Question

The motorcyclist was fatally injured in the accident and is now fighting for his life. is this a gerund or participle

Answer 1

Answer:

Participle

Explanation:

Participles are verb forms that can be used as adjectives, to create verb tense, or to create the passive voice. There are two types of participles:

• present participle - they end with -ing;
• past participle - they end in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n.

These endings make it easier for us to recognize these words. In the given sentence, we have the participle fighting. It's a part of the verb phrase is fighting.

A gerund is a noun derived from the verb by adding -ing to its root. Since we can see that fighting isn't a noun here, we know that gerund is the wrong option.