difference between a gerund and a participle. ; It’s difficult to understand. The infinitive form is the base form of a verb with ‘to’. ; Infinitive, to + base verb. Before we look at the difference between a gerund and a present participle, let’s look at their definitions and understand what a gerund and a participle in English are. Therefore, a participle always describes a noun or a pronoun in the same sentence. "The compound term serves also to bring out the relationship between this form and the past participle: the gerund-participle has a considerably larger distribution than the past participle…" In sum, a gerund is an 'ing' verb that functions as a noun whereas a present participle is an 'ing' verb that either functions as a verb or an adjective. A participle is a form of verb which works as an adjective, noun, or verbs (with the help of auxiliary verbs) in a sentence. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding “-ing.” The gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, so it is important to understand the difference between the two. A gerund is a present participle (verb + ing) which works as a noun in a sentence. For many writers, the use of the gerund and present participle can be a little confusing at times. It’s not easy at first to identify a gerund phrase vs participle phrase. Basis of the difference: Participle: Gerund: 1. In this examples, the word Reading is a gerund. It’s tough to know the difference between gerunds and present participles in English just by looking because they both consist of the base form of the verb, plus the “-ing” suffix—always! An infinitive has the exact job as that of a gerund, however the difference is that while a gerund is formed by using verb + "ing", infinitives are formed by using "to" + verb/verb phrase. It may be worth remembering that a gerund always functions as a noun: What is a gerund in English? When a verb is used as a noun, it is called a Gerund. Relation. I want to study. A gerund can be as … She likes dancing a lot. Although a gerund looks like a verb, it always has the same function as a noun. Other examples of 'ing' verbs that can be classified as present participle and gerund are: walking, praying, standing etc. A definite type of present participle can be gerunds. Gerund-participle is the merged term for this -ing word form. The difference between a gerund and a present participle is simple: a gerund is an ‘ing’ form of a verb that functions as a noun, and a present participle is an ‘ing’ form of a verb that either functions as an action verb or an adjective. For example, Reading helps the mind. There is not a single verb in the entire English language that breaks this rule. Since the simple gerund and the present participle have the same form (verb-ing), sometimes it can be difficult to decide whether an -ing form is a gerund or a present participle. There are two kinds of participles: present participles and past participles. Definition. ; My hobby is painting. While a gerund works as a noun, a participle works as an adjective. The purpose of an adjective is to describe a noun or a pronoun. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding “-ing.” The gerund looks exactly the same as a present participle, so it is important to understand the difference between the two. It is used after another verb, after an adjective or noun or as the subject or object of a sentence. 2. Both use the present participle, which is the ing form of a verb. A participle is very different from a gerund. Participle works as a noun or a pronoun a gerund infinitive form is the base of... Examples of 'ing ' verbs that can be a little confusing at times a gerund looks like a.! 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