Lahore Grammar School

42/B III- Gulberg Lahore

Grade VIII

Gerunds, Infinitives, Past & Present Participles

A gerund is a noun formed from a verb. A gerund will always contain the ending “-ing.”

Examples of Gerunds:
Verb/Gerund

 to run/running
 I run every day. / I like running.
In the first sentence, “run” is used as a verb. I am “doing” the action “to run.” In the
second sentence, “running” is used as a gerund (noun) and “like” is the verb.

 to sing/singing
 Sara sings. Singing makes Sara happy.
In the first sentence, “sings” is used as a verb. Sara is “doing” the action “to sing.” In the
second sentence, “singing” is used as a gerund and “makes” is the verb.

Note: A gerund will always be used as a noun and does not replace the progressive form
of the verb.

An infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the simple form of

the verb, like this:

T O  +  V ERB  = Infinitive

To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to read, to eat, to slurp—

all of these are infinitives.

Important Note: Because an infinitive is not a verb, you cannot add s, es, ed,

or ing to the end. Ever!
Participles. They’re verbs, they’re adjectives, they’re perfect and progressive!

To start, participles are words derived from verbs that can function as adjectives or as

parts of verb phrases to create verb tenses.
Put simply, that means a participle will look like a verb (running) but may have a
different role in the sentence: the running water. That participle is describing the water
and performing the function of an adjective.
The two main types of participles are the present participle and the past participle.

What is a present participle?

Adding -ing to the base form of a verb creates the  present participle. For example, eat is
the base form of the verb to eat. The present participle of eat is eating. Present participles
always end in -ing.
Other examples of present participles include swimming, laughing, and playing.
The present participle can function as an adjective and modify nouns in sentences. For
example:
 In the sentence “The winning athlete gets a trophy,” the present
participle winning describes the noun athlete.
Present participles appear in progressive (or continuous) verb tenses, which show when a
verb or action was/is in the process of happening. For example:
 A sentence in the present progressive tense is: “She is sitting now.”
 A sentence in past progressive tense is: “She was sitting there 10 minutes ago.”
 A sentence in future progressive tense is: “She will be sitting at her desk in an
hour.”
All three of these sentences indicate when she was/is in the process of sitting.
What is a past participle?
For regular verbs, adding -ed to the base form creates the past participle.
For example, the past participle of cook is cooked.
Past participles formed from irregular verbs may have endings like -en, -t, -d, and -n.
Examples include swollen, burnt, hoped, and broken. Some past participles remain the
same as the base forms of irregular verbs, like set and cut.
Past participles can also function as adjectives that modify nouns. For example:

 In the sentence “She placed the cut flowers in the vase,” the past

participle cut modifies the noun flowers.
Past participles can also combine with the verb to be to create the passive forms of
verbs. For example:
  In the sentence “He was taken to the store by his daughter,” the verb form was
taken includes the past participle taken and was, which is the past tense of the
verb to be.

Gerund or Infinitive – Fill in the correct form.

1. They are likely to show__________________ up at any time. (show)

2. The man denied committing__________________ the crime. (commit)
3. Their memories of traveling __________________ in Africa will stay with them
forever. (travel)
4. He has always been afraid of flying__________________. (fly)
5. Swimming__________________ is good for your health. (swim)
6. Would you mind passing__________________ me the sugar. (pass)
7. She promised to read__________________ the report as soon as possible. (read)
8. I had a hard time explaining__________________ the situation to my husband.
(explain)
9. She had some problems reading__________________ without glasses. (read)
10. Paul gave up smoking__________________ five years ago. (smoke)
11. What about going__________________ to the zoo tomorrow? (go)

Choose the correct participle adjective form in each of the sentences below.

1. I don’t understand chess. The rules are very confused/confusing.

2. He was embarrassed/embarrassing when he arrived late for class.
3. There is a new movie playing at the theater. Are you interesting/interested?
4. My little brother makes too much noise. He is annoyed/annoying.
5. I like my new chair. It’s quite relaxed/relaxing.
6. Moving to a new home is hard work. It’s tired/tiring.
7. The sad news made me depressed/depressing.
8. Louise got a B+. She was satisfied/satisfying with her test results.
9. Our company isn’t making any money. It’s very worried/worrying.
10. Robert thinks that roller coasters are terrifying/terrified.
11. I think that insects are fascinated/fascinating. I love to study them!
12. When the TV program was cancelled, Kelly was disappointed/disappointing.
Make the past participle of the verb:
1. Julie wasn’t at home, she had gone_____________________ (go) to the shops.
2. We’ve already had_____________________ (have) lunch.
3. This was the first time she had done_____________________ (do) her homework
4. They have began_____________________ (begin) painting the living room.
5. We have kept_____________________ (keep) this secret for three years.
6. He has never driven_____________________ (drive) a motorbike before.
7. I have been_____________________ (be) sick all week.
8. By the time we arrived, the children had eaten_____________________ (eat) all the
chocolate.
9. The books had fell_____________________ (fall) off the table, and were all over the
floor.
10. “Are you okay?” “ I have felt_____________________ (feel) better.”

Circle each participle used as an adjective. If it is part of a participial phrase,

underline the phrase.
1. Iced in white, the cookies looked like snowmen.
2. The complaining man was introduced to the manager.
3. Listening to music, she walked briskly down the street.
4. Opening the package, she gasped.
5. The squealing little children were enjoying themselves.
6. Reading a book, Helen spent the whole day on the sofa.
7. Yawning, Kelly made her way to bed.
8. Sitting up uncomfortably, Joe tried to get some sleep.
9. Crouched on the carpet, the cat looked warily around the room.
10. Regretting her decision, she watched her daughter go.