Hello Eli I think you are talking about “gerunds”, which are verbs which can be used as nouns. Example “he likes swimming” He = subject Likes = verb Swimming = object (noun) The main verb is “like”. “Swimming” is the name of the activity, but does not act like the main verb. You can find more on google if you search for “gerunds”. There are many rules but I hope this helps.

e.g. I like travelling. I am looking forward to visiting many historical places in Italy.／They are gerunds. I recommend you should learn about infinitives as well.

Hi.Yes ing form or gerund is used as a noun . Example : Swimming is a good form of exercise