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TESOL
Grammar Workshop
Distinguishing
Participial, Gerund &
Infinitive Phrases
What You’ll Learn:
• How to identify Participles, Gerunds and Infinitives.
• How Participles, Gerunds and Infinitives are used in a
sentence.
Why It’s Important:
• To further your understanding of Grammar and
Sentence Structure.
Distinguishing Participial, Gerund,
and Infinitive Phrases:
The three types of verbal phrases, Participial, Gerund,
and Infinitive, are closely related to verbs.
However, they do not function as verbs, but as nouns,
adjectives, and adverbs.
The easiest was to distinguish the phrases is by the way
they function in a sentence and by their forms.
Participles:
A Participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective and
modifies a noun or a pronoun.
A Participle can be present or past tense. A Present
Participle ends in –ing and a Past Participle usually
ends in –ed.
For Example:
The car was speeding down the twisting road.
The frightened deer ran into the forest.
Participial Phrases:
A Participial Phrase is a Participle with complements
and modifiers.
A Participial Phrase acts as an adjective and can be in
different positions in a sentence.
If a Participial Phrase falls at the beginning of a
sentence, it is usually followed by a comma.
For Example:
Screeching loudly, the car pulled into the gas station.
Did all the teams have a winning record?
Gerunds:
A Gerund is a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a
noun.
For Example:
Sewing has never interesting me.
A Gerund Phrase is a Gerund and any compliments or
modifiers needed to complete its meaning.
For Example:
Her enthusiastic cheering drew people from
yards away.
Moving the chair was not easy.
Infinitives:
An Infinitive is a verb form usually preceded by the
word to.
An Infinitive can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an
adverb.
For Example:
I love to gather flowers in the spring.
An Infinitive Phrase includes an Infinitive and any
compliments and modifiers needed to complete its
meaning.
Distinguishing Participial, Gerund,
and Infinitive Phrases:
Remember, the easiest was to distinguish the phrases is
by the way they function in a sentence and by their
forms.
Participial Phrases function as adjectives. Present
Participles end in –ing and most Past Participles end in
–ed.
Gerund Phrases end in –ing and function as nouns.
Infinitive Phrases are preceded by to and can function
as a noun, an adjective or an adverb.