What is the difference between a gerund and a past participle?

A gerund is a verb form that ends in -ing, and a past participle is a verb form that ends in -ed.

For example, the gerund form of the verb "run" is "running," and the past participle form of the verb "eat" is "ate."

Gerunds are used to talk about actions that are being done or that have been done, while past participles are used to talk about actions that were completed in the past.