The Verbals

The Verbals

Gerunds

A gerund is a verbal that ends in –ing and functions as a noun. It can take on the role of a subject, 

direct object, subject complement, and object of preposition.

Gerund as subject:

Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. 

Gerund as direct object:

They do not appreciate my singing.

Gerund as subject complement:

My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. 

Gerund as object of preposition:

The police arrested him for speeding. 

Participles

A participle is a verbal that is used as an adjective and most often ends in -ing or -ed. 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.

The crying baby had a wet diaper. 

Shaken, he walked away from the wrecked car. 

The burning log fell off the fire. 

Smiling, she hugged the panting dog

Infinitives

An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word to plus a verb (in its simplest "stem" form) and 

functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. The infinitive may function as a subject, direct object, 

subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. Although an infinitive is easy to locate because 

of the to + verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence can sometimes be confusing.

To wait seemed foolish when decisive action was required. (subject) 

Everyone wanted to go. (direct object) 

His ambition is to fly. (subject complement) 

He lacked the strength to resist. (adjective) 

We must study to learn. (adverb) 

Be sure not to confuse an infinitive--a verbal consisting of to plus a verb--with a prepositional phrase 

beginning with to, which consists of to plus a noun or pronoun and any modifiers.

Infinitives: to fly, to draw, to become, to enter, to stand, to catch, to belong 

Prepositional Phrases: to him, to the committee, to my house, to the mountains, to us, to this address