GERUNDS VS (PRESENT) PARTICIPLES

GERUNDS VS PRESENT PARTICIPLES

* Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. (1)

* Courage is not an ability one either possess or lacks. Courage is the willingness to engage in a risk-taking (1) behavior regardless of whether the consequences are unknown or possibly adverse. We are capable of courageous behavior provided we are willing to engage in it. Given that life offers few guarantees, all living requires risk-taking (2)

Distinction between gerunds and present participles[edit]

If we have a participle used as an attribute the person denoted by the noun performs the action expressed by the –ing form; e.g. a dancing girl (a girl who dances), a singing child (a child who sings) and in the end in your case a screaming baby (a baby who screams)
If we have a gerund as part of a compound noun, the person or thing denoted by the noun does not perform the action expressed by the ing-form, e.g. a dancing-hall (a hall for dancing), a cooking-stove( a stove for cooking), walking shoes (shoes for walking).

A verb ending in -ing is either a present participle or a gerund. These two forms look identical. The difference is in their functions in a sentence.

1. Present participles
A present participle is most commonly used as part of the continuous form of a verb, after verbs of perception, after verbs of movement, or as an adjective.
2. Gerunds
The gerund always has the same function as a noun, although it looks like a verb. It can be used in the same way as a noun.

Not knowing what to do next in your life can be confusing and a painful experience (gerund) VS Not knowing what to do, I asked him for advice. (present participle)


Gerunds and present participles are two types of non-finite verb; the difference is that gerunds are used to produce noun phrases, and participles to produce adjectival or adverbial phrases. This is illustrated in the following examples:

• I like eating cakes.

Here eating is a gerund; the verb phrase eating cakes serves as a noun, being the object of the main verb like.

• I saw him eating a cake.

Here eating is a present participle; the verb phrase eating a cake serves as an adjective, modifying him.

• Trying to succeed makes success more likely.

Here trying is a gerund; the verb phrase trying to succeed serves as a noun, the subject of the main verb makes.

• Trying to get over the fence, he hurt his knee.

Here trying is a present participle; the verb phrase trying to get over the fence has the function of an adverb in the main clause.

Confusion is most likely to arise when the -ing word follows a verb, in which case it may be a predicate adjective and hence a participle, or a direct object (or predicate nominative) and hence a gerund. There are certain transformations that can help distinguish these two cases. In the table that follows, the transformations produce grammatical sentences with similar meanings when applied to sentences with gerunds (since the transformations are based on the assumption that the phrase with the -ing word is a noun phrase). When applied to sentences with participles, they produce ungrammatical sentences or sentences with completely different meanings. (These cases are marked with asterisks.)

Distinction between verbal and deverbal uses 

* finite (restricted, limited): The enviroment is vulnerable,

When used as a gerund or present participle, the -ing form is a non-finite verb, which behaves like a (finite) verb in that it forms a verb phrase, taking typical verb dependents and modifiers such as objects and adverbs. That verb phrase is then used within a larger sentence, with the function of an adjective or adverb (in the case of the participle) or with the function of a noun (in the case of the gerund).
However the same verb-derived -ing forms are also sometimes used as pure nouns or adjectives.^[1] In this case the word does not form a verb phrase; any modifiers it takes will be of a grammatical kind which is appropriate to a noun or adjective respectively.
For example:

• Shouting loudly is rude. (shouting is a gerund, modified by the adverb loudly)
• Loud shouting is something I can't stand. (shouting is a pure noun, modified by the adjective loud)
• I saw him exciting the crowds. (exciting is a participle, taking the object the crowds)
• It was a very exciting game. (exciting is a pure adjective, modified by very, an adverb typically applied to adjectives)

When used as a pure noun or adjective (i.e. having lost its grammatical verbal character), the -ing form may be called a deverbal noun or deverbal adjective. Terminology varies, however; it may also be called a verbal noun or adjective (on the grounds that it is derived from a verb). In other cases the latter terms may be applied additionally, or exclusively, to gerunds and participles, as well as other non-finite verb forms such as infinitives.
In some situations, the distinction between gerund/participle uses and deverbal uses may be lost, particularly when the -ing word appears on its own. For example, in "I like swimming", it is not clear whether swimming is intended as a gerund (as it would be in "I like swimming fast"), or as a pure noun (as in "I like competitive swimming"). Note that there may be a distinction in meaning between the two interpretations: as a gerund, it means that the speaker likes to swim, while as a pure noun it does not specify in what way the speaker enjoys the activity (as a competitor, spectator, etc.)
The -ing form used as a pure noun usually denotes the action encoded by the verb (either in general or in a particular instance), as in the above examples. However it sometimes comes to take on other meanings, such as a physical object or system of objects: building, fencing, piping, etc.

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GERUND / PARTICIPLE AS ADJECTIVES

The present participle (VERB+ing) is also used as an adjective.

For example:

* In the Third World countries, many houses do not have running water.

Here, the word "running" is a present participle doing the work of an adjective. It describes a certain kind of water (water that flows out of a pipe).

Here are some other examples:

drinking water (ger) vs running water (particple)

The wind blew the falling leaves.
She comforted the crying child.
Have you read any interesting books lately?
Cafeteria food tastes disgusting.

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between a present participle and a gerund, since gerunds can also be used as adjectives. For example, in the phrase "swimming pool" the word "swimming" is a gerund used as an adjective. We know this because "swimming pool" means "pool that is used for the activity of swimming." It is not a present participle because the pool is not doing the action of swimming. To see the difference, compare these two sentences:

He dived into the swimming pool.
He waved to the swimming children.

In the first sentence, the pool is used for swimming, but in the second sentence the children are doing the action of swimming. In the first sentence, "swimming" is a gerund. In the second sentence it is a present participle.

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Who, being loved, is poor? 
"being loved": participial phrase