Download Grammar Unit 1 - Verbs Active vs. Passive Voice Infinitives Gerund

Grammar Unit 1 - Verbs
Active vs. Passive Voice
Voice is the form a verb takes indicating whether its subject acts or is acted upon.
Active:
When a verb is in active voice its subject acts or does something. In the following
examples, the subjects are underlined and the verbs are in bold. Notice that the
subjects are acting out the verbs.
-We are building a house for a family of four.
-I did not make that call.
-The dog bit our mail carrier.
-He has fixed our computer twice already.
Passive:
When a verb is in passive voice, its subject receives the action or is acted upon. The
passive form is often indicated by helping verbs (is, am, are, were, was, been) used
with another verb. In the following examples, the subjects are underlined and the
verbs are in bold.
-The house is being built for a family of four.
-That call was not made by me.
-Our mail carrier was bit by the dog.
-My computer has been fixed twice already.
Infinitives
An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word “to” plus a verb (in its simplest "stem"
form). An infinitive is usually easy to locate because of the to + verb form. Often times,
you will be able to find the definition of a verb by looking its infinitive form up in the
dictionary. The infinitives are underlined in the examples below.
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To wait seemed foolish when decisive action was required.
Everyone wanted to go.
His ambition is to fly.
We must study to learn.
Examples: to fly, to draw, to become, to enter, to stand, to catch, to belong
Gerund
A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. Since a gerund functions
as a noun, it occupies some positions in a sentence that a noun ordinarily would, for
example: subject, direct object, subject complement, and object of preposition. As such,
you can replace a gerund in your sentence with another noun and your sentence will still
make sense
Gerund as subject:
• Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (Traveling is the gerund.)
• The study abroad program might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (The gerund
has been removed.)
Gerund as direct object:
• They do not appreciate my singing. (The gerund is singing.)
• They do not appreciate my assistance. (The gerund has been removed)
Gerund as subject complement:
• My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. (The gerund is sleeping.)
• My cat's favorite food is salmon. (The gerund has been removed.)
Gerund as object of preposition:
• The police arrested him for speeding. (The gerund is speeding.)
• The police arrested him for criminal activity. (The gerund has been removed.)
Participles
A participle is a verbal that is used as an adjective and most often ends in -ing or -ed.
Participles modify nouns or pronouns. There are two types of participles: present
participles and past participles. Present participles usually end in -ing. Past participles
usually end in -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne as in the words asked, eaten, saved, dealt,
seen, and gone. The participles are underlined in the examples below.
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The crying baby had a wet diaper.
He walked away from the wrecked car.
The burning log fell off the fire.
She hugged the panting dog.
Moods in Verbs
• The indicative (indicating a state of factuality and reality): "A cat sits on the stove."
Most sentences in English are in the indicative mood. It simply states a fact of some
sort, or describes what happens, or gives details about reality.
• The imperative (indicating a state of command): "Give me back my money." One
marker of the imperative is that frequently the subject does not appear in the
sentence, but is only implied: "(You) Give me back my money."
• The interrogative (indicating a state of questioning): "Will you leave me alone now?"
One marker of the interrogative is that frequently the speaker inverts the subject-verb
order by placing the helping verb first, before the subject: "Will you leave me alone?"
instead of "You will leave me alone." Frequently the interrogative appears with
requests for a course of action or requests for information.
• The conditional (indicating a conditional state that will cause something else to
happen): "The light might turn on if I jiggle that switch." The conditional is usually
marked by the words might, could, and would, AND it needs to include the condition
(or the “if” part of the sentence).