Verbals

verbals Verbals and verbal phrases are formed from words we recognize as verbs, but that are serving some other function.

There are three kinds of verbals: Participle – verbal acting as adj. Gerund – verbal ending with the -ing suffix, acting as noun Infinitive –

Infinitives An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word “to” followed by a verb in its simplest "stem" form, and functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb: To ask To try To graduate To celebrate

Infinitives Note that “to” is also used as a preposition. Pay close attention to the word following “to”: if it is followed by an action word, you likely have an infinitive; if it is followed by a noun or an adjective, you probably have a prepositional phrase.

Infinitives He needed to ask a question. “ask” = action (verb)  “to ask” = infinitive The students went to McDonald’s for lunch. “McDonald’s” = noun  “to McDonald’s” = prep. phrase They went to the newest French restaurant. “the” = adjective  “to the newest French restaurant” = prep. phrase

Split infinitives Avoid splitting the parts of the infinitive (“to” + verb stem) with adverbs: Bad: He had to quickly decide before acting. Better: He had to decide quickly before acting.

Gerunds The gerund is a verb form used as a noun, and ends in –ing. Since gerunds act as nouns, they may be used in one of the following ways: subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or predicate nominative.

Gerunds Example: Running is good exercise. In the example above, note that the word “running” is the subject of the sentence, and any word acting as the subject must be a noun, or a word acting as a noun. We normally think of “running” as action, but in this case, the word is not used to describe what some subject is doing.

Gerund phrases: Gerund phrases are phrases comprised of a gerund and its modifiers. Running in place is good exercise. His daily running was a routine he made sure never to miss.

Gerunds Running is good exercise. (noun) We were running in the race. (verb) He put on his running shoes before heading out. (adjective)

5 ways nouns are used: Running is good exercise. (subject) He enjoys reading in his spare time. (d.o.) He gave running on his bad ankle a try, but it was too painful. (i.o.) He always talks about fishing. (o.p.) One thing he has always enjoyed is cooking, and the fancier the meal the better. (p.n.)

Participles Participles are verb forms (words we recognize as verbs, or “action” words) which are behaving as adjectives. As such, they are NOT verbs. Present participles end in –ing Past participles end in –d or –ed, or may take an irregular form (“broken,” for example)

Participles I wore my running shoes for the race. Verb: He is running for president. The finished product looked very professional. Verb: We finished the book yesterday. The forest was filled with animals and fallen trees. Verb: The tree had fallen across the street.

Participial phrases: participial phrases are phrases comprised of a participle and its modifiers. As such, these phrases act as adjective phrases. [Finished] with his homework, he turned on the television. The candidate, [running] for mayor, gave speeches all over the city.