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Adding Variety to Your Writing NEC FACET Center • Have you ever felt as if your writing is monotonous and dull? • If so, bring it to life by varying your sentence structure. Try Using These Special Phrases Gerund Phrases Important Definition Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but it acts like a noun. • A gerund is the -ing form of a verb functioning in the sentence as a noun. Gerunds as Subjects • Some gerunds function as the subject of the sentence. • The subject identifies who or what the sentence is about. • Painting is Jim’s favorite hobby. • Gardening keeps Aunt Ruth busy for hours. Gerunds as Direct Objects Direct objects follow the verb and identify the receiver of the action. • My entire family likes bowling. (The verb is likes. Bowling tells what the family likes.) • The dirty floor required mopping. (The verb is required. Mopping tells what the dirty floor required.) Gerunds as Objects of the Preposition • Will Rogers was famous for roping. (Roping follows the preposition for and identifies a cause of his fame.) • Derek finished work before skateboarding. (Skateboarding follows the preposition before.) Common Prepositions • • • • • • • • • • • above about across among around at before below, beneath beside between by • • • • • • • • • • • for from in, into, inside of off over through to, toward under upon with Gerund Phrases as Subjects • Singing with a country band occupies most of my brother’s weekend. • Crying at the top of his lungs generally got little Joey what he wanted. Gerund Phrases as Objects • Herrmann the Great demonstrated making a rabbit appear from an empty hat. • For our final few minutes at Frontier City, we chose riding the roller coaster. Gerund Phrases as Objects of the Preposition • David enjoys the ancient Japanese art of raising bonsai trees. • Have you ever tried relaxing by watching tropical fish? Identify the Gerund Phrase • Hitting a grand slam homerun enabled Raphael to win the game for his team. • Charles was ready for a quiet evening at home after flying a rescue mission in the mountains. Gerund Phrase Identified • Hitting a grand slam homerun enabled Raphael to win the game for his team. (subject) • Charles was ready for a quiet evening at home after flying a rescue mission in the mountains. (object of the preposition after) Identify the Gerund Phrases • Steve succeeded in climbing the mountain. • When the director finished yelling at the production crew, he felt much better. Identify the Gerund Phrases • Steve succeeded at climbing the mountain. (object of the preposition at) • When the director finished yelling at the production crew, he felt much better. (object of the verb finished, telling what he finished.) Identify the Gerund Phrases • Yelling at the production crew made the director feel much better. Identify the Gerund Phrases • Yelling at the production crew made the director feel much better. (subject telling what made Jack feel better) Important Definition Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but it acts like an adjective. • A participle is a verb form used as an adjective (a descriptive word). Present & Past Participles Remember this: • Present participles end in -ing. • Past participles end in -ed or have irregular endings. Examples • The laughing child held up her brimming piggy bank. • With a cramped leg, the screaming boy waded out of the pool. • Notice that each of these -ing or -ed words acts as an adjective by describing another word. • Laughing describes child. • Brimming describes the bank. • Cramped describes leg. • Screaming describes boy. Identify the Descriptive Participles • Outside the Halloween spook house, dozens of grinning skeletons greeted the visitors. • Tired, I spilled the steaming coffee. Descriptive Participles Identified • Outside the Halloween spook house, dozens of grinning skeletons greeted the visitors. • Tired, I spilled the steaming coffee. Identify the Descriptive Participles • After the torrential rain, I returned home to a flooded basement. • I read the gripping spy novel until 2:00 a.m. Irregular Participles • Although most participles end in -ing and -ed, some are irregular. To identify the verbs with irregular participles, think of the form correctly used with the helping verbs have, has, and had. • Example: Built to last, the great pyramids of Egypt may be around for the next millenium. • Built to last, the great pyramids of Egypt may be around for the next millenium. • Notice that the phrase “built to last” works as an adjective to describe the word pyramids; therefore, it is a participial phrase. • However, you’ll see that the participle form, in this case, doesn’t end in -ed or -ing. • To indicate past tense, as in the following sentence, we don’t say builded: The two children builded an elaborate sand castle. • Instead, we would write “The two children built an elaborate sandcastle.” • This is one of many irregular verbs. Descriptive Participles Identified • After the torrential rain, I returned home to a flooded basement. • I read the gripping spy novel until 2:00 a.m. Participial Phrases • You have seen several examples of single word participles ending with -ing and -ed. • Some participles do not appear alone, but instead as the first word of a phrase. • This phrase still serves as an adjective and, therefore, describes a noun. How to Identify the Correct Past Participle Form • If you are not sure what the correct past participle form is, pick the form that would be correctly used following the helping verbs has, have, or had. • For example, the past participle of the verb take is taken. • You can tell by trying the verb with the words listed above: has taken, have taken, had taken. A Few Examples of Irregular Verbs and Their Past Participles • • • • • • • • • • begin-begun blow-blown bring-brought catch-caught choose-chosen draw-drew eat-eaten fall-fallen fly-flown forget-forgotten • • • • • • • • • • forgive-forgiven freeze-frozen go-gone hear-heard hold-held ride-ridden rise-risen speak-spoken think-thought wear-worn Examples of Participial Phrases • Laughing gleefully, the child held up her piggy bank. • Notice that “Laughing gleefully” works as a participial phrase describing the noun child. • Attacked by a sudden leg cramp, the screaming boy waded out of the pool. • Notice that “Attacked by a sudden leg cramp” acts as a participial phrase describing the noun boy. Identify the Participial Phrase • Listening intently, the students translated Spanish sentences into English. • Using a hoe and a rake, Steve cleared the dead plants from the garden. Participial Phrases Identified • Listening intently, the students translated Spanish sentences into English. (describes the noun students) • Using a hoe and a rake, Steve cleared the dead plants from the garden. (describes the noun Steve) Important Definition Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but it’s preceded by the word to. • An infinitive is the word to plus the base form of the verb. Examples of Infinitives • We started to practice for the concert. • It’s time to rake the yard. • I asked Jeff to go sailing on Grand Lake. Note • When followed by anything other than a verb, the word to forms a prepositional phrase rather than an infinitive. • Examples: – I took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. – I went to the post office to mail the package. (Notice that the sentence also contains the infinitive “to mail.”) – I gave the gift to Michael – I need to talk to her. (This sentence also contains the infinitive “to talk.”) Identify the Infinitives. • Sally decided to enter the Tulsa Run. • Brad learned to operate the new photocopier. Identify the Infinitives • Sally decided to enter the Tulsa Run. • Brad learned to operate the new photocopier. Identify the Infinitive Phrases • When they went to the Fourth of July parade, they began to wave their flags. • Charles paid a visit to the gypsy fortune teller to learn what the new year would bring. Infinitive Phrases Identified • When they went to the Fourth of July parade, they began to wave their flags. • Charles paid a visit to the gypsy fortune teller to learn what the new year would bring. Remember . . . You can bring monotonous sentences to life by using gerund, participial , and infinitive phrases in your writing.