Download Verbals. Gerunds, Participles, and lnfinitives

Verbals.Gerunds,
Participles,
andlnfinitives
Gtlq,gc3,t
irrd ii; n verbalthat endsin -ing and functionsas a noun. Therefore,althoughit is basedon
A .r1err
a vix ir ( inrl lherefbreexpresses
actionor a stateof being),it occupiesthe positionin a sentence
that a noun ordinarilywould. For example.
The gerundtrweling indicatesOlatthe study
abroadprogrun might satisryyour desirefor
newexperiences.
Travelingmight satis$ your desirefor newexperiences.
The police arrsstedhirn for speeding.
The gemnd speedingindicatesthat the police arrestedhim for
il lcgal driving pnactices.
* A gerundvirtually neverrequiresany punctuationwith it.
Pa,Clgirrle!
A partir;ipleis a verbalthat is usedas an adjectiveand most often endsin -ing or -ed. Becauseit
is br.rsccl
on a verb it expressesa stateof actionor being. However,sinceit functionsas an
adj<;r;{.ive,
a participlewill modifo a noun or pronoun. Therearetwo typesof participles.present
parucipleswhich end in -ing and pastparticipleswhich end in --€d,-en, -d, -t, or -n, suchas
usklr,|,eolen,saved,dealt, andseen. For gxample:
'l'hc
cryingbabyhada wet diaper.
,Shrk:n, hc rvalked away fiom lhe wrecked rar.
The participlecryingis an adjeaivemodifyingthe nounDaDy.
The participle shokenis an adjective modifying lhe pronoun
he and the participle wrecked is an adjective modifying the
noun car.
Pa't4ltlrrft,Phrases
A pi:rit,;i1rle
phraseis a groupof wordsconsisting
of a participleandthedirectobject(s),indirect
6irir',r;i(r),
or complement(s)
of theactionor stateexpressed
in theparticiple.For example:
,' 'tr' ':'i;'tl: lus coat, Jack rushed to the river.
The participle phraserema,ing his coat functions as an
adjective modifuing thenounJack. Removing is the participle
and ijs coat is the direct object of the acion removing.
i -,',)': inlinduced to music early dodop fager.
The participle phrasesintroduced to music early firnctions as
an adjective modi$ing the noun children. Introduced (to) is
thc participle, music is the direct object of the action
,,:,;Xfl::*
andearty is an adverb modifying lhe action
* r{i,ttlder to preventconfusion,a participlephrasemust be placedas closeto the noun it
n'ir,{lrii*sas possible,and the nounmustbe clearlystated.For example:
€t.i,r lirry;*Car, ; i rtli a hcavy pile of books, he caugfit hisfoot on a step.
This sentencereadsas tf hisfoot was carrying the
books.
This sentencemakes it clear that he was carrying the
books and hisfoot caught on a step.
Punctuation and Particinle Phrases
A participlephraseis set offwith commaswhen it comesat the beginningof the sentence,
intcrruptsthe sentencewith nonessentialinformatiorLor comesat the end of the sentence
separiiledlrom the word it modifies. Here is a closerlook at theserules:
1. When a participlephrasebeginsa sentence,a commashouldbe placedafter the phrase.For
example:
Arriving at the store,I found that it was closed.
Aniving at the store is the participle phrasethal starts
the sentence. Note the corrurn following that phrase.
2 If the participleor participlephrasecomesin the middle of a sentence,it shouldbe set off
with commasonly if the informationis not essentialto the meaningof the sentence.If the
participlephrasecould be theoreticallyremovedfrom the sentencewithout changingthe
sentence'smeaning,it mustbe set offwith commas- For example:
Thechurctr,
destroydbyafire,wasneverrebuilt.
Theparticiplephrase
fustroyedbyafireisnot
essentiallo lhe sentence'sprimary meaning that the
church was never rebuill.
The student earning the best grade lryill be rewarded.
,
The participle phrase earning the best grade is
essential to understanding the senlcnce's meaning
about who will be rewarded.
3. If a participlephrasecomesat the end of a sentence,a commausually precedesthe phraseif it
modifies an earlierword in the sentencebut not if the phrasedirectly follows what it modifies.
For example:
The local residents often saw Ken wandering lhe streets.
The participle phrase wandering the streels modifies
the noun Ken, which comes immediatcly before the
phmsc. Thereforc, no conma is necessary.
Tom newously watched the woman, alarmed by her silence.
The participle pttrase alarmed by her silence modifies
lhe noun Tom,whichcomes carlier in the sentence.
Thercfore. a mmrna is necessaryto show that it
modihes Tom andnot the woman.
Infinitives
An infinitive is a verbalthat can function as a noun,adjective,or adverb. It consistsof the word
to anda verb in its simplest"stem" form. For example:
To wait seemedfoolish when quick action was required.
To wait is an ffinitive
sentence'ssubiect.
He lacked the strength to resist.
To resist is an infinitive functioning as an adjective
modifying the noun strenglh.
We must *ay to learn.
