The Gerund and the Present Participle: 'ING' Form

The '-ing' form of the verb may be a present participle or a gerund.
The form is identical, the difference is in the function, or the job the word does in the sentence.

The present participle

This is most commonly used:

• as part of the continuous form of a verb,
  he is painting ; she has been waiting

• after verbs of movement/position in the pattern:
  verb + present participle ,
  She sat looking at the sea

• after verbs of perception in the pattern:
  verb + object + present participle ,
  We saw him swimming

• as an adjective, e.g. amazing , worrying , exciting , boring

The gerund

This always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb), so it can be used:

• as the subject of the sentence:
  Eating people is skipped.

• after prepositions:
  Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
  She is good at painting

• after certain verbs,
  e.g. like , hate , admit , imagine

• in compound nouns,
  e.g. a driving lesson, a swimming pool, bird- watching , train- spotting

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