Verbals #yaygrammar

What are they? A verbal is a verb form which functions as a noun or an adjective In English we have three types of verbals: Participles Gerunds Infinitives

Participles! A participle is a verb form which functions as an adjective There are two types of participles: Present participles (ending in –ing) Past participles (usually ending in –ed, -d, -t, -en, or –n)

Examples: The Verb The Present Participle The Past Participle To bake The baking bread The baked bread To print The printing document The printed document To lower The lowering prices The lowered prices

Real life examples: A stirring dwarf we do allowance give before a sleeping giant. –Billy the Shake, 1564-1616 Food is an important part of a balanced diet. –Fran Lebowitz

Often a participle will head up a participle phrase which functions as an adjective. In the examples below, all participles are in bold and the participle phrases are are in red Drooling saliva over the day’s mail, the barking boxer quickly singled out the parcel from the bills and junk mail. Baked in the oven for six hours, the roast was ruined.

Beware of Dangling Modifiers and Misplaced Modifiers When using a participle phrase at the start of a sentence, be sure to place the noun being modified directly AFTER the comma! Not doing this creates a “misplaced modifier” Disappointed almost to the point of tears, the empty test tube was examined by the professor.

Cont. Be sure to include the noun being modified! If you omit it, you will have created a “dangling modifier.” Disappointed to the point of tears, an empty test tube was the worst possible outcome.

Gerunds! Even though gerunds look like present participles (i.e., they also end with –ing), a gerund is a noun not an adjective. You don’t stop laughing because you gown old. You grow old because you stop laughing. –Michael Pritchard I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting. –Mark Twain, 1835-1910

A gerund will often appear in a gerund phrase A gerund will often appear in a gerund phrase. A gerund phrase consists of a gerund, its object, and all modifiers. Singing the words out loud helped him with his stammer. Eating blackberries without washing them will make you ill.

Infinitives! An infinitive is a verb form (often preceded by to, e.g., to dance, to sing) which can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Noun: To win was everything. Adjective: After breaking his leg, Dave had many obstacles to overcome. Adverb: The man paid to eat.

Sentence Types! #grammarisstillfun

Simple Sentences A simple sentence is a sentence with ONE independent clause. Note what the definition does NOT say. It doesn’t say that a simple sentence is short and easy to understand. It doesn’t say anything about phrases. A simple sentence can have forty-seven phrases, but only one independent clause.

Lets look at an Example: I love simple sentences. That was easy enough. It obviously only has one independent clause.

But wait...! Being an English teacher with a penchant of syntactical complexity, I love simple sentences. It’s longer, more challenging and contains bigger words, but it’s still a simple sentence. “Being an English teacher with a penchant of syntactical complexity” is a participial phrase. “With a penchant” and “for syntactical complexity” are prepositional phrases.

What about this one: Being an English teacher with a penchant for syntactical complexity, I love to read simple sentences upon getting up and before going to bed. Amazingly, it’s still a simple sentence. I pile on phrase after phrase, but the sentence still only contains one independent clause.

A compound sentence contains TWO OR MORE independent clauses. Compound Sentences A compound sentence contains TWO OR MORE independent clauses.

I love conjecture adverbs, but my students love each other. Example: I love conjecture adverbs, but my students love each other. The independent clauses are in red. This sentence contains no dependent clauses.

Sometimes a compound sentence contains more than two independent clauses! I love conjunctive adverbs; my students love each other, and we all love holidays.

Sometimes longer linking words can be used I can name several conjunctive adverbs; consequently, my friends are impressed.

Complex Sentences A complex sentence is a sentence that contains ONE independent clause and ONE OR MORE dependent clauses.

Example: Because life is complex, we need complex sentences. The independent clause is in blue. The dependent clause is in red.

And another… Because people know that I am an English teacher, they make allowances for how I dress and what I say. This sentence has four dependent clauses. The independent clause is in blue. Notice that to of the dependent clauses are inside and part of the independent clause. Don’t freak out. It happens all the time.

Compound-Complex Sentences A compound-complex sentences contains TWO OR MORE independent clauses and ONE OR MORE dependent clauses.

Example: Because I am an English teacher, some people expect me to speak perfectly, and other people expect me to write perfectly. The dependent clause is underlined, and the independent clauses are in blue.

One more… I promise! Some people tell me that my grading is too tough, and others tell me that my assignments are to easy. The independent clauses are in blue. The dependent clauses are italicized. Note that the dependent clauses occur within the independent clauses. It happens.

You survived! Here’s a funny video Teehee