Present participles and gerunds

The Gerund and the Present Participle: 'ING' Form

INTRODUCTION

The '-ing' form of the verb may be a present participle or a gerund.

The form is identical, the difference is in the function, or the job the word does in the sentence.

The present participle:

A participle is an adjective or part of a participial phrase qualifying a noun or a pronoun.

  1. Smiling, the lady told them they'd won the big prize.
  2. I heard them arguing last night.

The present participle is also used in the progressive aspect of verb tenses.

  • I'm taking my brother to the station tonight   
  • The man was phoning his friend, when the lights went out.

This is most commonly used:

1. as part of the continuous form of a verb:

  • He is painting
  • She has been waiting

2. after verbs of movement/position in the pattern: verb + present participle,

  • She sat looking at the sea

3. after verbs of perception in the pattern: verb + object + present participle

  • We saw him swimming

4. as an adjective:

  • amazing,
  • worrying,
  • exciting,
  • boring

The gerund:

The gerund is a verb which is used as if it were a noun. Since it is a verb, it can not be qualified by an adjective, nor preceded by an article, but, like other forms of the verb, it can be modified by an adverb and take a complement .
So it can be used:

1. as the subject of the sentence:

  • Eating people is wrong.

2. after prepositions:

  • Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
  • She is good at painting

3. after certain verbs: like, hate, admit, imagine
 

4.in compound nouns:

  • a driving lesson,
  • a swimming pool,
  • bird-watching,
  • train-spotting