Chapter-07: Gerund and Participle

Gerund • Present/Past/Perfect Participle • Infinitive • Verbal Noun • Gerund–Participle Identification

এই lecture-এর দুটি অংশের মধ্যে Gerund, Participle & Infinitive সবচেয়ে high-yield। পূর্ববর্তী প্রশ্নবিশ্লেষণ অনুযায়ী The Adjective থেকে ৪৪তম, ৩৫তম, ২৫তম ও ১৮তম BCS, আর Gerund–Participle–Infinitive থেকে ৪৩তম, ৪২তম, ৪১তম, ৪০তম, ৩৮তম, ৩৭তম, ২৭তম, ২৬তম, ২৫তম ও ১১তম BCS-এ প্রশ্ন এসেছে। তাই শুধু adjective চেনা নয়; verb+ing noun-এর কাজ করছে নাকি adjective-এর, -ed/-ing participle, bare infinitive, to-infinitive, verb pattern, enough-এর position, compound adjective, participial adjective—সবগুলো একসঙ্গে পড়তে হবে।

২৫. Gerund — সঠিক সংজ্ঞা

Traditional grammar-এ Gerund হলো verb-এর -ing form যা clause/sentence-এ noun-এর function পালন করে। যেমন Swimming is good exercise; I enjoy reading। এর verbal origin থাকলেও এটি subject, object, complement ইত্যাদি noun-like position নিতে পারে।

Modern Grammar Note

Modern grammar-এ gerund ও present participle-এর form একই -ing form, এবং অনেক grammar framework এগুলোকে একত্রে gerund-participial form হিসেবে আলোচনা করে; distinction মূলত function-এ। BCS-এর জন্য traditional distinction জানা জরুরি।

🌳 Gerund Position

                           GERUND (-ing)

                               │

      ┌──────────────┬─────────┼──────────────┬─────────────┐

      │              │         │              │

   Subject         Object   Complement   Prep. Object   Compound use

      │              │         │              │

 Reading is...   enjoy reading  hobby is reading  by working  swimming pool

২৬. Gerund as Subject

Reading is an excellent habit.
Swimming is good exercise.

এখানে reading/swimming sentence-এর subject, তাই Gerund।

২৭. 🔥 ৩৮তম BCS — Direct Question

“Reading is an excellent habit.” ‘Reading’ is a—
✅ Gerund

কারণ: Reading এখানে sentence-এর subject এবং একটি activity-এর নাম বোঝাচ্ছে; তাই noun-functioning gerund।

২৮. Gerund as Object of Verb

কিছু verb-এর পরে -ing form object হিসেবে বসে:

enjoy reading, avoid making, consider going, finish writing, keep working

British Council verb-pattern teaching-এ enjoy, finish, keep ইত্যাদি verb + -ing group-এ দেখায়।

২৯. 🔥 ৪৩তম BCS — Direct Question

“He contemplated marrying his cousin.” Here ‘marrying’ is a/an—
ক. present participle
খ. gerund
গ. verb
ঘ. infinitive

✅ সঠিক উত্তর: Gerund

কারণ: contemplate verb-এর object হিসেবে marrying পুরো activity-টিকে noun-like complement হিসেবে নিয়েছে।

৩০. 🔥 ৪১তম BCS — Direct Question

“The old man was tired of walking.” Here ‘walking’ is—
✅ Gerund

কারণ: of preposition-এর পরে walking noun-like object of preposition হিসেবে বসেছে।

Golden Rule

Preposition + V-ing → সাধারণত Gerund

after eating, before going, by working, without saying, tired of waiting

৩১. Gerund as Complement

Seeing is believing.

এখানে seeing subject gerund, believing subject complement হিসেবে activity-name বোঝাচ্ছে।

৩২. Gerund in Compound Noun

Traditional analysis অনুযায়ী:

swimming pool = pool for swimming
walking stick = stick for walking
riding school = school for riding

এগুলোতে -ing form noun-এর purpose/function বোঝাচ্ছে।

৩৩. Gerund after Certain Expressions

can’t help, can’t bear, can’t stand, it’s no use, it’s no good, worth-এর পরে সাধারণত -ing form:

I can’t help laughing.
It is no use arguing.
This book is worth reading.

