gerund vs. participle

gerund vs. participle: What's the difference?

Gerund and participle refer to verb forms that look similar but serve different grammatical purposes. A gerund functions as a noun, and in English ends with -ing. The word singing is a gerund in the sentence Singing is my passion. A participle has both past and present forms, and can function as an adjective. The words walking and signed are participles in the walking path and the signed letter. Participle can also refer to verb forms used with auxiliary verbs in the progressive and perfect aspects, as in We are walking or We have walked before.