Indiana Grade 8 English

Distinguish a gerund from a verb phrase in context

A word’s ending alone does not establish its job in a sentence. The same -ing form can participate in different grammatical structures. This activity compares the function of a whole phrase and then checks how the sentence expresses its action.

Curriculum reference: 2023 Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 8 English/Language Arts, from the Indiana Department of Education standards directory.

Indiana Grade 8 references for this activity

Indiana’s 2023 English document includes Grade 8 expectations in the grade’s reading, writing, and communication domains. The expectations selected here support this activity; use the whole document and the school’s sequence for wider coverage.

These are selected grade-level expectations from Indiana’s current English standards. Activity labels describe a teaching focus rather than reproduce complete requirements. Read the linked state document’s complete grade-level expectations, including its marked essential standards, alongside the school’s curriculum sequence.

A worked Grade 8 reading and writing activity

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Drawing maps takes practice.

The student is drawing a map.

The student wants to draw a clearer map.

Try the activity

Compare drawing in the first two sentences. Which phrase functions as the first sentence’s subject? Which sentence uses a progressive verb phrase? Identify the infinitive in the third sentence.

Follow the reasoning

In the first sentence, Drawing maps names the activity that takes practice. The phrase functions as the subject, and drawing is a gerund, a verb form used with a noun function. Takes is the finite verb. In the second sentence, is drawing forms the present progressive verb phrase: it describes the student’s action. Drawing is not the subject there. In the third sentence, to draw a clearer map is an infinitive phrase completing what the student wants. These explanations depend on each sentence’s structure, not simply the letters ing or the presence of a drawing-related word.

Notice what needs more practice

A gerund can retain verbal features such as an object: maps is what is drawn within the subject phrase. That does not prevent the entire phrase from functioning as a subject. Conversely, not every -ing word is a gerund. The helper is matters when analyzing the progressive verb phrase. Not every to begins an infinitive either; “to the classroom” uses a preposition followed by a noun phrase. The selected expectation also includes participles, voice, and other functions, which need further examples.

Grade 8 English worksheets

Choose printable practice that matches the skill being taught. Check the task, reading difficulty, and directions before assigning it; the collection is independently published.

Browse Grade 8 English worksheets

Use the next session to build independence

1. Locate the finite verb and identify the sentence’s subject.
2. Explain the role of the -ing form or infinitive phrase.
3. Check the interpretation by comparing the complete sentence structures.

Replace Drawing maps with another activity, such as Reading stories, and explain why the whole phrase still functions as a subject in “Reading stories takes practice.” Compare it with “The student is reading a story.” Then find teacher-selected examples of participles modifying nouns and distinguish that function from the two uses studied here. When reviewing a draft, explain what the whole phrase contributes before applying a grammatical label. Correct labels are useful when they help a writer understand and revise a sentence.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 8 English Online Center.

Indiana Grade 8 English: useful planning questions

Is every word ending in -ing a gerund?

No. Determine its function in the sentence. Drawing maps is the subject in the first example, while is drawing is a progressive verb phrase in the second.

Where are the complete state requirements?

Indiana’s 2023 English document includes Grade 8 expectations in the grade’s reading, writing, and communication domains. The expectations selected here support this activity; use the whole document and the school’s sequence for wider coverage. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.