Verbals: Gerunds, Infinitives, & Participles ELACC8L1a: Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.

Verbals Verbals are verb parts that act like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, but they cannot stand alone as actual verbs.

Gerunds A gerund ends in -ing and can be used as a noun. A gerund is based on a verb. It shows action or a state of being. However, since a gerund works as a noun, it does the same thing in a sentence that a noun does. Examples: Jogging is good exercise. My favorite thing is sleeping.

Gerunds answers the question "what.“ Find the verb and ask yourself "what.“ Gerunds will show up as subjects, direct or indirect objects or objects of prepositions.

Infinitives An infinitive consists of the word to plus a verb and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb. An infinitive is based on a verb and shows action or a state of being. The difference is that the infinitive may act as an adjective, adverb, subject, direct object, or the complement of a subject in a sentence.

Infinitives An infinitive is easy to locate because of the to + verb form, but deciding what an infinitive does in a sentence can be confusing sometimes. Examples: To sit seemed wrong since the boy needed help. ("To sit" is the subject.) We all wanted to see. ("To see" is the direct object.) Her dream is to play. ("To play" complements the subject.) They didn't have the strength to stop. ("To stop" acts as an adjective.) I must practice to win. ("To win" acts as an adverb.)

Infinitives If the infinitive is used as an adverb and is the beginning phrase in a sentence, you should use a comma to set it off. Beyond that, no punctuation is needed for an infinitive phrase. Examples: To buy a basketball, Phil had to save all his money. To improve your playing, you should practice every day.

Participles A participle is used as an adjective and most often ends in -ing or -ed. A participle is based on a verb. It shows an action or a state of being. However, since a participle works as an adjective, it can also modify nouns or pronouns.

Participles There are two types of participles: present participles and past participles. Present participles end in -ing. Past participles end in -ed, -en, -d, -t, or -n, as in the words asked, eaten, saved, dealt, and seen. Examples: The crying baby had a wet diaper. The burning log fell off the fire.