To learn is an infinitive fimctioning as an adverb
modifoing lhe verb slay.
functioning as a noun as the
Infinitive Phrases
direct object(s),
An infinitive phraseis a gtoup of words consistingof an infinitive and the
of the action or stateexpressedin the infinitive' For
indirect object(s),o. *r-pl".en(s)
example:
To write before classis an infinitive phrasefunctioningasan adjective
modifing lh e nounparyr. To write is the infinitive andbeforeclassis
a phrasemodifYingto write-
I havea paryr to write beforeclass.
To leaveeorly isan infinitive phrasefimctioning asthe dirwt-object of
theverb inteided. To leaveisthe infinitiv e md early is an adverb
modi$ing to leave.
We intended to leave earlY.
Punctuation and rnfinitive Phrases
ic rhp hacinninonhr
tt Ishouldbe set off
If th"-tft"it"* is usedas an adverband is the beginningphrasein a sentence'
For example:
with a comm&. Otherwise,no punctuationis neededfor an infinitive phrase'
To buy a basketofflowers, John had to spendhis la$ dollar'
To buy a basket offlowers is an infinitive
phxasestarting this sentence. Note the
comnu following the Phrase-
John had to spendhis las dollar to buy a box ofcandy
To buy a box of candy is an infinitive phrase
that is not at &e begiruring of a sentence.
Note that thcre is no mmma-
Avoidine Split Infinitives
@additionalwordsareincludedbetweentoandtheverbinan
be acceptable'
infinitive. Although somereadersfind a singleadverbsplitting the infinitive to
this practiceshouldbe avoidedin all formal writing. For example:
+.
To walk is an infinitivc that is split by the phraseon a nice
day. Thrs should be avoided.
On a nice day, I like to walk in thewoods-
To correct this sentence, one would move lhe phrase on a ntce
tlay in order to ensure that the infinitive Io walk is not split'
tons
quickly.
I neededto gather my possessions
To gather is an infinitive thal is split by $e adverb quickly'
This should be avoided.
To correct lhis sentence, one would move lhe adverb quickly
in order to enswe that the infinitive to gather is not split'
Gerunds vs. ParticiPles
can subtly
Sometimesthe useo-a gerund(usedas a noun) or a participle(usedas an adjective)
changethe meaningof a sentence'For example:
I was irritated by Bill's constantintemtpting-
I was irritatedby Bill, constan8 intemtpting'
inlemtpting is a genrnd(functioningas a
In this sentencr-,
noun). Here intemtpting is clearly a specificbehaviorthat
irritatesthe speaker.
In this sentencr',intemtpting is a participle(functioning as an
adjectivemodiffing BitD. Hetethe causeof irritationis Bill'
whojust happensto be intem-rpting'
Gerundsvs. Infinitives
Gerundsalwaysfunctionasnouns,but infinitivescanalsoserveasnouns.Confusionbetween
gerundsand infinitivesoccursprimarilyin casesin whichoneor the otherfunctionsasthe direct
objectin a sentence.Someverbstakegerundsasverbaldirectobjectsexclusivelywhile other
verbstakeonly infinitivesastheir directobjects.Someverbscantakeeither. Hereis a brief list
of verbsorganizedby which verbaldirectobjecttheytake:
Yerbsthot takeonly infinitivesas verbaldirect objectsinclufu:
Agree
Learn
Hope
Propose
Decide
Need
Want
Inteld
Expect
Promise
Plan
Pretend
Hesitate
Neglecl
Attempt
Ihoptogo onavamtionsoon.
Heretogoisaninfinitiveandhopeistleverbindicatingthatthe
infinitive form mustbe usedratherthanthe genurdgoing.
Theyagreedtosignthebeaty.
Heretosignisaninfinitiveandagreedistheverbindicatingthathe
infinitive form mustbe usedralherthanthe genud signing
Verbs that take only gerunds
Deny
Risk
Can't help
Keep
Finish
Quit
Postpone
Tolerate
Regr€t
EnFy
Admit
Avoid
Mis
Detest
as verbal direct objects include:
Delay
Considsr
Give up
Be fond of
Put off
Practice
Suggest
Stop
Keep
Dislike
Recall
Mind
Appreciate
Recomrnend
They always avoiddrinking beforedriving.
Heredrinking is a gerundafr avoid isthe verb ladisatingthat
the genmdmustbe usedrAher than the infinitive to drink.
I recall askingher that question
Hereaskingis a gennd andrecallis the verb indicatingthat
the genmdmustbe usedraher than the infinitive to ask.
Yerbs that can take either gerunds or infinitives qs verbal direct objects include:
Start
Begin
Continue
Hate
Prefer
Like
love
Trv
Remember
Shehascontinuedto work at the store.
Shehascontinuedworkingat the store.
They like to go lo the movies.
They like goizg to the movies.
Here /o work is an ffinitive andcontinuedis the verb
indicatingthat eitherthe infinitive or gennrdwould be correct.
Hereworking is a gerundandcontinuedis theverb indicating
that eitherthe genrndor infinitive would be correct.
Hereto go is an infinitive attdlike is the verb indicatingthat
either the infinitive or the gennrdwould be correct.
Heregoing is a gerundandlike is the verb indicatingthat
either thegerurd or the infinitive would be corect.
This handoutwas adaptedfrom the owl, anhrdue univenity websiteavailableat:
hUp/lou,t.engtistr.purdue.O