The present participle is a verb form that can function as an adjective, noun, or component in multipart verbs. It is identified by its “ing” ending and requires auxiliary verbs when used as a verb. It can act as a gerund when used as a noun and as an adjective to describe behavior or action. Its tense depends on the auxiliary verb used.
A present participle is one of five forms a verb can have, with the function changing based on where the participle occurs in the sentence. You can use these words as adjectives, nouns or components in multipart verbs. It is easiest to identify this part of speech by its characteristic “ing” ending, which is always present.
A frequent mistake when looking at parts of speech is to confuse the simple present with the present participle. When used as a verb, these participles always require one to four auxiliary or “helper” verbs. The phrase “is singing” is an example of this. “Is” is the auxiliary verb and “singing” is the present participle. When a verb is in the present simple form, it can stand alone, such as “Sing.”
If a person sees a present participle without an auxiliary verb, it could function as a noun. In this capacity, the present participle can be subject, subject complement, object of a preposition, indirect object or direct object. For example, in the sentence “Cheering excites fans”, “cheering” is the subject of the verb “excites”. A present participle that functions like a noun is called a gerund.
The last function a present participle can have is to act as an adjective. Used this way, the word describes a person, place, animal, or thing through its behavior or action. For example, a person might say, “The speeding car is blue.” It is clear through adjective use of the present participle what the car is doing, even if “accelerate” is not in the normal position of the verb with an auxiliary.
A peculiarity of this part of speech is that, contrary to its label, it does not always indicate that something is happening in the present. This depends on which auxiliary verb someone matches them. For example, “was going” is past, while “will be going” is future.
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