৩৪. Look Forward To + Gerund

এখানে to infinitive marker নয়; এটি preposition। তাই:

✅ I am looking forward to seeing you.

🔥 ২৬তম BCS

I am looking forward ____ you.
✅ to seeing

একই pattern

be used to doing
object to doing
devoted to doing
admit to doing

PART C — INFINITIVE

৩৫. Infinitive — সংজ্ঞা

Infinitive হলো verb-এর non-finite base form; এটি bare infinitive হিসেবে base verb, অথবা to-infinitive হিসেবে to + base verb হতে পারে। যেমন go, come, see = bare infinitive; to go, to come, to see = full/to-infinitive।

British Council-ও verb + to-infinitive এবং verb + noun + to-infinitive patterns আলাদাভাবে দেখায়।

🧩 Infinitive Structure

                         INFINITIVE

                             │

                 ┌───────────┴───────────┐

                 │                       │

          BARE INFINITIVE            TO-INFINITIVE

                 │                       │

                go                     to go

               come                   to come

               write                  to write

৩৬. Bare Infinitive

modal verbs এবং কিছু causative/perception structure-এর পরে bare infinitive:

can go, may come, must work, let him go, make him work

British Council বিশেষভাবে make ও let-এর পরে infinitive without to দেখায়।

৩৭. 🔥 ৪১তম BCS — Direct Question

“I will not let you go.” In this sentence ‘go’ is a/an—
✅ Infinitive

আরও নির্দিষ্টভাবে bare infinitive, কারণ let + object + base verb।

Formula

let + object + bare infinitive
make + object + bare infinitive

৩৮. To-Infinitive

Common verb patterns:

decide to go, want to learn, hope to win, plan to travel, refuse to answer, promise to help

British Council choose, decide, expect, hope, intend, plan, promise, refuse, want ইত্যাদিকে verb + to-infinitive pattern-এ রাখে।

৩৯. Verb + Object + To-Infinitive

Common pattern:

advise him to stop
ask her to come
tell them to wait
encourage students to read
persuade him to leave

British Council-ও advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn-এর পরে noun/object + to-infinitive pattern দেখায়।

৪০. 🔥 ২৫তম BCS — Direct Question

He advised me ____ smoking.
✅ to give up

কারণ: advise + object + to-infinitive → He advised me to give up smoking.

৪১. Infinitive of Purpose

To-infinitive “কেন?” বা উদ্দেশ্য বোঝাতে ব্যবহৃত হয়:

He went to the market to buy vegetables.
She studies hard to pass the exam.

British Council purpose বোঝাতে to-infinitive, in order to, so as to—তিনটিই দেখায়।

৪২. Adjective + To-Infinitive

অনেক adjective-এর পরে to-infinitive:

ready to go, happy to help, difficult to understand, eager to learn, willing to work

British Council ready, willing, able, eager, likely ইত্যাদি adjective + to-infinitive pattern ব্যাখ্যা করে।

PART D — PARTICIPLE

৪৩. Participle — সংজ্ঞা

Participle হলো non-finite verb form যা verb phrase গঠনে অংশ নেয় এবং adjective-এর মতো noun/pronoun-কে modify করতে পারে। English-এ সাধারণত Present Participle (-ing) এবং Past Participle (V3/-ed or irregular) প্রধান; এছাড়া traditional grammar-এ Perfect Participle (having + V3) আলোচনা করা হয়। British Council participle-এর দুই core form হিসেবে present participle ও past participle উল্লেখ করে।

🌳 Participle Classification

                           PARTICIPLE

                               │

              ┌────────────────┼─────────────────┐

              │                │                 │

       PRESENT PARTICIPLE   PAST PARTICIPLE   PERFECT PARTICIPLE

           V + ing             V3/-ed          having + V3

              │                │                 │

         flying bird       broken glass      having finished

৪৪. Present Participle

Present participle verb + ing form এবং adjective/verb-related function পালন করে:

a crying baby, a flying bird, a rolling stone, a sleeping child।

Direct Test

যদি -ing word noun-এর কী করছে/কেমন অবস্থায় আছে বোঝায়, সাধারণত participial modifier:

a swimming snake = a snake that is swimming

৪৫. 🔥 ৪২তম BCS — Direct Question

“Look at the flying bird.” Here ‘flying’ is a—
✅ Participle

কারণ: flying noun bird-কে modify করছে এবং bird-ই flying action করছে। তাই এটি Present Participle।

