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What is the difference between a gerund and a present participle?

A gerund acts like a noun while a present participle acts like a verb or
adjective.
Example: snowboarding

Snowboarding is fun (gerund). He is snowboarding (participle).


Snowboarding can be a gerund or a present participle.
When snowboarding is a gerund, it acts like a noun. It can be a subject, an object,
the object of a preposition, or a subject complement.
 Snowboarding is a winter sport. [snowboarding = subject]
 I love snowboarding. [snowboarding = object ]

 I am excited by snowboarding. [snowboarding = object of a preposition]


 One popular sport is snowboarding. [snowboarding = subject complement]

When snowboarding is a present participle, it is part of a continuous verb tense.


 Right now, the athlete is snowboarding. [is snowboarding = present
continuous]
He was snowboarding yesterday afternoon. [was snowboarding = past
continuous]
 Tomorrow, my friends and I are going to be snowboarding. [are going to be
snowboarding = future continuous]

Unlike a gerund, a present participle can act like an adjective that modifies a
noun or follows the be verb. Example: exciting
An exciting time was had by all!
The word exciting is a present participle used as an adjective to modify a noun or to
follow the verb to be.
 The exciting ride made the people scream. [adjective + noun]
 People enjoyed the exciting roller coaster. [adjective + noun]
 The roller coaster is exciting. [be verb + adjective]

Now YOU try: Look at the sentences below. Decide whether the underlined –
ing word is acting like a noun, part of a verb, or an adjective. (Answers below)

What an amazing movie! I want to watch it again!


Speaking English well takes a long time.
He cares about getting a good job.
Shh! I am trying to sleep.
My friends and I were sitting in a café and talking.
The directions were very confusing.
They have been studying for a long time and want to take a break.
She loves traveling.

Answers: 1) adjective, 2) gerund, 3) gerund, 4) verb, 5) verb & verb, 6) adjective, 7)


verb, 8) gerund

The gerund and the present participle have identical forms. They are both formed from verbs and
end in –ing. However, they have different uses. A gerund functions like a noun. It can do everything
that a noun does. A participle, on the other hand, functions like an adjective. It is mostly used to
modify nouns. It is also used to make continuous tense forms.

Compare:

He kept me waiting. (Waiting – present participle)

I don’t like waiting. (Here the –ing form waiting is the object of the verb like and hence it acts like a
noun. It is therefore a gerund.)

After playing for an hour, he went home. (Playing – present participle)

Playing is good for health. (Here the –ing form playing is the subject of the verb is and hence it acts
like a noun. It is therefore a gerund.)

Forms of gerund

Having worked for twelve hours, I felt tired. (Perfect – active)

She is angry about having been criticized. (Perfect – passive)

Everybody is desirous of being praised. (Passive)


Not knowing what to do, she started crying. (Negative)

Exercise

Say whether the –ing forms given in the following sentences are gerunds or present participles.

1. Telling lies won’t help anyone.

2. She was punished for coming late.

3. Children learn reading and writing at school.

4. Coming events cast their shadow.

5. He left the tap running.

Answers

1. Telling – gerund (subject of the verb won’t)

2. Coming – gerund (object of the preposition for)

3. Reading and writing – gerund (object of the verb learn)

4. Coming – present participle (modifies the noun events)

5. Present participle – running (modifies the noun tap)

====================================

What’s a Participle?

A participle is a form of a verb used as an adjective or an adverb. A present participle, like


gerund, ends in -ing.

It can appear as a modifier of a noun, like simple adjectives:

1. The smiling old lady showed me the way to the museum. ("Smiling" can be replaced by
“beautiful.”)

It can also appear as a modifier of a verb, like simple adverbs:

1. Smiling, she showed me the way to the museum. ("Smiling" can be replaced by “Promptly.”)
Gerund vs. Participle

Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell the difference between a gerund and a parti ciple. A
good rule of thumb to follow is that a participle can be omitted and the sentence will still
make sense.

The old lady showed me the way to the museum still works without the participle "smiling,"
but the same doesn't work for a gerund. If you omit “smoking” from the sentence, He was
scolded for smoking, it won’t make sense.

The sentence, Visiting relatives can be boring, is ambiguous because visiting can be
interpreted here as a gerund or as a participle. If you interpreted it as "going to relative s
houses can be boring," you saw it as a gerund that appears in the subject position in the
sentence. You can replace it with a simple noun to confirm it (e.g. Math can be boring). If
you interpreted it as "relatives who come to your house can be boring," you saw it as a
participle that serves as an adjective modifying the noun "relatives." In this case, you can
omit it (Relatives can be boring) and the sentence will still make sense.

