Understanding Verbals

A verbal is a verb form that is

being used as another part of
speech rather than a verb.
There are three types of Verbals
• Participles
• Gerunds
• Infinitives
Examples
– The frightened cat scratched my eye.
– Running seems tiresome at first.
– Sometimes I like to swing and sometimes I like
to slide at the park.
 Verbals

• A verbal is a verb that is being used as

another part of speech rather than a verb.
Participle

• Examples
Gerund

– The frightened cat scratched my eye.

– Running seems tiresome at first.
– Sometimes I like to swing and sometimes I like
to slide at the park.
Infinitive
 Participles

• A participle is a verbal that

acts as an adjective.
– The crying woman left the
movie theater.
– The frustrated child ran away
from home.
 Participles

• A participle is a form of a verb that

acts as an adjective.
– The crying woman left the movie theater.
– The frustrated child ran away from
home.
Past or Present Participles

• Participles ending in an “ing” are

Present Participles
• Participles ending in an “ed” are Past
Participles
Identify the Participles in the
following sentences
• Sometimes my gurgling stomach
keeps me from concentrating
• While sleeping with the TV on, the
tormented child dreamt of monsters.
• Screaming adults tend to be very
impatient.
 Gerunds

• A gerund is a verbal that acts as a

noun.
-Running is great exercise
-Most people enjoy eating.
 Gerunds

• A gerund is a verbal that acts as a

noun. (always end in “ing”)
-Running is great exercise
-Most people enjoy eating.
Identify the Gerunds in the
following sentences

• Talking is a disruptive activity.

• My son loves playing with his toy
dinosaur.
• The doctor gave studying all of his
attention.
 Infinitives
• An infinitive is a Verbal that appears
with the word “to” and acts as a
noun, adjective, or adverb
– 2 types of infinitives
• Present infinitive (only “to” + verb)
• Perfect infinitive (“to have” or “to have
been” + past tense version of the verb)
 Infinitive examples
• Present
– I like to debate.
– To play with matches is wrong.
• Perfect
– I would have liked to read the paper.
– To have been mentioned would have
been enough.
Identify the verbals in the following
sentences and identify them as a
participle, a gerund or an infinitive.
• Meditating on positive ideas brings
great physical health.
• The explorer struggled to find the
remote colony.
• The heated pool is great for sore
muscles
• Shopping is excellent recreation.
• The butterfly fluttering near the
daisy is a monarch.
• I plan to read a book on Saturday.
• Evaluation
For each of the following sentences, decide if the word or phrase in
bold is a participle, gerund, or infinitive. Write a “P” over the word
or phrase if it is a participle, a “G” if the word or phrase is a gerund
an “I” if the word or phrase is an infinitive.
1. The children’s singing and laughing woke me up.
2. Mallory likes to dance in the rain.
3. There are many ways of breaking a heart.
4. A broken heart will mend over time.
5. George Burns once said, “Happiness is shaving a large, loving, caring, close-knit family
in another city.”
6. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
7. Woody Allen once said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to
achieve it through not dying.”
8. Woody Allen once said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want
to achieve it through not dying.”
9. Gore Vidal once said, “It is not enough to succeed. Other must fail.”
10. Succeeding is not enough. Others must fail.