1. Verbals
Verbals are words that seem to carry the idea of action or being but do not function as a verb.
Three forms:
Participles
Infinitives
Gerunds

2. Participles
A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective.
Ex: The rapidly developing storm kept the small boats in the port.
Ex: I found her crying.

3. Participles
There are two basic kinds of participles: present participle and past participle.
Present participles describe a present condition and end in –ing.
Ex: We watched the puppies playing.
Ex: The running dog chased the fluttering leaf.

4. Participles
Past participles describe something that has happened and may end in a variety of endings (see W449).
Ex: The puppies, exhausted, collapsed.
Ex: The confused student failed the test.
Ex: The shaken soda exploded when opened.

5. Participles In all, there are five tenses for participles:
Present active
Present passive
Past
Present perfect
Past perfect

6. Participles Present active – Seeing the robbery, we called the police.
Present passive – After being seen by the police, the thief fled.
Past – The thief, seen by the police, fled.
Present perfect active – Having seen the robbery, we were dismayed.
Present perfect passive – Having been seen, the thief surrendered.

7. Participles
A participial phrase is a phrase containing a participle and any complements or modifiers it may have.
Ex: Removing his coat, Jack sat in the chair.
Ex: We saw Jeff playing in the game.
Ex: Spread with white linen, the table gleamed.

8. Gerunds
A gerund is a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a noun in either the nominative or objective case.
Nominative case forms:
Ex: Walking is healthful exercise. [subject]
Ex: My father’s occupation is farming. [PN]

9. Gerunds Objective case forms:
Ex: They do not appreciate my singing. [DO]
Ex: Mr. Feeley gave the writing high praise. [IO]
Ex: He makes money in the summer by cutting lawns. [OP]
Ex: The writing’s clarity impressed the committee. [Possessive]

10. Gerunds
A gerund phrase is a phrase consisting of a gerund and any complements or modifiers it may have.
Like single word gerunds, gerund phrases have a variety of uses.
Ex: Giving out the candy is my favorite activity at Halloween. [Subject]

11. Gerunds My greatest thrill was meeting Cal Ripken. [PN]
My brother enjoys working as a lifeguard. [DO]
We were punished for talking in the hall. [OP]

12. Infinitives An infinitive is a verb form, usually preceded by to.
Infinitive can be used as noun (nominative or objective cases), adjectives, or adverbs.

13. Infinitives
Most often used as a noun in either the nominative or objective case.
Ex: To leave would be rude. [Subject]
Ex: Our goal is to beat Calvert Hall. [PN]
Ex: No one wants to stay. [DO]
Ex: In order to make good grades, one must study properly. [OP]
There is no possessive or indirect object form.

14. Infinitives Infinitives can also be used as modifiers.
Ex: She is the candidate to watch. [adjective modifying candidate]
Ex: Some Dons lack the will to resist temptation on weekends.
Ex: We came to cheer the team. [adverb modifying the verb came]
Ex: We run to improve our conditioning.

15. Infinitives Be sure to recognize an infinitive.
Do not confuse the infinitive, a verbal of which to is a part, with a prepositional phrase beginning with to, which consists of to plus a noun or pronoun.
Ex: to go; to sleep [infinitives]
Ex: to them; to bed [prep. phrases]

16. Infinitives
The word to, called the sign of the infinitive, is sometimes omitted.
Ex: The comedian made him [to] laugh.
Ex: Help me [to] clean the kitchen.

17. Infinitives
An infinitive phrase may consist of an infinitive and any complements or modifiers.
Ex: They promised to return soon. [soon is an adverb modifying the infinitive to return]
Ex: I saved enough money to buy a car. [car is the complement of the infinitive to buy]

18. Infinitives
Like infinitives alone, infinitive phrases can be used as nouns and modifiers.
Ex: To succeed in life is every man’s goal. [subject]
Ex: His plan is to go to college. [PN]
Ex: We tried to reason with him. [object]
Ex: There must be a way to solve this problem. [adjective]

19. Infinitives Like other parts of speech, infinitives have tenses:
Present active
Present passive
Present perfect active
Present perfect passive

20. Infinitives
Use the present infinitive (to go, to see, etc.) to express action following another action.
Ex: He wanted to invite all the freshmen. [present infinitive should be used because the desire want preceded the action to invite]
Ex: He wanted to be seen at the mixer with all his friends.

21. Infinitives
Use the perfect infinitive (to have gone, to have seen, etc.) to express action before another action.
Ex: We are happy to have met you. [the action expressed by the perfect infinitive to have met came before the time of the other verb, are]
Ex: We were to have been seen by the President, but we were too late.