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off-topic: gerund vs. participle

At 04:49 PM 10/27/99 -0400, Chuck Britton wrote:
I believe that my English teaching relatives and colleagues
would have us call that word 'working' a GERUND rather than a
participle.

My English-teaching relative, my colleagues, and my big fat dictionary all
contend that
1) A gerund is always a noun formed from a verb, as "walking" in
"Brisk walking is good for you".
2) Meanwhile, a participle is formed from a verb and is either:
2a) An adjective, as "burning" in
"We each held a burning candle." -- or --
2b) A complement to certain verbs, as "working" in
"... electrical forces against which we are working."

In English, the gerund and the participle are identical in form, and differ
only in function. In other languages, they differ in form as well, which
is why experts continue to recognize the difference.

______________________________________________________________
copyright (C) 1999 John S. Denker jsd@monmouth.com