Question

Look at the verb in italics and say whether it is a Gerund or a Participle.
Do you like smoking cigarettes?
(a)Gerund
(b)Present participle
(c)Past participle
(d)Future participle

Answer 1

Hint: Verbs are those words that indicate the action performed by the subject. Gerunds and Participles are two types of verbs that end with ‘ing’.
Complete answer: As given in the hint, let’s look at the functions of Gerunds and Participles.
(i)A gerund is a form of a verb that ends with ‘ing’ and functions as a noun. It can also act as the subject or object of the sentence. For example- Swimming is fun. Here, ‘swimming’ is a gerund because it acts as the subject/noun.
(ii)A participle is a form of a verb that ends with ‘ing’ and functions like an adjective. For example- We watched the rising sun. Here, ‘rising’ acts like an adjective that describes the noun ‘sun’.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
(a)‘Gerund’ is the correct option because it acts as an object of the verb in the given sentence.
(b)‘Present participle’ is an incorrect option because the verb does not act as an adjective in the given sentence.
(c)‘Past participle’ is an incorrect option because a past participle ends with ‘ed/d’.
(d)‘Future participle’ is an incorrect option because there is no such verb as a future participle. In the given question- We can conclude that ‘smoking’ is a gerund because it acts as the object for the verb ‘like’.
Note: An easy way to distinguish between gerunds and participle is to replace the verb with ‘something’. If the sentence produces the same meaning, it is a gerund, otherwise, it is a participle.