VerbalsIntro to Literature

Verbals

• forms of verbs used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. They may be modified by adverbs and adverb phrases and they can have complements.

• Participles• Past and Present

• Gerunds

• Infinitives

Participle: a form of a verb that acts as an

adjective

Present Participle• Ends in –ing

• I have running shoes.

• The smiling baby was photogenic.

• The steaming cup of coffee was delicious.

Past Participle • usually ends in –ed

sometimes –en, or another irregular ending

• That was an established building.

• The broken cup had sharp edges.

• The spooked cat ran fast.

Participle Phrases

• a participle that is modified by an adverb or adverb phrase or that has a complement. The entire phrase acts as an adjective in a sentence.

• Ex: I left my friend’s house, saying goodbye as I went.

• Entering the fun house, Jeff saw a silly mirror.

Participle Reminders

• Participles act like adjectives when they answer the question Which one? Or What kind? about the nouns or pronouns they modify.

• If the word expresses the action of the sentence, it is a verb; if it describes a noun or pronoun, then it is a participle.

• Ex: She pitched the tent. *pitched is a verb

• Ex: The pitched tent was blown over. *pitched is a participle.

Practice: Write the participle down and label as

past or present

• Smiling, Heather picked up the reward.

• The missing watch was recovered the next day.

• Amused, the children watched the jugglers perform.

• We stepped outside in the drizzling rain.

• The mended pants were left on the fence.

Practice: write the whole participle

phrase down

• The chicken, baked in a cream sauce, tasted delicious.

• The puppy, wagging its tail, seemed friendly.

• I met my friend Linda shopping for shoes a the mall.

• The man passing on the motorcycle was wearing a helmet.

• Blowing the whistle, the lifeguard signaled the swimmers.

Gerund

• a form of a verb that acts as a noun

• Can be used as different parts of a sentence: subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, predicate nominative, and appositive.

• Shopping is a great activity. (subject)

• Janice began riding horses at the ranch. (DO)

• Bob gets an allowance for cleaning his room. (OP)

Gerund phrase

• a gerund with modifiers or a complement, all acting together as a noun.

• Running up the street is a good work out.

• Jed’s favorite pastime is playing the harmonica.

• Cutting the grass is a weekly event in the summer.

Practice: Write the gerund or gerund phrase

and the part of speech it is acting as.

• Stacey was tired of studying.

• Catching fireflies on a summer evening is a child’s delight.

• Mr. and Ms. Smith enjoy woodworking and sailing.

• Ellen mastered climbing trees in a short time.

• Listening is an important conversational skill.

Practice: Write a sentence for each

gerund or gerund phrase used as directed in

parentheses. • Swimming (direct object)

• Visiting my cousins (subject)

• Baking cookies (Predicate nominative)

• Telling the truth (object of preposition)

Infinitive

• a form of a verb that generally appears with the word to and acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

• Ex: My goal is to fly someday.

• Remember- an infinitive is made up of to plus a verb. A prepositional phrase beginning with to, on the other hand, is made up of to plus a noun or pronoun.

• Some infinitives do not include the word to. After the verbs dare, hear, help, make, let, please, see, and watch, the to in an infinitive is usually understood rather than stated.

Infinitive phrase

• an infinitive with modifiers, a complement, or a subject, all acting together as a single part of speech.

• Ex: I think I would like to climb the mountain or to swim in the lake.

Practice: Is the underlined word a verb, participle

or gerund?

• Sailing has always been her passion.

• They are winning the game tonight.

• Doris enjoys dancing in bare feet.

• Laughing, she described the mistake.

• A beginning player often has trouble.

• We are reading a novel next week.