I am playing games

Question

We know that there is only one verb in a sentence.

For example, I play games.

Play is the verb without any doubt.

How about this, I am playing games.

Now, has "am" become the verb, while "playing" is the gerund?

It's a question asked by my friend who is a basic learner, but I am really not pretty sure, I find that I never thought about this.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

kenny1999Now, has "am" become the verb, while "playing" is the gerund?

No. The terminology of English grammar has not been standardized, and there is a new wave of grammar that uses whole other words for things. I am used to using the terminology I learned in sixth grade back in the mumbleties of the last century.

There are four forms a verb can take, sometimes called aspects. To use the present tense for an example, the aspects are the simple (I play), the perfect (I have played), the progressive ( I am playing), and the perfect progressive (I have been playing). "Have" and "be" in those examples are called auxiliary verbs.

In your sentence, "am playing" is the verb.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

There are four basic verb forms in English

- base (infinitive form)
- past
- present participle
- past participle

A good dictionary lists the forms for each verb entry. For example the regular verb "play"

play, played, playing, played

These forms are used in sentences in various combinations. For example the continuous tenses use the verb "be" plus the present participle.

I am playing
I was playing
I have been playing

You are playing
You were playing
You have been playing

(etc.)

In some sentences, the present participle is not part of a verb, but is used as a modifier or even a noun.

When the present participle of a verb is used as a noun in a sentence, it gets a different name, a gerund.

e.g.

Playing is what kids like to do. (subject of "is")

Anonymous · Answer

kenny1999
We know that there is only one verb in a sentence.
For example, I play games.
Play is the verb without any doubt.
How about this, I am playing games.
Now, has "am" become the verb, while "playing" is the gerund?

It's a question asked by my friend who is a basic learner, but I am really not pretty sure, I find that I never thought about this.

For every verb there is a clause.

Here there are two verbs "am" and "playing", and thus there are two clauses.

The first clause (or matrix/main clause) is the whole sentence.

Within that clause is the subordinate clause "playing games", which functions as complement of "am".

The bracketing is thus

[I am [playing games]].

where the outer brackets enclose the matrix (or main) clause, and the inner brackets enclose the subordinate clause.

I am playing games

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