Question

Read the sentence.

With the pounding rain and blowing wind, driving to the game was an exciting adventure.

Which word in the sentence is a gerund?

A)pounding
B)blowing
C)driving
D)exciting

Answer 1

Driving--it acts like a verb and not an adjective

Answer 2

The correct answer is C. driving.

Even though gerunds and participles look the same (both end in -ing), there are important differences between them. Gerunds are always used as nouns - this means that they can act as subjects or objects within a sentence. On the other hand, participles are always used as adjectives or parts of verbs.

If you take a look at the sentence above, you will see a couple of forms ending in -ing: pounding, blowing, driving, and exciting. Only driving is the gerund here (with the function of the subject of the sentence) - the rest of them are all participles used as adjectives.