৪৬. 🔥 ১১তম BCS — Direct Question

“A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Here ‘rolling’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ: rolling noun stone-এর চলমান অবস্থা বর্ণনা করছে—a stone that is rolling।

৪৭. Past Participle

Past participle সাধারণত V3 form এবং noun-এর passive/resultant state বোঝাতে adjective-এর মতো ব্যবহৃত হতে পারে:

a broken window, a written test, spoken English, a retired officer, a lost opportunity।

৪৮. 🔥 ৪০তম BCS — Direct Question

“A lost opportunity never returns.” Here ‘lost’ is a—
✅ Participle

আরও নির্দিষ্টভাবে Past Participle used adjectivally, কারণ lost noun opportunity-কে modify করছে।

৪৯. 🔥 ৩৮তম BCS — Direct Question

“A retired officer lives next door.” Here ‘retired’ is used as—
✅ Participle

কারণ: retired past participial form এবং officer-এর state বর্ণনা করছে।

৫০. -ing বনাম -ed Adjective

এটি অত্যন্ত গুরুত্বপূর্ণ।

-ing form

যে person/thing feeling সৃষ্টি করে:

interesting book, boring lecture, frightening noise

-ed form

যে person feeling অনুভব করে:

interested student, bored audience, frightened child

British Council boring/excited ধরনের participial adjective distinction শেখায়।

🧩 Cause vs Receiver Model

CAUSE / SOURCE                    RECEIVER / EXPERIENCER

       │                                  │

     -ING                                -ED

       │                                  │

interesting book                    interested reader

boring class                         bored students

frightening sound                    frightened child

৫১. “Person = ed, Thing = ing” — useful but not absolute

Traditional shortcut:

I am interested.
It is interesting.

He is thrilled.
It is thrilling.

কিন্তু strict rule “person হলে সবসময় -ed, thing হলে সবসময় -ing” নয়। যেমন an interesting man-এ person হলেও সে অন্যদের interest সৃষ্টি করছে, তাই -ing। আসল rule হলো experiencer vs cause/source।

৫২. Present vs Past Participle by Meaning

action doer/source → present participle
action receiver/result → past participle

a drowning man → man is drowning
a burnt child → child has been burnt
a written test → test has been written
spoken English → English that is spoken

৫৩. Participial Clause

Relative clause সংক্ষেপে participle বসতে পারে:

The man who lives next door → The man living next door
The people who were invited → The people invited

Active → Present Participle

Passive → Past Participle

who is standing → standing

who lives       → living

who was invited → invited

which was broken → broken

৫৪. Suddenly Finding... — Present Participle

Suddenly finding himself alone, he became frightened.

এখানে finding adverbially participial clause-এর head; তাই Present Participle।

৫৫. Perfect Participle

having + past participle (V3) = Perfect Participle।

Having finished the work, he went home.
Having gained truth, keep truth.

এর অর্থ প্রথম actionটি দ্বিতীয় action-এর আগে সম্পন্ন হয়েছে।

৫৬. 🔥 ৩৭তম BCS — Direct Question

“Education is enlightening.” Here ‘enlightening’ is—
✅ A Participle

কারণ: enlightening এখানে activity-name নয়; subject Education-এর quality/effect বর্ণনা করছে—“education is illuminating/instructive.” তাই predicative present participial adjective।

PART E — GERUND vs PARTICIPLE

৫৭. একই V-ing, Function আলাদা

Gerund ও Present Participle দেখতে একই verb+ing, কিন্তু function আলাদা:

Gerund → noun-like
Participle → adjective/verb-like modifier

🧩 Core Comparison

৫৮. Swimming Pool vs Swimming Snake

এই distinction BCS-এর জন্য অত্যন্ত কার্যকর:

a swimming pool = a pool for swimming → traditional Gerund modifier
a swimming snake = a snake that is swimming → Present Participle

a sleeping room = a room for sleeping → Gerund
a sleeping baby = a baby that is sleeping → Participle

৫৯. Riding School

I joined a riding school.
✅ Gerund — traditional analysis

কারণ riding school = school for riding, school নিজে ride করছে না।

৬০. Noun/Pronoun-এর পরে V-ing Modifier

সাধারণভাবে noun/pronoun-এর পরে -ing phrase যদি তাকে modify করে:

I saw a woman speaking to him.
The girl dancing is my daughter.

