Gerund

Start by considering these simpler examples..
Mary likes Tom.
Mary likes bananas.
Mary likes cooking.

Do you see the similarity?

Clive

It’s part of the subject of the sentence.

Reading is a hobby of mine. (subject)
My hobby is reading. (subject complement)
I love reading. (direct object)
I am bad at reading. (object of preposition)

uts29umeI am not able to understand how gerund act as a noun.

Reading is fun.
This game is fun.
You are fun.

All subjects.

uts29umeI am not able to understand how gerund act as a noun.for exampleReading books is the hobby of many.

In your example, "Reading" is not a gerund (and thus cannot be a noun); it's a present participle verb-form. It's easy to tell it's a verb because it has a direct object, "books". Nouns don't take objects. "Reading books" is a non-finite participial claus

BillJ (Reading books is the hobby of many.) In your example, "Reading" is not a gerund ...

Bill, I thought you admired the work of Huddleston, but Huddleston calls these gerunds. His examples include the following:

She likes writing letters.
Hunting wild animals can be a dangerous pastime.

(Huddleston, Introd

Hi us29ume,
I hope this discussion, with its focus on grammar terms, is helping you.

A slightly different approach that may also help your understanding is to think of
Reading books is the hobby of many
as meaning
The activity of reading books is the hobby of many.

Clive

BillJ does make sense, but it might confuse a learner.

Reading is fun. In this sentence reading is a gerund, subject of the sentence.

Reading letters from my lover is fun.
Now the subject is the reduced clause, and reading is a non-finite verb in the clause.

Howeve

Thank you sir,
i think i have understand the concept.

let me explain,
He has taken classes for typing.
here typing is a gerund as in this it is acting as a type of activity.

Typing letters, she has grown old.
here typing is a present participle as here it that activity is taking place.

Reading books is a hobby of many.
here read

uts29umeThank you sir, I think I have understood the concept.

You just need one more concept. That is to find out if the function of the word is a noun.
Nouns can have one of the following functions in a sentence:

1. Subject
2. Direct object
3. Indirect object
4. Object of preposition
5. Apposition to anot

AlpheccaStarsI need to improve my typing speed. (Typing modifies a noun, speed, so it is not a gerund)

And just to add more slop to the pot, some people say 'speed' is an abstraction, so it can't possibly be typing!
(Compare 'dancing bear' with 'typing speed'.)
Therefore 'typing' is a noun modifier of 'speed', and is a gerund!