When “Verb-ing” and “Verb-ed” Act as Adjectives in English

As the formality and complexity of English texts increase, you will encounter many sentences in which -ing and -ed verb forms function as adjectives, not verbs. If you continue interpreting these forms as verbs, you will likely misunderstand the meaning of the entire sentence.

Quick Summary

Verb-ing (Present Participle) and Verb-ed (Past Participle)

Although it is not always emphasized in basic grammar instruction, the verb-ing form and the verb-ed form each have specific grammatical names:

• verb-ing → present participle
• verb-ed (the third form) → past participle

Here, the past participle refers to the third principal form of a verb, such as eaten, taken, broken, mentioned, or looked. This form is not the same as the simple past form (ate, took, broke, etc.), even though many regular verbs happen to look the same in both forms (looked, played, watched, etc.).

However, for convenience and to avoid unnecessary complexity, we will refer to the past participle simply as the verb-ed form throughout this article.

Function of Verb-ing (Gerund and Present Participle)

When -ing is attached to a verb, the word no longer functions as a verb alone. Instead, it can serve as either a noun or an adjective, depending on how it is used in the sentence.

• When the verb-ing form acts as a noun, it is called a gerund.
  Example: Swimming is fun.
  (“Swimming” is the subject → noun, gerund)
• When the verb-ing form acts as an adjective, it is called a present participle.
  Example: a swimming pool
  (“swimming” describes what kind of pool → adjective, present participle)

Gerund as Noun

A gerund is a noun formed by adding -ing to a verb. Understanding gerunds is important because misreading them as verbs can lead to serious misunderstanding in both reading comprehension and formal writing. Let’s consider the following example:

Drinking is usually bad for your health.

In this sentence, “drinking” is the subject. Since only nouns can function as the subject of a sentence, “drinking” must be functioning as a noun here. That is exactly what a gerund does: it turns an action into a thing or idea.

If we try to replace the gerund with the base verb, the sentence becomes incorrect:

* Drink is usually bad for your health.

This is ungrammatical because “drink” (as a verb) cannot serve as the subject of a sentence. The sentence requires a noun, and that role is properly fulfilled by the gerund “drinking.”

Present Participle as Adjective

A verb-ing form can also function as an adjective, adding meaning to a noun. In this case, the verb-ing form is called a present participle. The meaning usually expresses an ongoing action or a characteristic related to the noun.

Let’s examine the following sentences.

That dancing man is my father.

Here, the present participle dancing adds meaning directly to the noun man. It describes what the man is doing, so it functions as an adjective. If we try to use the base verb form instead, the sentence becomes ungrammatical.

* That dance man is my father.

The word “dance” is a verb and cannot directly modify a noun.

Now, consider another sentence:

The man dancing on the stage is my father.

In this sentence, the present participle phrase “dancing on the stage” appears after the noun “man.” It still functions as an adjective, but this time it modifies the noun retroactively, adding descriptive detail after the noun.

Function of Verb-ed (Past Participle)

Unlike the present participle, which can function either as a noun (gerund) or an adjective, the verb-ed form (past participle) functions only as an adjective in this context. When a past participle modifies a noun, it often conveys a passive meaning or a state resulting from an action. For example, let’s look at the following two sentences.

• a broken window → a window that has been broken
• a prepared meal → a meal that has been prepared

The past participle describes what has happened to the noun, rather than what the noun is actively doing.

Now, here are how this construction works.

Past Participle as Adjective

A past participle can appear either before or after the noun it modifies.

We walked past a collapsed building.

In this sentence, the past participle collapsed comes before the noun building, functioning just like a regular adjective. It describes the state of the building that has already collapsed.

Next, let’s see how a past participle can appear after the noun it modifies.

The building collapsed during the storm has been restored.

In this sentence, the phrase collapsed during the storm comes after the noun building and modifies it. The phrase provides additional information about the building, describing its state that the building collapsed during the storm. Because the past participle describes something that has already happened to the noun, it carries a passive meaning (“the building was collapsed”).