gerund or participle

[visitor12345]

Is "reading" in "reading material" a gerund or a participle. I thought it is a participle until someone brought up the question of noun-noun construction in English.

Is "reading material" a gerund phrase in "I don't like this reading material"? Can it show up as a participle phrase?

Thanks.

[Avalon]

good question..When is it that we call the ing a gerund and when is it that we call it a present participle? I have this wild guess of when it´s a conjugated form of the verb, it is a gerund, otherwise, when it´s used as a noun it´s a present participle..but to be honest..I´m totally at loss here.

[Humble]

Hi,
I think it's a gerund in its attributive capacity.