GERUNDS VS. PARTICIPLES
( ) ( )
Fill in the parentheses with a part of speech.

Steps for figuring out if you have a verbal:
• Find the REAL (conjugated) verb and label it as ACTION or LINKING
• If you see another word that looks a verb, it’s probably a VERBAL.
• If it ends –ing, it could be a GERUND or a
PARTICIPLE.
• Figure out if it’s a NOUN or an ADJECTIVE
• The rest of these slides help with this step.
•If it ends in –ed (or an irregular past tense ending), it is a PARTICIPLE.

• Joan, clapping loudly, was the first one to the finish line.

2. If an –ing phrase is at the
of a sentence and is followed by a comma, it is a
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE.
• Managing the animals, Polly made sure to feed all of them at noon.
• (Unless it’s in a prep phrase!)

3. If an –ing phrase is at the beginning of the sentence and
NOT followed by a comma, it’s a gerund phrase.
Managing the animals is Polly’s job.

• The man asking the questions caused some wavering members of the audience to change their minds.

5. If an -ing phrase comes right after or before a verb, it’s a
GERUND
• I just finished checking my answers .
• Checking your answers is always an important part of performing well .
A gerund might also follow a preposition.

6. If the –ing verb is performing the action of the subject, then it is a real verb.
• I was wondering about these phrases when it occurred to me that I might have been thinking too much.
A parent’s job is worrying about his children.
(The job is not doing anything.
“Worrying” is a gerund.)

Don’t forget:
The phrase includes the verbal
(the participle or gerund) and everything that relates to it.
PARTICIPLE object of the PARTICIPLE prep phrase prep phrase prep phrase
Joining Mike on the trip to Mexico for Spring
Break , Paul and Phil got to practice their Spanish.