different between gerund vs participle

English

Etymology

From Latin gerundium, from gerundus (“which is to be carried out”), future passive participle (gerundive) of ger? (“carry, bear”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: j?r'-?nd, IPA^(key): /?d????nd/, /-?nd/
• Rhymes: -???nd, -???nd

Noun

gerund (plural gerunds)

1. (grammar) A verbal form that functions as a verbal noun. (In English, a gerund has the same spelling as a present participle, but functions differently; however, this distinction may be ambiguous or unclear and so is no longer made in some modern texts such as A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)
   • 1991, Edward Johnson, The Handbook of Good English, page 208,

     Compounds in which gerunds are the second element look exactly like compounds in which present participles are the second element, but different principles of hyphenation apply.

   • 2002, Dan Mulvey, Grammar the Easy Way, page 25,

     Like any noun, the gerund functions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative. The gerund phrase is made up of the present participle ("-ing") and can contain an object and/or a modifier (and sometimes many modifiers). The gerund is a verbal noun.

   • 2005, Gary Lutz, Diane Stevenson, The Writer's Digest Grammar Desk Reference, page 55,

     Gerunds and gerund phrases are always nouns, so they are always predicate nominatives when used as complements. Do be careful to distinguish progressive-tense verbs from gerunds used as subjective complements.

2. (grammar) In some languages such as Dutch, Italian or Russian, a verbal form similar to a present participle, but functioning as an adverb to form adverbial phrases or continuous tense. These constructions have various names besides gerund, depending on the language, such as conjunctive participles, active participles, adverbial participles, transgressives, etc.

Hypernyms

• verbal

Derived terms

• gerundive
• gerundial

Translations

Further reading

• gerund on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• gurned, nudger, runged

Dutch

Pronunciation

Participle

gerund

1. past participle of runnen

Declension

This participle needs an inflection-table template.

English

Etymology

From Middle English participle, from Old French participle (1388), variant of participe, from Latin participium.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???t?s?p?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p??t??s?p?l/

Noun

participle (plural participles)

1. (grammar) A form of a verb that may function as an adjective or noun. English has two types of participles: the present participle and the past participle. In other languages, there are others, such as future, perfect, and future perfect participles.

Usage notes

Participles can be combined with the auxiliary verbs have and be to form the perfect aspect, the progressive aspect, and the passive voice. The tense is always expressed through the auxiliary verb.

• I have asked. (present tense, perfect aspect)
• I am asking. (present tense, progressive aspect)
• I am asked. (present tense, passive voice)

When not combined with have or be, participles are almost always adjectives and can form adjectival phrases called participial phrases. Nouns can occasionally be derived from these adjectives:

• the following items
• the following
• the dying victims
• the dying

In English, participles typically end in -ing, -ed or -en.

A present participle ending in -ing has the same form but a different function from a verbal noun called a gerund. Sometimes a present participle (adjective) is mistakenly called a gerund (noun).

Hypernyms

• verbal

Hyponyms

• active participle
• future participle
• passive participle
• past participle
• perfect passive participle
• present participle

Translations