Gerund/present participle/present prog arghh!!!

[Anonymous]

What is the easiest way to explain the difference between a gerund, a present participle and present progressive - Its giving me a headache so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yours confused again .... Mr unsure

[gwendolinest]

The present progressive (also called present continuous) is a tense. For example, the sentence “I am running” is in the present-progressive tense. The verb is in a so-called finite form

The present participle is not a tense, but a form of the verb. For example, just the word “running” is the present-participle form of the verb “to run”, which is here in a non-finite form.

A verb in a finite form has the mood, tense, and person clearly defined. For example, in the sentence “I am running”, the verb is conjugated in the indicative mood, present (continuous) tense and first person singular. OTOH, a non-finite form of a verb is independent of mood, tense and person.

Finally, a gerund is a noun formed by using the present-participle form of a verb. For example, in “the running was done by me”, the word “running” is a gerund.

()

[MikeNewYork]

What is the easiest way to explain the difference between a gerund, a present participle and present progressive - Its giving me a headache so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yours confused again .... Mr unsure

A present participle and a gerund are verb forms with an -ing ending.

The present participle is used (with a form of the verb "to be") to create progressive tenses. It can also be used alone as an adjective. A gerund is a verbal used as a noun.

Present progressive: The baby is crying.
Past progressive: The baby was crying.
Future progressive: The baby will be crying.
Adjective: We were annoyed by a crying baby.
Gerund: Crying is a sign that a baby is hungry.

[Red5]

What is the easiest way to explain the difference between a gerund, a present participle and present progressive - Its giving me a headache so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yours confused again .... Mr unsure

Take a look at these links for more information:

Gerund

Present Participle

Present Progressive

[alexandre42]

What is the easiest way to explain the difference between a gerund, a present participle and present progressive - Its giving me a headache so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yours confused again .... Mr unsure

A present participle and a gerund are verb forms with an -ing ending.

The present participle is used (with a form of the verb "to be") to create progressive tenses. It can also be used alone as an adjective. A gerund is a verbal used as a noun.

Present progressive: The baby is crying.
Past progressive: The baby was crying.
Future progressive: The baby will be crying.


Adjective: We were annoyed by a crying baby.
Gerund: Crying is a sign that a baby is hungry.

Hello
You said the present participle is used also as an adjective . How can I recognize this ?
In this sentence interesting is an adjective . Depiste interesting as he was , no one spoke to him .

Thanks

[Casiopea]

What is the easiest way to explain the difference between a gerund, a present participle and present progressive - Its giving me a headache so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yours confused again .... Mr unsure

A present participle and a gerund are verb forms with an -ing ending.

The present participle is used (with a form of the verb "to be") to create progressive tenses. It can also be used alone as an adjective. A gerund is a verbal used as a noun.

Present progressive: The baby is crying.
Past progressive: The baby was crying.
Future progressive: The baby will be crying.


Adjective: We were annoyed by a crying baby.
Gerund: Crying is a sign that a baby is hungry.

Hello
You said the present participle is used also as an adjective . How can I recognize this ?
In this sentence interesting is an adjective . Depiste interesting as he was , no one spoke to him .

Thanks

Despite how interesting he seemed, no one spoke to him.
=> He seemed interesting.

interesting is a participle. That is, was interesting, is interesting, will be interesting are adjectives.

All the best, :D

[alexandre42]

Many thanks
:))

[bigjohn]

But take note that interesting is not always an adjective, it can also - if rarely - be progressive.

With each new experiment, the science teacher was increasingly interesting his students in the process of photosynthesis (or whatever).

[alexandre42]

But take note that interesting is not always an adjective, it can also - if rarely - be progressive.

With each new experiment, the science teacher was increasingly interesting his students in the process of photosynthesis (or whatever).

Yes , ing ends progressive form ( also called continuous ). The teacher was teaching in the classroom to the students . An another example, I'm working here since 1970 . And I continue.

:)

[Smartass]

Interesting in bigjohn's example is the Past Progressive form of the verb "to interest". While "interesting" (as in "an interesting book") is not a Participle and not a verb, but an ADJECTIVE. It used to be a Participle, but it became adjectivized and is no more a Participle.'

It would be wrong to say that Participle is an adjective. It is of double nature: it possesses characteristics of a verb (because it denotes an action) and those of an adjective (because it acts as an adjective in sentences and phrases).
Now Gerund and Infinitive are also of double nature: they denote an action, and act as a noun.
Gerund, Participle and Infinitive are all verbals or non-finite forms of the verb.

How do you see the difference between Gerund and Participle? Try to put an adjective or a noun in their place:
She's a DEMANDING professor. She's a NICE professor.

I love READING.
I love APPLES.

See? If a noun fits in that place, then its a Gerund. If an adjective - then its a Participle.