Gerund or Progressive/Continuous
Is it a Gerund or a Progressive Form?
Both forms end in -ing. Nevertheless it is easy to find out whether it is a Gerund or a Progressive form.
1. Progressive Tenses
These tenses are formed with to be and the infinitive + -ing.
Sentence | Tense |
---|---|
He is reading a book. | Present Progressive |
He was reading a book. | Past Progressive |
He has been reading a book for three hours. | Present Perfect Progressive |
He had been reading a book before Mary came in. | Past Perfect Progressive |
He will be reading a book when I get home. | will-future Progressive |
He will have been reading a book. | Future Perfect Progressive |
He would be reading a book if he had time. | Conditional Progressive |
He would have been reading a book if he had had time. | Conditional Perfect Progressive |
A book is being read. | Present Progressive → Passive |
A book was being read. | Past Progressive → Passive |
2. Gerund
The Gerund is formed only with infinitive + -ing.
Sentence |
---|
Reading books is great fun. |
He likes reading books. |
He is looking forward to reading books on Sunday. |
He is keen on reading books. |
He is used to reading books. |
What about reading books? |
He likes the idea of reading books. |
After reading the book, he went to bed. |