Gerunds and Present Participles
Gerunds and Present Participles are often confused because they look the same. The gerunds and present participle activities on this page will help you identify the difference between them and understand how to use each to improve your English.
Present participles and gerunds take the same form; they both end in ‘ing’. Although they look the same, their functions in a sentence and in English grammar are different. For this reason, it’s important to recognise their differences.
Gerunds
A gerund is a verb form that acts as a noun. It represents an activity or action. Gerunds can be the subject of a sentence, the direct or indirect object, or the object of a preposition.
Examples of gerunds:
- Swimming is my favourite hobby. (subject)
- I enjoy reading books. (direct object)
- He is interested in learning new languages. (object of a preposition)
Present Participles
A present participle is a verb form that acts as a verb tense or an adjective. Present participles are used to describe actions in progress, or to modify nouns by describing them.
Examples of present participles:
- The smiling child waved at me. (‘smiling’ acts as an adjective to modify ‘child’)
- She was reading when I called. (‘reading’ works with the auxiliary verb ‘was’ to form present continuous tense)
Gerunds and Present Participles Practice
Worksheets
Worksheet 1: Printable pdf | Editable pdf
Worksheet 2: Printable pdf | Editable pdf
Gerunds and Present Participles Activity
Drag and drop to show whether the word in bold is a gerund or a present participle.