This is the second of four High English Grammar quizzes looking at non-finites. Non-finites are verbs that don’t depend on the person, number or the tense while finite verbs do depend on the person, number or the tense in a sentence. In this quiz we study more specifically the non-finites represented by verbs ending with 'ing' - present participles and gerunds, two important parts of English grammar.
Consider the sentence ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss.’ From the sentence we gather that a stone is described as rolling. We could describe the stone with other adjectives such as rough, smooth or round. In the sentence given in the example we understand that 'rolling' is treated as an adjective and describes the stone. 'Rolling' is formed from the verb ‘roll’ by adding ‘ing’ to its ending. Verbs such as roll + ing (rolling) are called present participles.