Transitive verbA verb that has a direct object. E.g.: I know you.s are followed by an objectA person or thing that is affected by the action of a verb or involved in the result of an action.. Usually this object is a nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial"), but sometimes, when we talk about an actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something., we have to transform a verb into a noun. The most common way to do this is to form a gerund.

I like swimming at night.
He suggested going for a drink.
Would you prefer eating out to staying in?

The gerund as the subject of a sentence
The use of gerunds The gerund as a subject complement