functions as an adjective or part of a verb phrase. For example, in "The smoking chimney released smoke," "smoking" describes the chimney (adjective). In "They are smoking," it's part of the present continuous verb.
- Infinitive: An infinitive is the base form of a verb, usually preceded by "to" (e.g., "to smoke"). It can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb. For example, "To smoke is injurious to health" uses the infinitive phrase as the subject.
Since "Smoking" in the sentence "Smoking is injurious to health" functions as a noun (the subject), it is specifically a Gerund.
Conclusion on Word Class
Based on its grammatical role as the subject of the sentence, the underlined word "Smoking" is classified as a Gerund.
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