How do I tell a gerund from a participle?

Ask what the word is doing in the sentence, not what it ends in. Both end in -ing. Baking takes patience uses a gerund, because baking is the thing the sentence is about. The baking bread smelled good uses a participle, because baking describes the bread.

Is every -ing word a verbal?

No. When an -ing word follows a form of be and acts as the sentence's main verb, it is just a verb: she is baking bread. Verbals never carry the main action.

Why does this show up in seventh grade?

Because verbals are how sentences get longer without getting clumsy. Once a student can build a participial phrase or an infinitive phrase on purpose, their writing stops sounding like a list of short sentences.

7th grade verbals

7th grade verbals worksheets

A verbal is a verb form doing the work of another part of speech. A gerund ends in -ing and does a noun's job, as in running is hard. A participle describes a noun, as in the running water. An infinitive is to plus a verb, as in she wants to run. Seventh graders name which one a sentence uses.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.8.1.a.

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The kind of sentences you'll fix

Write which kind of verbal the quoted word is. Choose from the words in parentheses.

Debugging the program cost Fatima her whole weekend. Which kind of verbal is “Debugging”: (gerund / infinitive / participle)?
Fixed: Debugging the program cost Fatima her whole weekend. Which kind of verbal is “Debugging”: gerund?
The point of the warmup is to loosen your fingers. Which kind of verbal is “to loosen”: (gerund / infinitive / participle)?
Our director enjoys arranging music for small groups. Which kind of verbal is “arranging”: (gerund / infinitive / participle)?

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 7th grade sheet

7th grade sheets draw from 42 sentences, 8 to a page. None of these sentences are on 8th grade sheets. 8th grade sheets print 7 to a page.

A few of the sentences:

Our captain hopes to qualify for the state meet in May.
The abandoned fort still guards the river crossing.
Blinking in the corner, the router warned of an outage.

Fix it. Write which kind of verbal the quoted word is. Choose from the words in parentheses. 8 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Teach the job before the form, because the forms overlap and the jobs do not. Cover the quoted word with a finger and ask what would fit in its place. If a plain noun fits, it was a gerund. If an adjective fits, it was a participle. Infinitives announce themselves with to and need no test at all, which is why students should sort those out first and then work on the pair that actually confuses them. The most common wrong answer is calling a main verb a participle, so keep asking whether the sentence would still have a verb if you removed the word.

Watch for: An -ing word is not always a verbal. In she was running the last lap, running is the main verb with was helping it. A verbal is never the sentence's main verb. Gerund and participle look identical, so the test is the job, not the ending. Ask whether the word names a thing (gerund) or describes a thing (participle). To plus a noun is a prepositional phrase, not an infinitive. To the library is a phrase; to read is an infinitive, because read is a verb.

Common questions about 7th grade verbals

How do I tell a gerund from a participle?: Ask what the word is doing in the sentence, not what it ends in. Both end in -ing. Baking takes patience uses a gerund, because baking is the thing the sentence is about. The baking bread smelled good uses a participle, because baking describes the bread.
Is every -ing word a verbal?: No. When an -ing word follows a form of be and acts as the sentence's main verb, it is just a verb: she is baking bread. Verbals never carry the main action.
Why does this show up in seventh grade?: Because verbals are how sentences get longer without getting clumsy. Once a student can build a participial phrase or an infinitive phrase on purpose, their writing stops sounding like a list of short sentences.

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Aligned to Common Core L.8.1.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.

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