Verbals

Mrs. Alma S. Janagap

 Is it a VERB or a VERBAL?
• Telling the difference between a
verb and a verbal is not done by
looking only at the word itself.
• You have to see how the word is
being used.
• In both cases, the word looks like a
verb, but if it’s used as something
other than a verb…it’s a
VERBAL
Is it a VERB or a VERBAL?

• Examples:
– Waxed
– Flowing

These can be verbs or verbals

depending upon how they
are used in the sentence.
Is it a VERB or a VERBAL?
• Examples:
– Our helpers waxed the floors.
– The waxed floors were slippery and
dangerous.

– Water was flowing over the rocks in

the stream.
– -Flowing water carries a great
deal of potential energy.
Gerunds
 Verbals-
What Are They?
• A verbal is formed from a
verb but is never used as an
action word in a sentence.
Instead, a verbal functions as
nouns, adjectives and adverbs.
•There are three
kinds of verbals:
gerunds, participles,
and infinitives.
 Gerunds…
say what?
• A gerund is a verbal that ends in –ing
and functions as a noun.
• Gerunds can be used as a
1.)subject 4.)object of preposition
2.)direct object 5.)appositive
3.)subject complement or predicate
nominative
 Gerunds as a Subject
• Traveling might
satisfy your desire
for new experiences.
• In this sentence we
see that traveling is
the subject of satisfy
• Note that gerund as a subject
is usually at the beginning of the
sentence.
More Examples:
– Swimming is the best sport ever!
– Looking for work can be a
difficult task.
Reading helps you learn English subject.
 Gerund as a Direct
Object GERUNDS are
• They appreciate my super! Without
them, verbs
singing. couldn’t be nouns!

• Singing is used as a
direct object because it
answers the question of
the verb (what are they
appreciating? Singing)
• Note that direct objects
follow action verbs and tell
who or what.
More Examples:
– Janie loves playing video games.

– All of the students like taking

notes on gerunds.
 Gerunds as a Subject
Complement
• My mom’s favorite activity is
running.
• Running is explaining the
subject in this sentence
• (what activity? Running.)
• Remember that SCs or PNs follow
linking verbs. They can EASILY be
confused with action verbs… read
the sentence carefully.
• Which one is a SC?
– My favorite hobby is knitting.
(Hint: The hobby isn’t doing the knitting!)
– She is athletic, and her best
sport is diving.
NOT A PN: I am running a
marathon this weekend.
 Gerunds as an Object of
Preposition
• The police arrested
him for speeding.
• Speeding is the
object of for in this
example because it is
explaining the
prepostion (for what?
For speeding.)
• Objects of prepositions follow
preps and are in phrases.

– I will study for exams by

taking good notes.
– You will need a new pen set
for drawing pictures.
 Common preposition combinations
followed by gerunds:
afraid of ,excited about, happy about ,
interested in, think about, tired of,
worried about, good at, bad at, famous
for ,fond of ,glad about, complain about,
talk about , think about, apologize for,
blame for, believe in , succeed in, take
care of, instead of be accused of, insist
on, count on, concentrate on, keep from,
prevent from , profit from, in
addition to, look forward to
 Gerunds as Appositives
• Appositives can rename any
noun. A gerund as an appositive
might look like this:
• My hobby, swimming, keeps me in
shape.
• The best exercise, walking briskly
,is also the least expensive.
 Gerunds can be made
negative by adding “not”.

Examples:
He enjoys not working.
The best thing for your
health is not smoking.
 Gerund
Phrase
A gerund phrase begins with
a gerund, an ing word, and
includes other modifiers and/or
objects.
 Gerund Phrase
• Finding a needle in a haystack
would be easier than what
we're trying to do.
Finding a needle in a
haystack is the gerund phrase
used as a subject.
 Gerund Phrase
•Your hobby is
collecting some coins.
•There job is serving
the customer in banks.
 QUIZ TIME!
Identify the gerund in each sentence
and identify its function(subject, direct
object, subject complement, object of
preposition and appositive)
1)Michael started doing his homework at 12:30 PM.
2)He apologized for arriving late.
3)Learning a foreign language is fun.
4)His hobby, dancing, keeps him fit.
5)His job is encoding data in computer.
 Answers!
• Doing- Direct Object
• Arriving- Object of preposition
• Learning- Subject
• Dancing- Appositive
• Encoding- Subject complement
Infinitive
 Infinitives
• An infinitive has three possible
functions:
– As a noun
– As an adjective
– As an adverb
• It looks like a verb but never
functions as a verb.
 Pattern
to + verb (base form)
• this is called present active
• this is the most common form

to see to bring to manage

to cry to eat to meet
 Infinitives Used As
Nouns
• Subject: To understand required maturity
and acceptance. To sleep is the only thing
Eli wants after his long day of work.
• Direct Object: I hate to go.
• Predicate Noun: Our best chance of winning
against our enemy is to pray.
• Object of the Preposition: I was about to
eat when the guests arrived.
• Appositive: You have only one choice,
to go.
Infinitive used as:
Objective complement (is often “to”
less or called elliptical infinitive)
Elliptical means silent or
understood. “To” may be left out
completely.

Examples:
He will help us paddle to shore.
He will help us TO paddle to
shore.
 More examples for elliptical
infinitive:

• She made them stay after school.

• He heard someone come in the
back door.
• We watched the red sun sink below
the horizon.
 Unlike gerunds,
infinitives can also act as
adjectives and adverbs.
 Infinitives Used As
Modifiers
• Adjective:
The teacher assigned us too many
problems to solve. (modifies problems)
Wherever Melissa goes, she always
brings a book to read in case she
has a long wait. (modifies book)
There are jobs to be done.
(modifies jobs)
 Infinitives Used As
Modifiers
• Adverb:
They struggled to resist. (modifies
a verb, struggled)
Some people are unable to adjust.
(modifies an adjective,unable)
He always plays to win. (modifies
a verb, plays)
 Infinitives can be made
negative by adding“not”.