→ Present Participle।

৬১. Gerund vs Participle — What/How Test

Traditional shortcut:

His profession is teaching.
Question: What is his profession? → teaching → Gerund

Education is enlightening.
Question: How is education? → enlightening → Participle

এটি useful exam shortcut, তবে সব sentence-এ mechanicalভাবে প্রয়োগ করা যাবে না; syntactic function-ও দেখতে হবে।

PART F — VERBAL NOUN

৬২. Verbal Noun

Traditional grammar-এ verb-derived noun-কে Verbal Noun বলা হয়। বিশেষ pattern:

the + V-ing + of

the writing of the letter
the reading of the book

এখানে -ing form সম্পূর্ণ noun-like এবং article/modifier নিতে পারে।

Compare

Writing a letter is difficult. → Gerund construction
The writing of a letter is difficult. → Verbal Noun

৬৩. Gerund বনাম Verbal Noun

PART G — BCS PREVIOUS QUESTIONS: DIRECT ANSWER ZONE

৬৪. 🔥 ৪৩তম BCS

‘He contemplated marrying his cousin.’ ‘marrying’ is—
✅ Gerund

কারণ marrying his cousin হলো contemplated-এর complement/object এবং activity হিসেবে ব্যবহৃত।

৬৫. 🔥 ৪২তম BCS

“Look at the flying bird.” ‘flying’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ bird flying action করছে এবং flying adjective-like modifier।

৬৬. 🔥 ৪১তম BCS

“The old man was tired of walking.” ‘walking’ is—
✅ Gerund

কারণ preposition of-এর object।

৬৭. 🔥 ৪১তম BCS

“I will not let you go.” ‘go’ is—
✅ Infinitive — specifically bare infinitive

কারণ let + object + base verb।

৬৮. 🔥 ৪০তম BCS

“A lost opportunity never returns.” ‘lost’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ lost noun opportunity-এর resultant state প্রকাশ করছে।

৬৯. 🔥 ৩৮তম BCS

“A retired officer lives next door.” ‘retired’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ retired noun officer-কে adjectivally modify করছে।

৭০. 🔥 ৩৮তম BCS

“Reading is an excellent habit.” ‘Reading’ is—
✅ Gerund

কারণ Reading sentence-এর subject এবং activity-name।

৭১. 🔥 ৩৭তম BCS

“Education is enlightening.” ‘enlightening’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ এটি subject-এর quality/effect বর্ণনা করছে, activity-name নয়।

৭২. 🔥 ২৬তম BCS

I am looking forward ____ you.
✅ to seeing

কারণ look forward to-এর to preposition; তাই তার পরে V-ing।

৭৩. 🔥 ২৫তম BCS

He advised me ____ smoking.
✅ to give up

কারণ advise + object + to-infinitive।

৭৪. 🔥 ১১তম BCS

“A rolling stone gathers no moss.” ‘rolling’ is—
✅ Participle

কারণ rolling stone-এর action/state বর্ণনা করছে।

৭৫. 🔥 ২৭তম BCS — Related Word-Class Trap

I took a map with me, as I didn’t want to ____ my way.
✅ lose

কারণ: want to এর পরে base verb দরকার; lose = verb, loose = adjective/verb different meaning, loss = noun, lost = past/past participle।

