GERUND AND PARTICIPLE

A. Gerund
Definition :
Simple def : gerund is a verb ing that function as a noun. The function can be as the subject
of a sentence, as the object of the sentence, and as the modifier of the noun.

Types of gerund :

1. Gerund as subject
- Swimming is my favorite activity
- running can be a good way to stay in shape
Explanation : swimming and running here are gerund that function as the subject of
these sentence
2. Gerund as object (if gerund as an object, it can be placed after verb, preposition, and
also can be an object of complement)
a. An object of certain verbs
( usually, gerund follows certain verbs such as prefer, miss, love, like)
- She prefers drinking tea to coffee
- I like running every morning
Explanation : so, after the word prefer or like, when they followed by verb , the verb
must be in the form of verb ing or we called it as gerund.
b. Object of preposition
(usually, preposition is followed by noun, when we need to put verb after
preposition, we need to change the form into verb ing or gerund)
- After watching the movie, I fell asleep.
- You have to wash your hands before eating.

Explanation : after and before are preposition, the verbs that come after preposition
must be in the form of verb ing or gerund, we cannot say after watch or before eat

c. Object complement ( the complement of the sentence)

Complement = pelengkap.
- her hobby is cooking
- my favorite activity is sleeping
explanation : cooking and sleeping here are the object complements

B. Participle

A participle is a form of a verb used as either an adjective (“the broken glasses”) or a part of certain
tenses (“he is breaking the glasses”).

Participles are a particular form of verb that has two main purposes: 

1.  Turn the verb into an adjective to modify nouns.

2. Connect with auxiliary verbs to create different tenses.

There are two main types of participle in English, they are present participle and past pasrticiple.
Let’s discuss present participle first
*Present Participle

present participle can be used in several ways, first in :

a. Continuous Verb Tenses: The present participle is used in the formation of continuous verb
tenses, indicating an action that is happening at the moment or over a period of time. For
example:

"Dena is walking to the school."

Explanation : in the given example, the verb "is" (present tense of "to be") indicates the present
time, and the present participle "walking" indicates the ongoing action. Therefore, the sentence
describes Dena's action of walking to the school in the present moment.

"They were climbing the walls." (contoh kedua opsional aja)

(all continuous tense or just two?)

b. Adjectives: The present participle can act as an adjective to modify noun. For example:

"The running water sounded soothing."

Explanation : so, the word “running” here is the present participle that acts as an adjective to modify
the noun “water”

"The novel has a boring cover." (contoh yg kedua opsional aja)

*Past Participle

The past participle is a verb form that is typically used in the formation of perfect verb tenses and
passive voice constructions.

The past pasticiple can be used in various ways, first is :

a. Perfect Verb Tenses: The past participle is used in the formation of perfect verb tenses to
indicate an action that occurred before a certain point in time or has been completed. It is
typically used with auxiliary verbs such as "have," "had," or "has." For example:

"She has scrolled tiktok for many hours”.

Explanation : In the given example, "has" (present tense of "to have") indicates the present perfect
aspect, and "scrolled" (past participle of "to scroll") indicates the completed action that happened in
the past. The use of "for many hours" emphasizes the duration of the action.

Therefore, the sentence describes the action of scrolling TikTok that started in the past and has
continued up until the present moment.

"They had eaten dinner before the movie started." (contoh kedua opsional)

b. Passive Voice: The past participle is also used in passive voice constructions, where the
subject of the sentence receives the action rather than performing it. In passive voice
sentences, the past participle is used with forms of the auxiliary verb "to be." For example:
"The power point was presented by my team."

Explanation : In the given example, " The power point was presented by my team," the past
participle "presented" is used to form the passive voice.

"her necklace was stolen by a robber." (contoh kedua opsional)

c. Adjectives: The past participle can function as an adjective, describing a state or

characteristic of a noun. For example:

"The broken bowl lay on the floor."

Explanation : the past participle “broken” describes the condition of the noun “bowl”

"She was impressed by the painted artwork." (opsional)

C. GERUND VS PARTICIPLE

Main Differences Gerund Participle

as a noun and is used to functions as an adjective and is

express an action or activity. it used to modify a noun or
Function can serve as the subject or pronoun.
object of a sentence, or as the
object of a preposition.
formed by adding the suffix "- A participle can take different
ing" to the base form of the forms.
Form verb. For example: "swim" Present participle : adds “-ing”
(verb) → "swimming" Past participle : can be formed
(gerund). by adding specific endings ("-
ed," "-d," "-t," "-en") or by
using irregular forms.
Gerunds can function as function as adjectives,
subjects, objects (object of modifying nouns or pronouns.
Role in sentence structure certain verb, object of
preposition, and object of
complement)

Conclusion :

gerunds act as nouns and express actions or activity while participles act as adjectives and describe
or modify nouns. Gerunds are formed by adding "-ing" to the base form of the verb, while participles
have various forms, including present and past participles.