What are the Gerund and the Participle in English?

 What are the Gerund and the Participle in English?

• A Gerund is the form of verb which ends in “ing” and is partly a verb and partly a noun. (It is a adverbial noun). So, a gerund is the form of an –ing verb used as a noun. A present participle always goes with the verb TO BE to form a continuous tense.
• What are the gerund and the participle in English?
• The gerund is called the form of the present participle of the verb that acts as a noun in a sentence. It is very easy to recognize it, as it ends in –ing. The gerund can be both affirmative (cry - crying) and negative (not crying).
• Both the Gerund and the infinitive have the force of a noun and a verb. Therefore, their uses are also similar, as; Smoking is injurious to health. The word smoking is formed with addition of ‘ing’ with ‘smoke’ so this works for ‘noun’ because is used as a subject of the verb, so in this way it is both count as ‘noun’, and ‘Gerund’
• Gerunds functions as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject –complements, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
• Present Participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers.
• Gerund may be used as under:

1.     1.  Subject of a verb:

• Smoking is injurious to health.
• Drinking breeds many diseases.
• Walking is useful for health.

2.     2.  Object of Transitive Verb:

• I hate gambling.
• Children stopped talking.
• We enjoy playing on Sunday.

3.     3.  Subject of Preposition:

• She is fond of singing.
• I am tired of studying.
• He is in the habit of smoking.

4.     4.  Complement of a Verb:

• Seeing is the believing.
• The most hated thing is lying.
• Hearing is obeying.
• What he likes best is fishing.

5.      5. As a Compound Noun:

• A flying plane (A plane for flying)
• A frying pan (A pan for frying)
• A swimming costume (A costume for swimming)

6.      6. Preceded by a Noun or Pronoun:

• Note: When gerund is preceded by a noun or pronoun, it must be in the possessive form. (Ali`s, Ahmad`s, my, your, his, her, our, etc.) As the gerund is finally a noun. Such as;
• He insisted on my being present in the meeting.
• I hope you will excuse my leaving early.
• She persisted in Ali`s staying with her.

7.      Sometimes, a Gerund in the Possessive Case is not used:

• ( (A) When it denotes a lifeless thing, as;

1.      There is no possibility of train coming late.

2.      There is possibility of bus being late.

3.      I hope the car reaching soon.

• (B)  When a Plural Noun ends in “s”, as;

1.      I like the boys playing hockey.

2.      She wants the girls being present

3.      I want the toys being imported.

•     (C) When Gerund is used in the Passive form:

         1. He was being sent to jail. 

         2. Shoaib was being dismissed from service.

         3. Students were being taught a lesson.

Difference between Gerund and Present Participle

• Gerund and present Participle both are a form of verb which ends in “ing”, as;

(A) Gerund is a partly a verb and partly a noun.

(B) Participle is partly a verb and partly an adjective. Gerund is verb-noun whereas participle is verb-adjective

Gerund	Participle
He is fond of playing cards. He is tired of walking. I like smiling.	Playing cards, he set to work. Walking along the road, he is tired. She went away smiling.

More Difference between Gerund and Present Participle:

Gerund (Compound Noun)	Participle (Verbal Adjective)
A singing hall. A sleeping room. A travelling uniform. A smiling look. A swimming costume.	A singing boy. A sleeping baby. A travelling party. A smiling girl. A swimming person.

• Note: In the examples above, we find one word common in every two sentences but the second is different. We see that when the “ing” verb is followed by a person, it forms verbial adjective but when it followed by an inanimate thing, it forms a compound