Gerunds, participles, and infinitives Ways to make your writing BEEFY 

When is a verb not a verb? When it tries to imitate another part of speech! Sometimes verbs do not act like verbs. Instead they act like nouns, adjectives and adverbs. When they do this we call them verbals. There are three main kinds of verbals: Gerunds Infinitives Participles

What is a gerund? Gerunds are verb forms that always end in “ing” and act like nouns. They can be the subject of a sentence. For example:  Sailing is John’s favorite activity. Sailing is used as the subject. The verb is the word is. A gerund can also be used as a direct object and we can even have more than one gerund in a sentence:  John likes fencing and jogging. The words fencing and jogging are used as direct objects in this sentence. What does John like? He likes fencing and jogging.

i-try Find the gerunds in the following sentences and underline them. Remember there can be more than one gerund in a sentence. Look for verbs that act like nouns. 1. Skating makes Janet happy. 2. Amber loves swimming, hiking and canoeing at camp. 3. Riding a bike is my favorite exercise. 4. Eating cookies in the car made a mess. 5. Susan enjoys reading and sewing. 6. My teacher planned a gym day of running and jumping.

What is a Participle? Participles can be used as adjectives. Every verb has a present participle and a past participle.  The present participle always ends in ing.  The past participle usually ends in d, t, n, ed or en. Although the participle acts like an adjective, it is still part of a verb. It can take a direct object, and it can be modified or described by an adverb. Participles can have two jobs: 1. They can show tense when combined with a helping verb. For example:  John was riding his bike. Riding is a participle. Was is the helping verb. It shows the tense; it shows when John rode his bike.

What is a Participle? 2. They can be used as adjectives. Remember adjectives are words that are used to describe nouns. When participles are used as an adjective, they usually end in d, ed, en, ing or t. For example:  Burned toast stinks! Burned is the participle. It describes toast.  Running water looks pretty in a fountain. Running is the participle. It describes the water. Even though running is an action word it is not used as a verb in this sentence. It is used to describe the water instead. It acts like an adjective.

i-try Find and underline the participles in the following sentences. Look for participles used as adjectives. 1. Ruined spaghetti covered the stove. 2. A broken kite fell out of the tree. 3. Whipped cream tastes yummy on ice cream. 4. The prancing horse trotted past our seats. 5. My dancing class put on a show for the teachers. 6. John makes burnt toast every morning. 7. The breaking story at twelve is about our football championship. 8. A banging door scared Puffy into barking.

What is an infinitive? Infinitives are verb forms that can be used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs. An infinitive combines the word to with the base form of a verb. For example: to walk, to study, to fly, to dance, are all infinitives.  To fly a kite in the State Fair is Janet’s greatest ambition. To fly is the infinitive in the subject of the infinitive phrase, “to fly a kite in the State Fair”. To fly is used as a noun. It is the subject of the verb is.  Here is a book to color. To color is used as an adjective. It describes the book. What book? The book to color.  Janet played to win. To win is used as an adverb. Adverbs usually tell us how, when, or where an action is done. How did Janet play? She played to win.

What is an infinitive? Even when infinitives act like another part of speech, they keep their verb traits. Infinitives are still verbs. They express action or state of being, but they are never the main verb in a sentence. Infinitives can take a direct object and they can be modified by an adverb just like a regular verb.  Mark’s greatest wish was to play the tuba. To play is the infinitive. Tuba is the direct object. Was is the verb.

i-try Infinitives are used as either nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Can you find and underline all the infinitives used below? 1. To win the drawing contest was Amy’s secret wish. 2. Here is the pitcher to fill. 3. Marian played to win. 4. I want to sail my boat this summer. 5. Here is a book to keep. 6. To pass the history test is John’s hope.