Writing a good novel is hard work. With his snoring in his sleep, his wife couldn't sleep. A gerund always ends in ing and is used as a noun. Eating is fun. Gerunds can have with them direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives or modifiers to form what is called a gerund phrase .
Eating is the gerund used as the subject of the verb is .
It has its own direct object foods with the adjective solid , which together make up the gerund phrase eating solid foods serving as the subject of the sentence. Gerunds can be compound. Directing traffic and helping school children is her job. For knitting and sewing you need good eyes. My needs, exercising and losing weight, must be realized soon.