English · Grammar · SSC & HSC
Gerund and Participle — Difference, Rules & Examples
Both end in -ing: how to tell a gerund from a participle, and what each one does in a sentence.
A gerund and a present participle look identical — both are the -ing form of a verb — but they do different jobs. A gerund works as a noun, so it can be a subject, an object or follow a preposition ("Swimming is good exercise"). A participle works as an adjective, describing a noun ("the swimming child"). Ask what job the word is doing, not what it looks like.
Where it is set: SSC & HSC English 2nd Paper — Grammar
Same form, different job
A gerund and a present participle are both the -ing form of a verb, so they can never be told apart by looking at them. They are told apart by the job the word is doing in its sentence.
A gerund does a noun's job: it can be a subject, an object, or follow a preposition. A participle does an adjective's job: it describes a noun. Ask what the word is working as, and the answer is immediate.
The same word doing two different jobs
| Sentence | The -ing word is | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Swimming is good exercise. | gerund | it is the subject of is |
| I enjoy swimming. | gerund | it is the object of enjoy |
| He is fond of swimming. | gerund | it follows the preposition of |
| The swimming boy is my brother. | participle | it describes boy |
| I saw a boy swimming in the river. | participle | it describes boy |
| He is swimming now. | part of the verb | it follows the auxiliary is |
- ✓ Reading books is a good habit. — gerund as subject
- ✓ The reading boy did not look up. — participle describing boy
The three kinds of participle
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective, and English has three. Choosing the wrong one is the commonest participle error, and the choice rests on whether the noun performs the action or receives it.
| Participle | Form | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | verb + -ing | active — the noun does it | a running train |
| Past | verb + -ed / third form | passive — the noun receives it | a broken chair |
| Perfect | having + third form | an earlier completed action | Having finished, he left. |
- ✓ The boy injured in the accident was taken to hospital. — past participle: the boy received the injury
- ✓ Having eaten his lunch, he went out. — perfect participle: eating came first
Which verbs take a gerund and which an infinitive
When one verb follows another, the first verb decides the form of the second. There is no rule behind the choice, but the set the board draws on is small.
| First verb | Second verb takes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy, avoid, mind, finish, suggest, keep, practise | gerund | She avoided answering. |
| want, hope, decide, agree, refuse, promise, expect | to + base | He decided to leave. |
| make, let, see, hear, watch, help | base form (no to) | She made him wait. |
| be used to, look forward to, object to, get used to | gerund (to is a preposition) | I look forward to meeting you. |
| stop, remember, forget, try | both, with different meanings | He stopped smoking. / He stopped to smoke. |
- ✗ I am looking forward to meet you. ✓ I am looking forward to meeting you. — here to is a preposition
- ✓ He stopped smoking = he gave up the habit. He stopped to smoke = he paused in order to smoke.
A gerund takes a possessive before it
Because a gerund behaves as a noun, the word in front of it that names the doer should be possessive rather than objective. This is a formal rule that boards still mark, though everyday speech often ignores it.
- Formal and correct: I do not mind his coming late.
- Common in speech, marked wrong in exams: I do not mind him coming late.
- With a noun: I was surprised at Rahim’s leaving so early.
- A participle takes the ordinary form, because it describes rather than names: I saw him running.
- That contrast is a useful test in itself — if a possessive sounds right, the word is a gerund.
- ✗ They objected to me joining the club. ✓ They objected to my joining the club.
- ✓ I saw him crossing the road. — participle, so him is correct here
Dangling participles
A participle phrase at the start of a sentence attaches itself to whatever subject follows. If that subject is not the thing performing the participle's action, the sentence says something absurd.
The fix is always the same: make the intended doer the subject of the main clause.
- ✗ Walking down the street, the shops looked closed. ✓ Walking down the street, I saw that the shops were closed. — the shops were not walking
- ✗ Being late, the door was locked. ✓ Being late, he found the door locked.
- ✗ Having finished the exam, the results were awaited. ✓ Having finished the exam, the students awaited the results.
Practice
Work through these before you check the answers — the reasoning matters more than the answer.
- Gerund or participle: “Smoking is injurious to health.”
- Gerund or participle: “I saw a burning house.”
- Gerund or participle: “He is good at playing chess.”
- Choose: “I am used to (get / getting) up early.”
- Choose: “He avoided (to answer / answering) my question.”
- Correct: “Do you mind me opening the window?”
- Correct: “Running down the road, his hat fell off.”
- Name the participle: “Having completed the work, she went home.”
Answers
- Gerund — it is the subject of the sentence.
- Participle — it describes house.
- Gerund — it follows the preposition at.
- getting — in “be used to”, to is a preposition.
- answering — avoid takes a gerund.
- Do you mind my opening the window? — a gerund takes a possessive.
- Running down the road, he lost his hat — the hat was not running.
- Perfect participle — it marks an action completed before the main one.
Frequently Asked Questions
By its job, never by its form — both are the -ing form. If the word is doing a noun’s work (subject, object, or after a preposition) it is a gerund. If it is describing a noun, it is a participle. In “Swimming is fun”, swimming is a subject, so gerund; in “the swimming boy”, it describes boy, so participle.
Because in look forward to, the word to is a preposition, not part of an infinitive — and a preposition is always followed by a noun or a gerund. So it must be “looking forward to meeting you”. The same trap sits in be used to, object to and get used to. Test it by trying a noun after to: “looking forward to the holiday” works, which proves to is a preposition.
In an exam, his coming. A gerund is a noun, so the word naming its doer should be possessive. Everyday speech uses the objective form freely and no one misunderstands, but boards still mark the possessive as correct. Note the contrast with a participle: “I saw him running” is right, because there running describes him.
A participle phrase whose intended subject is missing from the sentence, so it latches onto the wrong noun. “Walking down the street, the shops looked closed” says the shops were walking. Fix it by starting the main clause with the real doer: “Walking down the street, I saw that the shops were closed.”
Keep going
Every grammar rule, plus paragraphs, compositions and applications for SSC and HSC.