৭৬. Adjective / Gerund / Participle / Infinitive — Master Diagram

                           VERB-DERIVED FORMS

                                  │

               ┌──────────────────┼───────────────────┐

               │                  │                   │

             -ING               V3/-ED              BASE/TO+BASE

               │                  │                   │

       ┌───────┴───────┐     Past Participle        Infinitive

       │               │

    GERUND        PRESENT PARTICIPLE

       │               │

   noun function    adjective/verb-like

       │               │

 Reading is good.   a flying bird

 I enjoy reading.  the girl dancing

৭৭. Quick Identification Strategy

Step 1 — V-ing দেখলে

Noun-এর কাজ? → Gerund
Noun modify করছে/action/state? → Present Participle

Step 2 — V3 দেখলে

Noun-এর passive/resultant state → Past Participle

Step 3 — Base verb দেখলে

modal/let/make-এর পরে → Bare Infinitive

Step 4 — to + base verb

Purpose/complement → To-infinitive

৭৮. High-Yield Verb Pattern Chart

British Council verb-pattern references এই distinctions-কে standard English usage হিসেবে দেখায়।

৭৯. ⚠️ High-Yield Confusion Table

৮০. Modern Grammar Precision — খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ

Traditional competitive grammar-এ Pronominal Adjective, Demonstrative Adjective, Possessive Adjective, Numeral Adjective ইত্যাদি category বহুল ব্যবহৃত হলেও modern grammar এগুলোর অনেককেই determiner/quantifier হিসেবে শ্রেণিবদ্ধ করে। একইভাবে Gerund ও Present Participle একই -ing form হওয়ায় আধুনিক grammatical analysis অনেক ক্ষেত্রে form-কে এক করে function আলাদা করে। Cambridge adjective-এর core functions হিসেবে attributive/predicative position এবং British Council infinitive/gerund pattern-এ syntactic function-এর ওপর বেশি গুরুত্ব দেয়।

🎯 BCS Strategy

MCQ-তে traditional label follow করবে; concept বোঝার সময় modern grammatical function-ও জানবে।

৮১. 🧠 One-Look Memory Chart

ADJECTIVE

├─ Quality → wise, honest

├─ Proper → Japanese

├─ Quantity → much/little

├─ Numeral → five/first

├─ Demonstrative → this/that

└─ Possessive → my/his

V-ing

├─ Noun function → GERUND

│   ├─ Reading is useful

│   └─ enjoy reading

│

└─ Modifier/action → PRESENT PARTICIPLE

    ├─ flying bird

    └─ girl dancing

V3/-ED

└─ PAST PARTICIPLE

    ├─ lost opportunity

    └─ retired officer

BASE VERB

├─ let/make/modal → BARE INFINITIVE

└─ to + base → TO-INFINITIVE

৮২. 🚀 BCS Last-Minute Super Capsule

Adjective = noun/pronoun modifier ⇒ Attributive = before noun; Predicative = after linking verb ⇒ Proper Adjective: Japanese, Shakespearean ⇒ Quality: wise/good ⇒ traditional Quantity/Numeral/Pronominal categories modern grammar-এ অনেক সময় determiner/quantifier ⇒ compound modifier-এ unit singular: five-minute call, seventeen-year-old boy ⇒ enough adjective-এর পরে: old enough, কিন্তু noun-এর আগে: enough money ⇒ ৪৪তম BCS: vital = adjective ⇒ ৩৫তম: hereditary = adjective।

Gerund = V-ing with noun function ⇒ Reading is... / enjoy reading / tired of walking ⇒ ৪৩তম: marrying = gerund ⇒ ৪১তম: walking = gerund ⇒ ৩৮তম: Reading = gerund ⇒ look forward to seeing।

Present Participle = V-ing modifying/verb-like form ⇒ flying bird, rolling stone, girl dancing ⇒ ৪২তম: flying = participle ⇒ ৩৭তম: enlightening = participle ⇒ ১১তম: rolling = participle। Past Participle = V3/-ed with passive/result state ⇒ lost opportunity, retired officer, written test ⇒ ৪০তম lost = participle, ৩৮তম retired = participle।

Infinitive = base/to + base ⇒ let you go = bare infinitive ⇒ advise me to give up = object + to-infinitive ⇒ purpose: study to pass। সবশেষে সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ rule: Form দেখে নয়, Function দেখে identification করবে—V-ing noun-এর কাজ করলে Gerund, noun-কে describe করলে Participle; V3 adjective-like হলে Past Participle; base/to+base হলে Infinitive।