A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns, as
in this example:

The children, crying and exhausted, were guided out of the collapsed house.

Crying is a present participle, formed by adding -ing to the present form of the verb (cry).
Exhausted is a past participle, formed by adding -ed to the present form of the verb (exhaust).
Both participles modify the subject, children.

Exercise: Identifying Verbals

For each of the following sentences, decide if the word or phrase in italics is a participle, a
gerund, or an infinitive.

1. The children's singing and laughing woke me up.


2. Jenny likes to dance in the rain.
3. There are many ways of breaking a heart.
4. A broken heart will mend over time.
5. "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city." (George
Burns)
6. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
7. "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not
dying." (Woody Allen)
8. "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through
not dying." (Woody Allen)
9. "It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail." (Gore Vidal)
10. Succeeding is not enough. Others must fail.

Answer Key

1. Gerund: In this sentence, the words singing and laughing function as nouns, making
them gerunds.
2. Infinitive: You can tell that to dance is an infinitive because "to" precedes the word
"dance."
3. Gerund: The verbal breaking serves as a noun. It is also the object of the preposition of.
4. (Past) participle: Implied in this sentence is the verbal phrase, that has been preceding
the verbal, broken, making it a past participle, which indicates something that
happened and was completed in the past.
5. (Present) participles: Loving and caring are actions that are occurring in the present,
making these verbals present participles.
6. Gerund: Laughing is a noun making it a gerund.
7. Infinitives: The verbal to achieve, in both cases, is an infinitive because it's a verb
preceded by to.
8. Gerund: Dying is used as a noun in the sentence.
9. Infinitive: To succeed is an infinitive—a verb preceded by to.
10. Gerund: Succeeding is a noun here; indeed, it is the subject of the first sentence,
making it a gerund.

11. Exercise
12. Point out the present participles and gerunds in the following sentences.
13. 1. He has ruined his lungs by smoking.
2. Asking questions is easier than answering them.
3. We saw a clown standing on his head.
4. He hates spending money.
5. Waving their hands, the spectators cheered the runners.
6. We are fighting a losing battle.
7. It is freezing cold.
8. We are confident of winning the election.
9. The boy cried thinking that he would be whipped.
10. Can you teach me painting?
14. Answers
15. 1. Smoking – Gerund (object of the preposition by)
2. Asking – Gerund (subject of the verb is)
3. Standing – participle (used like an adjective qualifying the noun clown)
4. Spending – gerund (object of the verb hates)
5. Waving – participle (used like an adjective qualifying the noun spectators)
6. Fighting – participle (used to form the present continuous verb)
7. Freezing – participle (used like an adverb qualifying the adjective cold)
8. Winning – gerund (object of the preposition of)
9. Thinking – Participle (used like an adverb qualifying the verb cried)
10. Painting – gerund (object of the verb teach)

State whether the –ing forms given in the following sentences are participles or gerunds. In the case of participles, name the noun or
pronoun they qualify. In the case of gerunds, state what function they serve in the sentence.
1. Hearing a loud noise, we ran to the window.
2. The motorcyclist was fatally injured in the accident and is now fighting for his life.
3. He ruined his sight by watching TV all day.
4. We saw a clown standing on his head.
5. Asking questions is a whole lot easier than answering them.
6. Waving their hands, the audience cheered the winner.
7. Plucking flowers is forbidden.
8. Jumping over the fence, the thief escaped.
9. I was surprised at John’s being absent.
10. We spent the whole day playing cards.
11. A miser hates spending his money.
12. John was angry at Alice trying to lie to her.
13. Praising all alike is praising none.
14. Are you afraid of speaking the truth?
15. Singing to herself is her chief delight.
Answers
1. Hearing – participle, qualifying the pronoun we
2. Fighting – participle, qualifying the noun motorcyclist.
3. Watching – gerund, object of the preposition by
4. Standing – participle, qualifying the noun clown
5. Asking – gerund, subject of is; answering – gerund
6. Waving – participle, qualifying the noun audience
7. Plucking – gerund; subject of the verb is
8. Jumping – participle, qualifying the noun thief
9. Being – gerund, object of the participle at
10. Playing – gerund, complement of the noun whole day
11. Spending – gerund, object of the verb hates
12. Trying – gerund, object of the preposition at
13. Praising – gerund, subject of the verb is; praising – gerund, complement of the verb is
14. Speaking – gerund, object of the preposition of
15. Singing – gerund, subject of the verb is

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