Gerunds, Present, and Past Particple as Adjective

GERUND

Recognize a gerund when you see one.

Every gerund, without exception, ends in ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy to identify. The problem is that all present participles also end in ing. What is the difference?
Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
Present participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers.
Read these examples of gerunds:
Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.
Swimming = subject of the verb has been.
Francisco's first love is swimming.
Swimming = subject complement of the verb is.
Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.
Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys.
Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.
Swimming = indirect object of the verb gives.
When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.
Swimming = object of the preposition to.
These ing words are examples of present participles:
One day last summer, Francisco and his coach were swimming at Daytona Beach.
Swimming = present participle completing the past progressive verb were swimming.
A Great White shark ate Francisco's swimming coach.
Swimming = present participle modifying coach.
Now Francisco practices his sport in safe swimming pools.
Swimming = present participle modifying pools.

PRESENT

 A Present Participle is also formed from verb ending in "....ing". It tell us something more about a thing or person.
We often find a Present Participle:

a) after the noun or pronoun it describes,
  e.g. I found them playing chess in their room.
     This is a shop selling all sorts of sweets.


b) separated from the subject by some other words,
  e.g. Mother is in the kitchen, preparing dinner for us.
     I looked at him, hoping he would understand.


PAST PARTICIPLE AS ADJECTIVE

 1. The Past Participle ends in "...ed"in the case of regular verbs.

2. It is used mainly after
verbs of perception and certain other words,
  
  e.g. He returned home from work to find his house ransacked.
     The man wants his television set repaired immediately.
     The dog cowered in the corner, frightened by the thunderstorm.
     They finally found their way out of the jungle, exhausted and hungry.

Participles can also be used as adjectives to describe nouns. The difference between the present participle and the past participle can make quite a difference in meaning:

The bored man went to sleep during the discussion.
The boring man put other people to sleep during the discussion.

In the first sentence the past participle 'bored' is used to mean that the man himself was bored, in the second sentence the present participle 'boring' is used to mean that the man was boring to others.

 The Participle As Adjective

1. The Present and Past Participles can be used as adjectives.

2. If an adjective is formed from the
present participle, it has an 'active' meaning,
  e.g. 
an exciting show, the moving train, etc.

3. If an adjective is formed from the
past participle, it has a 'passive' meaning,
  e.g. 
a haunted house, a tired man, etc.
 

  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

0 komentar:

Posting Komentar