Which sentence correctly demonstrates the use of a gerund as the object of a preposition?
- The team celebrated by winning the championship game against their rivals last weekend.
- The team celebrated their winning of the championship game against rivals last weekend.
- The team celebrated by practicing hard and maintaining focus throughout the season. (correct answer)
- The team celebrated after they won the championship game against their rivals last weekend.
Explanation: Understanding gerunds is essential for mastering advanced grammar concepts. A gerund is a verb form ending in "-ing" that functions as a noun. When you see questions about gerunds as objects of prepositions, look for the "-ing" word that directly follows a preposition (words like "by," "after," "before," "of," etc.). Let's examine each option carefully. In choice C, "practicing" follows the preposition "by" and acts as a noun—you could replace it with "working" and the sentence would still make sense. This demonstrates the correct use of a gerund as the object of a preposition. Choice A contains "winning," which appears to be a gerund, but it's actually functioning as part of a participial phrase describing how they celebrated, not as the direct object of the preposition "by." Choice B uses "winning" as a noun, but it's modified by "their" and "of," making it a gerund functioning as the object of "their" rather than the preposition. The actual object of the preposition "their" is the entire phrase "winning of the championship game." Choice D contains no gerund at all—"won" is a past tense verb in a dependent clause following "after." When identifying gerunds as objects of prepositions, remember this pattern: preposition + gerund (verb + "-ing" functioning as a noun). The gerund should be able to stand alone as the object, and you should be able to substitute it with a regular noun while maintaining the sentence's grammatical structure.