Examples:
• I decided not to go.
• The most important thing is
not to give up.
 WHAT IS AN
INFINITIVE PHRASE ?

• An infinitive phrase begins

with the infinitive(to+ verb)
and includes all of its
modifiers.
 Infinitive Phrases
•He hated to discuss emotions.
(DO)
•He is eager to give Cory the
award. (ADV)
•To join the drama club is Kyle’s
greatest dream. (subject)
I have an assignment to
finish before tomorrow.(ADJ)
 Prepositional Phrase or
Infinitive?
• A prepositional phrase always ends with a
noun or pronoun.
• An infinitive always ends with a verb.
Prepositional Phrase Infinitive
The soldier listened to A general’s purpose in
the command. the army is to
command.

When I am in New When I am in New

York, I go to a shop. York, I like to shop.
Note:
As the object of the sentence, it is
more difficult to choose between a
gerund or an infinitive.
They are not interchangeable. The main
verb in the sentence determines whether
you use a gerund or an infinitive.
Examples:
He enjoys swimming. “Enjoy” requires a
gerund.
He wants to swim. “Want” requires an
infinitive.
Exercise 1
 Identifying Infinitives
Identify the infinitive in each
sentence. Then, label each as subject,
direct object, predicate noun, object of the
preposition, appositive, adjective, or adverb.
1.Worried by my decision, I decided to sleep.
2. To build was the architect’s fondest
dream.
3. The teacher assigned us too many pages
to read.
4. My mother likes to eat.
5. They were reluctant to dance.
6. He was eager to experience college.
7. To leave town is relaxing.
8.Our assignment was to read that
book.
9. We were asked to memorize this
poem.
10. He has come to stay.
Exercise 2
 Distinguish between
infinitives and prepositional
phrases.
1. Would you try to explain?
2. Give an explanation to Jane.
3. Our trip to China was filled with fun.
4. After working so hard, he wanted
to rest.
5.To believe took considerable
faith.
Participle
 PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
•A verb form that is used as an
ADJECTIVE.
– PRESENT - ends in -ing

– PAST -d, -ed, –en, -t

Present Participle Past Participle

the boiling water the boiled water

the cooking ham the cooked ham
the boring man the bored man

the rising sun the risen sun

the rotting fruit the rotten fruit
the swelling eye the swollen eye
 Simple Participles in Sentences
• The bored man went to sleep during the
discussion.
• The boring man put other people to sleep
during the discussion. Or
• The audience slept listening to a boring man.

• She stored the boiled water in a closed

container.
• The boiling water burnt the child.
 PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
• Participles can be found at the
beginning, middle, or end of
sentences, but they MUST BE
relatively close to the noun or
pronoun they modify.
• Simple Participles are ONE WORD.
• Participial phrases consist of that
ONE WORD plus modifiers (all the
words that refer to that participle).
 PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
STEPS to finding the
participle or participial phrase
1. Find the subject.
2. Find the real verb.
3. Look for other words that look like
verbs (word endings are the clue).
 EXAMPLE #1
The painted frame looks
attractive.(simple participle)
– “Painted” is the participle
– It describes frame.
•frame-subject
•Avoid getting the participle confused
with the REAL verb – in this case
“drove.”
 EXAMPLE #2
Known for her patience, Mrs.
Williams was his favorite teacher.

– “known” is the participle

– “for her patience” is the modifier
– This phrase describes Mrs. Williams.

•Subject and REAL verb: Mrs. Williams

was
 EXAMPLE #3
The marine biologist, diving near
a reef, saw a shark.

“diving” is the participle

“near a reef ” is the modifier
This phrase describes the biologist.
Subject and real verb: biologist saw
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

Twirling their
canes, the
dancers tapped
across the stage.
 PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

She heard me
sighing loudly.
Participial phrases include a
participle plus modifiers .
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

A peeled and
sliced cucumber
can be added to
a garden salad.
 More examples of participial
phrases

• The man carrying the logs is

my father.
• Whistling the same tune as
always, Ted left the house.
How about these?
• Going in a hurry, her purse
was left on the office
desk.
• Going in a hurry, Julie left
her purse on the office
desk.
How about these?

• Getting poor marks in the exam,

his parents felt disappointed.

• Getting poor marks in the exam,

he disappointed his parents.
Exercise 1
 PRACTICE…
•The bike had a broken spoke.
•Her smiling face made everyone
happy.
•The frightened child was crying
loudly.
Exercise 2
 PRACTICE…
• The man running slowly still finished
the race.
• The boy having been scolded finally
did his work.
• The teacher, having retired, could
now travel widely.
• The soldier, having saluted his
superior, continued on his way.
• The truck swerving and sliding
hit the brick wall.
Try This!
Identify the verbal and indicate
its specific function in the sentence.
1.She is fond of eating chocolates.
2. Joe’s habit, sleeping late at night,
makes him irritable.
3. He is happy to see you.
4. He failed to get enough money to
pay for the new project.
5. His job is providing healthcare.
6. The broken glass injured him.
7. A barking dog frightens me.
8. He completed renovating
the house.
9. The guard refused to let them
enter the building.
10.I forgot giving you my book.
11.I forgot giving you my book.
12.Singing with church choir
gives he joy.
13. We decided to go to Hawaii.
14. The flying kite looks like a
giant bird.
15. We have time to walk to the
game.
“A laughing man is stronger than
a crying man.”
Flaubert

“A smiling teacher is more

effective than a frowning one.”
Verbals!