Gerund and participle

Question

sir,           please explain the difference between gerund and participle

Wmoynan · Accepted Answer

gerund is ending with -ing

It is usually used with a continuous sense e.g. I am writing to you now.

(Past) participle is what I assume you meant: this is the past form of the verb to be used with past tense forms which require two verbs
e.g. present perfect
I have been waiting here for you for hours

been is the past participle of be

The reason it's called participle, I believe, is that the verb is really split between the 'have' and the 'been'.

Yankee · Answer

wmoynangerund is ending with -ing

It is usually used with a continuous sense e.g. I am writing to you now.

I don't agree with your gerund example, Wmoynan. In my opinion, you have not provided an example of a gerund.

1. I am writing to you now.
In your sentence (1), the word "writing" is a present participle, not a gerund. The present participle in your sentence is part of the present continuous form of the verb "write". It functions as a verb in the sentence.

2. I can see the writing on the wall.
In sentence 2, the word "writing" is a gerund. The gerund in sentence 2 functions as a noun in the sentence. It is even preceded by the word "the".

Here is what the Online Etymology Dictionary has to say about the word "participle":

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=participle

Gerund and participle

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