Gerunds and participles both derive from verbs. However,-A gerund is a verbal noun. As a noun, it stands alone in the sentence.In English, gerunds always end in -ing (walking, thinking, sleeping).Again, gerunds are nouns. They stand alone.All of these are gerunds, because they stand alone. "Walking is a great form of exercise. Thinking about statistics makes my head hurt. I love sleeping."-A participle is a verbal adjective. As an adjective, it must describe something else in the sentence.In English, participles end in -en (fallen), -ed (killed), -t (slept), or -ing (thinking).*Notice that the -ing ending can indicate either a gerund or participle. The way to determine if an -ing word is a gerund (noun) or participle (adjective) is by checking whether the word describes something else.All of these are participles, because they describe something else: "I bought walkingshoes today. Put on your thinking caps! Sleeping pills are terrible for you." Other, non -ing participles are fairly easy to identify: they describe another word, and they come from verbs. All of these are non -ing participles: "The trapped fly buzzed about inside the jar. There are far too many tales about fallen angels. The fundraiser, begun too late, was doomed to fail."