Question

read the paragraph. select two underlined words or phrases that are gerunds that function as the subject of a sentence in the passage.

colin and priya were viewing the graduation ceremony when they heard a bang at the back of the auditorium. sudden banging was unusual at a time like this, so most of the audience turned around to see what was happening. unfortunately for the graduates, watching the ceremony became more difficult after the distracting sounds.

Explanation:

1. A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that acts as a noun. When it functions as a sentence subject, it is the doer or focus of the main verb.
2. "banging" in "Sudden banging was unusual..." is a gerund, and it is the subject of the verb "was".
3. "watching" in "watching the ceremony became more difficult..." is a gerund, and it is the subject of the verb "became".
4. Other underlined forms: "were viewing" is a past continuous verb, "turned around" is a verb phrase, "to see" is an infinitive, "was happening" is a past continuous verb, "distracting" is a participle acting as an adjective.

Answer:

• banging
• watching