10
votes
Is "running" a gerund or a participial adjective?
In your examples, "enlightening" is best seen as an adjective and "running" as a VP comprising a gerund-participle form of the verb as head.
Taking "running" first: it fails the usual tests for ...
- 12k
9
votes
Is "running" a gerund or a participial adjective?
tl;dr
Despite running being in origin the -ING inflection of the verb to run, in your “a running experiment” example, it is no longer a verb and therefore ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ be either a gerund or a participle ...
- 133k
8
votes
"Sending off a balloon": verb or noun?
This form of the verb is conventionally called a gerund. From the outside, a gerund works partly like a noun, because it can be the object of a verb, just like a normal noun:
Agnes suggested sending ...
7
votes
Accepted
Is "programming" not a noun?
I never used the terms "gerund" and "participle" when I was learning syntax, nor when I was teaching it, so I think we could easily do without those terms. However, on the other hand, I don't see a ...
- 17.2k
6
votes
Accepted
Not sure if this is correct or not: "the ability to be able to"
"The ability to be able" is still a bit redundant, right? How about these examples?
"Happiness is not the absence of problems, but rather" being able to deal with them.
Or,
"Happiness is not ...
- 6,767
6
votes
Accepted
Difference between gerund and present participle
The distinction between a participle and a gerund is troublesome. It looks as if the difference is to do with parts of speech or something similar. In fact, the real distinction has to do with the ...
- 44.5k
6
votes
The Guy Next Door Shoveling Snow Or The Guy Shoveling Snow?
Next door is properly placed. It modifies the guy, so it's part of the subject NP.
If you move next door it becomes a modifier on something else.
I was thankful for the guy shoveling snow next door ...
- 68.6k
5
votes
"What I'm doing is watching TV." — Why does it have to be the gerund-participle ('watching')?
I don't know the right way of analysing this, but it seems to me to have to do with grammatical aspect. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston and Pullum) interprets English as ...
- 79.2k
5
votes
Accepted
Why did the present participle become more popular than a regular active verb?
John McWhorter writes that it "is almost certainly" due to the influence of Celtic languages spken alongside English (1):
Given that Celtic languages were right there alongside English all the time,...
- 2,247
5
votes
Accepted
Why is “bales” the 3rd person singular of “bail”?
TL;DR: Bales is NOT a conjugation of bail; rather, bale is an alternate spelling of some definitions of bail. This was an error introduced by Google's definition-amalgamator. The correct conjugation ...
- 22.7k
5
votes
Accepted
the first trial <stemming/to stem> from... vs. the first person to climb
To summarize the question:
We can say the first trial stemming from as well as the first
trial to stem from. So why can't we say the first person
climbing Mount Everest as well as the first ...
- 32.6k
4
votes
Accepted
Why can't "being" come after the verb "feel"?
Certain verbs are what we call subject-control verbs. This means that when they take an infinitival or gerund-participle clause as a Complement, we understand the Subject of the verb in the non-finite ...
- 44.5k
4
votes
Is the word "beginning" here a gerund or a present participle?
It may help to untangle things if you separate the form of the word and its function. Beginning is a present participle, no matter how it's used. You can tell because it's the plain form of the verb ...
- 44.4k
4
votes
Is "running" a gerund or a participial adjective?
Short answer
I think “running” in “a running experiment” is the same part of speech as “running” in “an experiment that is running” (so to that extent, I agree with Greg Lee’s answer).
What to call ...
- 79.2k
4
votes
Is "running" a gerund or a participial adjective?
There is much good discussion in the other answers. This is an historical note.
In Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1964), Chomsky considered the phrase "the sleeping child", and argued that it is ...
- 17.2k
4
votes
"I remember watching Dallas," vs. "I remember us watching Dallas."
I don't know the technical term for it but I call these noun phrases. The entire phrase functions as a noun.
Watching is not an adjective or adverb, it's always a verb. But it makes up part of a ...
- 214
4
votes
Gerund or Participle?
I agree with johnlee that "waiting" in this sentence should be classified as a participle, not a gerund, if you are working in a framework that makes that distinction.
(Comments by members ...
- 79.2k
3
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between a Whiz deletion and using the present participle as an adjective?
I think your difficulty lies with the fact that singing sensation is a commonly used compound term, and therefore turning the phrase around has a different meaning. I couldn't find an online ...
- 7,693
3
votes
Grammatical function of 'shuffling' in 'He came shuffling out'
First of all, let me congratulate you on the eye-watering number of cannons you are aiming at this particular Mosquito!
A few things are interesting here; the mixed tense, the way that the 2nd verb ...
- 1,578
3
votes
Making something "something else"
As @J.R. stated, not everything is made into something else.
His fabulous good looks made quite an impression on me.
His death made me cry. Those are easy; they are direct consequences of the subject....
- 55.1k
3
votes
"Ing form of see (Seeing)"
Somebody either advised you wrong, or you've misunderstood the advice that was given to you about stative verbs.
The idea is that sentences like "I'm seeing a butterfly" usually sound odd to English ...
- 79.2k
3
votes
Accepted
Why is the present participle not considered a principal part?
The present participle can be systematically deduced from a principle part, namely the infinitive. In pronunciation, you just append ing. In writing, it is a little bit more complicated due to the ...
- 4,346
3
votes
Usage Difference between to-infinitive and participle
You are right, in some cases you can use to+infinitive to describe a noun:
I have books to read, work to do, people to call.
However, this only works with verbs that imply the action would be ...
- 36.6k
3
votes
Causative with have/get + object + present participle: when can it be used?
The inference is subtle, but there is a difference. "He had us dancing on the tables" infers the dancing is an indirect consequence - similar to how a comedian may have us rolling on the floor (with ...
- 57
3
votes
Is it Gerund or adjective?
Yes, you could.
"Coming" is a participle, in the small clause obtained by Whiz deletion
- 76.5k
3
votes
Gerunds vs Participles
It is a participle. You can tell this because it qualifies (describes) "they", the subject of the verb. Being a participle, it is a kind of adjective: a verbal adjective. that is, it is an ...
- 11k
3
votes
Present participle of want?
You can use wanting in the following way as the present participle:
I've been wanting to tell you something for a long time.
This means that your want to tell him/her started a long time ago and you ...
- 197
3
votes
Accepted
Present participle of want?
As far as I know, every English verb with an infinitive form also has a “gerund-participle” (a single form traditionally called either a "present participle" or a "gerund" depending on its use) formed ...
- 79.2k
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