Kelsie's Responses in WyzAnt Answers

Hey April,

Gerunds and participles both derive from verbs. However,

-A gerund is a verbal noun. As a noun, it stands alone in the sentence.

In English, gerunds always end in -ing (walking, thinking, sleeping).

Again, gerunds are nouns. They stand alone.

All of these are gerunds, because they stand alone. "Walking is a great form of exercise. Thinking about statistics makes my head hurt. I love sleeping."

-A participle is a verbal adjective. As an adjective, it must describe something else in the sentence.

In English, participles end in -en (fallen), -ed (killed), -t (slept), or -ing (thinking).

*Notice that the -ing ending can indicate either a gerund or participle. The way to determine if an -ing word is a gerund (noun) or participle (adjective) is by checking whether the word describes something else.

All of these are participles, because they describe something else: "I bought walking shoes today. Put on your thinking caps! Sleeping pills are terrible for you." 

Other, non -ing participles are fairly easy to identify: they describe another word, and they come from verbs. 

All of these are non -ing participles: "The trapped fly buzzed about inside the jar. There are far too many tales about fallen angels. The fundraiser, begun too late, was doomed to fail."

Sorry, this is a bit late in coming. In any case, I hope you find it useful!

Cheers,

Kelsie