Drag each -ing word to its correct function category.
You're reviewing a movie with a friend. Sort these -ing words by how they're used!
"I enjoy watching thrillers." → Gerund
"That was an exciting plot twist!" → Participle (adjective)
"Sitting through a three-hour film is exhausting." → Gerund
"The sleeping audience missed the ending." → Participle (adjective)
watching → Gerund
In "I enjoy watching," the word "watching" is the object of the verb "enjoy." You could replace it with a noun: "I enjoy movies." That's the gerund test!
exciting → Participle (adjective)
In "an exciting plot twist," the word "exciting" describes the noun "plot twist" — it's a present participle working as an adjective.
Sitting → Gerund
In "Sitting through a three-hour film is exhausting," the gerund phrase is the subject of the sentence. Replace it with "It" and the sentence still works!
sleeping → Participle (adjective)
In "the sleeping audience," the word "sleeping" describes the noun "audience" — it's a present participle functioning as an adjective.
Gerund
Gerund vs infinitive: the biggest source of errors for non-native speakers. Some verbs take only gerund (enjoy reading ✅), some only infinitive (want to read ✅), some take both with different meanings (stop reading ≠ stop to read). There's no logical rule — these must be learned by verb.
A gerund is the -ing verb form used as a noun. After prepositions = always gerund. After certain verbs (enjoy, avoid, finish) = always gerund. After to (preposition, not infinitive marker) = gerund (I look forward to seeing you).
Diagnostic: can you replace the -ing word with "it" or "something"? I enjoy it → yes, it's acting as a noun = gerund.
Participle
Present participle vs gerund: both are -ing forms, but a participle acts as an adjective/adverb (the running water, She sat reading), while a gerund acts as a noun (Running is fun). Same form, different grammatical job.
A participle = verb form used as modifier or in compound tenses. Present (-ing): progressive + adjective. Past (-ed/irregular): perfect + passive + adjective.
Diagnostic: is the -ing word describing a noun or modifying a verb? → participle. Is it being a noun (subject, object)? → gerund.
B1 | Intermediate
B1 vs B2: B1 handles standard everyday communication and simple opinions. B2 handles abstract topics, sustained arguments, and nuanced register. If you can chat about your life but struggle to debate an issue or write a formal essay, you're B1.
B1 is the intermediate CEFR level: independent handling of familiar topics, second conditional, basic passive, reported speech, and linking words for cause and contrast.
Diagnostic: can you read a newspaper article on a familiar topic and summarise the argument? Comfortably → B2. Struggle with abstractions → still B1.
Medium
Medium vs Easy: Easy has one obviously correct answer and clearly wrong distractors. Medium has one correct answer but plausible distractors — you need to actually know the rule, not just guess from sound.
The Medium tag filters for A2–B1 challenges with realistic difficulty: one rule per question, plausible alternatives, everyday contexts.
Diagnostic: if you're scoring 90%+ on Easy, move here. If you're below 60% on Medium, go back to Easy for that topic. Target 70–80% accuracy for maximum learning.