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present participle vs. gerund

present participle

[prez-uhnt pahr-tuh-sip-uhl] / ˈprɛz ənt ˈpɑr təˌsɪp əl /

noun

Grammar. a participle, in English having the suffix -ing, that expresses repetition or duration of an activity or event: used as an adjective, as in the growing weeds and the setting sun, and also in forming progressive verb constructions, as in The weeds are growing and The sun was setting.

gerund

[jer-uhnd] / ˈdʒɛr ənd /

noun

Grammar.

(in certain languages, as Latin) a form regularly derived from a verb and functioning as a noun, having in Latin all case forms but the nominative, as Latin dicendī genitive, dicendō dative, ablative, etc., “saying.”
the English -ing form of a verb when functioning as a noun, as writing in Writing is easy.
a form similar to the Latin gerund in meaning or function.