Detailed notes on Gerunds.

GERUNDS Many people say that gerunds are ing verbs used as nouns. While that may be offensive to some, in fact, the statement is quite true: They are verbs; they always end in ing; but they are used as a noun. Because they are nouns, they can be subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of the preposition, or predicate nominatives: Cooking is fun. (subject) I enjoy cooking. (direct object) The audience gave Emeril's cooking enthusiastic …

…functions as an object of a preposition. If it functions as a gerund, it will show up as one of those five---sub, do, pn, io, op. IF it doesn't function as one of those five, then it can't be a gerund. IF it is not a gerund, then you must identify it as a participle phrase. Always use the "key" to determine whether or not the phrase is a gerund phrase or a participle phrase.