Gerund and Participle
Mr. Kaml is a reporter of a newly published English newspaper. His job is to collect news about various cultural events. Collecting news is something very challenging that involves visiting spots and talking to people. Reporting also requires the skill of writing in a convincing style to give a realistic picture of the event covered.
While writing the report, Mr. Kamal has to pay attention to three question-what, when and how. Giving a complete but brief account of an event requires constant practice. It is also important to present the most important information in the introductory paragraph. This enables the reader to have the most important message at first while going through a piece of report.
Gerund and Participle
All the underlined words in the above text are formed from verb. But they are not used alone as action words in the above sentences. Instead, they function as either nouns, adjective, or adverbs.
There are some underlined words which end in Ing function as noun. They are known as gerund. For example:
Collecting news is very challenging.
Reporting also requires the skill of writing.
There are some other underlined words that end in-Ing (present participle) or –ed, -d, -t, -ed, -n (participle). These words may function as adjectives, describing or modifying nouns and are known as participle. For example:
Mr. Kamal is a reporter of a newly published English newspaper.
That involves visiting spots.
Again, you will find examples of another type of underlined words having base forms of verbs with to. Usually they function as nouns, although they can also function as verbs. These verbs are called infinitives. For example:
It is also important to present the most important information.
This enables the reader to have the most important message.
Participle:
Bobby and his mother are at his sister’s wedding. His mother seems worried and keeps asking him questions. Read the dialogue between Bobby and his mother and notice the underlined words:
Bobby: Isn’t it wonderful, mother? Sima is getting married today.
Mother: Yes, it is.
Bobby: Aren’t you excited?
Mother: Yes, this is a very exciting event indeed. But I'm also a bit worried. What if something goes wrong?
Bobby: Come on, mother! Why does such worrying thoughts come to your mind?
Mother: I don’t know. Well, where is your father?
Bobby: He’s standing at the gate to welcome the invited guests.
Mother: And where is your uncle?
Bobby: I don’t know actually. He is supposed to receive the bridegroom.
Mother: But where is he now? It is so annoying!
Bobby: Don’t worry mom. He’ll be there soon. Relax, why do you look so confused?
Mother: Look, I want to be sure that everything is okay. Have you seen your sister?
Bobby: She is just here from the parlor. She is stunning in the bridal dress.
Mother: She is lonely there and might feel bored! Why don’t you go and take some photos of her. That will be quite interesting?
Bobby: Mother, you know, I have asked a wedding photographer to take her pictures. He can take amazing photos.
Mother: That’s good. Let's see how fascinating they look.
Notes: in above dialogue, the underlined words are examples of participle. Do you remember what a participle is, how it is formed and when you use it? If you have noticed the underlined words in the above dialogue, you will see that all these words are formed from a verb and these words are used as adjectives. These are called participles.
The above dialogue contains two types of participles- the present participle (ending Ing) and the past participle (usually ending –ed, -d, -t, -En, or –n)
Look at the following examples of present and past participles used as adjectives.
Present participles Past participles
Boring bored
interesting interested confusing confused amazing amazed
annoying annoyed
Exciting excited
Now, let’s look at some example sentences with the present and past participles.
Present Participle
The movie was boring That book was so interesting His message was a bit confusing What an amazing speech! You are really annoying. Mr. Kamal has an exciting job. | Past Participle
Why do you look so bored? She is very interested in music I feel quite confused We were quite amazed to see her The audience became annoyed We are so excited. |
Gerund:
Read the following sentences and see what roles are played by the words ending in –Ing
Coughing exhausts Shakila. (coughing=the subject of the verb exhausts.)
Bina hates cooking. (cooking=the direct object of the verb hates.)
In the above examples cooking and coughing are used as nouns and are called gerund. 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.
Now, look at some more examples of gerund functioning as noun.
Gerund as the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
Eating uncooked food is not good.
Hunting tigers is dangerous
Flying makes me nervous
Brushing your teeth is important.
Gerund after prepositions:
The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition. This is also true for certain expressions ending in a preposition.
Examples:
Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
She is good at painting.
We arrived in Khulna after driving all night.
Gerund after phrasal verbs:
Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb+preposition or adverb.
Example:
When will you give up smoking?
She always puts off going to the dentist.
He kept on asking for money.
I look forward to hearing from you soon
I am used to waiting for buses.
Gerund after some expression:
The gerund is necessary after the expression like can’t help, can’t stand, to be worth, and it’s no use.
Examples:
I can’t stand being stuck in traffic jams.
It's no good wasting your time.
Remember: In English, the present participles have the same form as the gerund, and the difference is in how they are used.
Infinitive:
First let’s look at these two examples:
I like learning.
Really? I like to learn too.
We can see two forms used here:
Main verb+ verb+ing (I like learning) and,
Main verb+to+verb in the base form (I like to learn)
Here in these sentences, the word learning is a gerund and to learn is an infinitive. Here are some infinitives.
To eat | To sleep | To smile | To write |
To wash | To shower | To break | To drive |
The infinitive has two forms:
The to-infinitive= to base
Zero infinitive/base infinitive=base
The present infinitive is the base form of verb you will find in a dictionary.
To-infinitive | Zero-infinitive |
To sit | sit |
To eat | eat |
To have | have |
To remember | Remember |
To hear | hear |
The negative infinitive is formed by putting not in front of any form of the infinitives.
Example:
I decided not to go to London.
He asked me not to be late.
I'd like you not to sing so loudly.
I would rather not to eat meat.
The to-infinitive is used in sentences to express purpose, opinion or intention of an-action.
Examples:
She came to borrow my dictionary.
They went to find firewood.
Your sister has gone to finish her homework.
The to-infinitive as the subject of the sentence:
This is a formal usage and is far more common in written English than spoken.
Example:
To err is human. To be or not to be, that is the question.
The to-infinitive with adverb:
The to-infinitive is used frequently with the adverb too enough.
Examples:
I had too many books to carry.
This soup is too hot to eat.
She was too tired to work
I've had enough food to eat.
Functions of the zero infinitive:
The zero infinitive after modals.
Example:
She can’t speak to you.
He should give her some money.
Would you like a cup of coffee?
The zero infinitive after the verbs ‘make’ and ‘let’.
Examples:
She can’t speak to you.
He should give her some money.
Would you like a cup of coffee.?
The zero infinitive after the verbs ‘make’ and ‘let’
Examples:
Her parents let her stay out late.
Let’s go to the cinema tonight.
The rains made us stay at home.
If you would like to know more about the parts of speech you can read here.
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