Participles: Participle and Following Sentence Positions
Difference between Participles and Gerunds
Participles
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns.
PARTICIPLES can function as ADJECTIVES in sentences. The examples and exercises in this activity focus on present participles, which suggest action and come from active verbs. As adjectives, participles modify nouns or pronouns. They can have the following sentence positions:
Adjective + Noun: I was awakened by the screaming child. (The participle modifies child.)
Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective complement: The horror film was extremely frightening. (The participle modifies horror film).
Participial Phrase: The police noticed the thief hiding on the rooftop. (The participial phrase modifies thief).
Gerunds
A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions in a sentence as a noun. Although both the present participle and the gerund are formed by adding -ing to a verb, note that the participle does the job of an adjective while the gerund does the job of a noun.
GERUNDS have the same functions as NOUNS in sentences. They can be single words or gerund phrases.
Subject Gerunds: 1. Learning is a lifelong process. . 2. Learning to speak and write English well takes a lot of practice.
Direct object Gerunds: 1. Bertha hates shopping. She'd rather save her money. 2. She prefers putting her money in a savings account. * Gerunds as objects of prepositions:. 1. James is not known for studying 2. He failed his last exam on identifying the parts of speech.
Subject complement Gerunds after linking verbs: 1. All summer long, Lisa's favorite pastime has been surfing. 2. Meanwhile, her younger brother's favorite activity has been surfing the internet.
GERUND or PARTICIPLE?
1. Feeling sick, Michael excused himself from class.
2. Everyone hates having the flu.
3. Swimming regularly is
Participles
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns.
PARTICIPLES can function as ADJECTIVES in sentences. The examples and exercises in this activity focus on present participles, which suggest action and come from active verbs. As adjectives, participles modify nouns or pronouns. They can have the following sentence positions:
Adjective + Noun: I was awakened by the screaming child. (The participle modifies child.)
Subject + Linking Verb + Adjective complement: The horror film was extremely frightening. (The participle modifies horror film).
Participial Phrase: The police noticed the thief hiding on the rooftop. (The participial phrase modifies thief).
Gerunds
A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions in a sentence as a noun. Although both the present participle and the gerund are formed by adding -ing to a verb, note that the participle does the job of an adjective while the gerund does the job of a noun.
GERUNDS have the same functions as NOUNS in sentences. They can be single words or gerund phrases.
Subject Gerunds: 1. Learning is a lifelong process. . 2. Learning to speak and write English well takes a lot of practice.
Direct object Gerunds: 1. Bertha hates shopping. She'd rather save her money. 2. She prefers putting her money in a savings account. * Gerunds as objects of prepositions:. 1. James is not known for studying 2. He failed his last exam on identifying the parts of speech.
Subject complement Gerunds after linking verbs: 1. All summer long, Lisa's favorite pastime has been surfing. 2. Meanwhile, her younger brother's favorite activity has been surfing the internet.
GERUND or PARTICIPLE?
1. Feeling sick, Michael excused himself from class.
2. Everyone hates having the flu.
3. Swimming regularly is