Gerunds vs Present Participles

Gerunds can also appear in compound nouns, such as:

• Swimming pool
• Shopping centre
• Racing pigeon

...and in phrases where there is no main verb, such as:

• How about giving me a lift?
• No smoking!

The gerund should not be confused with the present participle, which has the same form (verb-ing)
The –ing form is always present participle if it is preceded by the auxiliary verb be:
In the present tense:

• am
• are
• is

In the past tense:

• was
• were

If the –ing form is preceded by be, it is part of the continuous tense structure. Continuous tenses will be dealt with in detail in a future module. Here are some examples. Note that these sentences do not contain any gerunds, only present participles.

• We’re seeing a movie tonight. Would you like to come?
  (Making arrangements with someone)
• I’m watching TV at the moment.
  (On the phone to a friend)
• Charles was teaching in class when a student asked a question.
  (Describing something that was in progress sometime in the past which was interrupted by something else)
• Mark is running his own business at the moment.
  (Describing a current state or situation)
• We were playing squash yesterday.
  (Describing an event that was in progress in the past)

Sometimes a present participle is not preceded by a form of ‘to be’. For example, in the sentence “I saw him dancing” “dancing” is a present participle as it doesn’t operate as a noun. As a test, try replacing it by “something”. You cannot say “I saw him something”, therefore it is neither a noun nor a gerund. On the other hand, you can say “I enjoy something”, therefore in the sentence “I enjoy dancing” ‘dancing’ is

a gerund.
Another example:

• He loves looking up at the clouds (“He loves something” – gerund)
• He lay looking up at the clouds (NOT “He lay something” – present participle)

These grammar points on use of gerunds are by no means exhaustive. This area of grammar is quite complex, so a good read through the section on gerunds in a decent grammar book would not go amiss. In the meantime, have a look at the next exercise.