Select the gerund phrase in the sentence below. then determine the noun function of the gerund. 1. brett earns his income by repairing cars. 2. i enjoy playing piano 3. her favorite pastime is entertaining friends. 4. he must like studying calculus.

A gerund is a verb that ends in -ing, making it usually fairly easy to identify. Examples would be "swimming" or "talking." A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus additional words that modify or complement the gerund, such as "singing songs" where "singing" is the gerund and "songs" is the word that tells what the person is singing. Because a gerund phrase nearly always refers to the act of doing something (the act itself as opposed to the action), a gerund phrase always acts like a noun.  In sentence 1, the gerund phrase is "repairing cars," where the gerund is "repairing" and "cars" is the word that clarifies what Brett is repairing. The gerund phrase in sentence 2 is "playing piano." In sentence 3, it is "entertaining friends," and in sentence 4, it is "studying calculus."