Writer's Choice Grade 8
Unit 15: Verbals
Overview
Verbals can function like nouns or adjectives. There are three kinds of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.
A participle can function like a main verb or an adjective and can be formed in either the present or past tense. To
form a present participle, add –ing to a verb. For example, "We are sailing." To form most past participles, add –ed
to a verb. "We had sailed." A participial phrase is a group of words that includes a participle and other words that
complete its meaning. "The wooden ship, crafted long ago, impressed the travelers."
A gerund is a verb form that is used like a noun and ends in –ing. You can tell a gerund from other –ing verb forms
by understanding its role in a sentence. A gerund is either the subject of the sentence or the direct object of a verb.
Consider the following sentence: "Sailing involves a lot of work." In this case, the gerund sailing is the subject. In the
following sentence the gerund sailing behaves like the direct object of the verb: "Sadie really enjoys sailing." In some
sentences a gerund is part of a gerund phrase. A gerund phrase is a group of words that includes a gerund and
other words that complete its meaning. Here's an example: "Sailing around the world requires a lot of planning."
Like gerunds, infinitives are often used as nouns in sentences. An infinitive is formed by placing the word to before
the base form of a verb. This can be confusing since the word to can also be used like a preposition. You can
distinguish an infinitive from a prepositional phrase by its function in a sentence. Again, similar to gerunds, infinitives
function either as the subject of a sentence or as the direct object of a verb. The infinitive to sail is the subject of the
next sentence. "To sail is hard work." In this next example, the infinitive to sail is the direct object of the verb. "Sadie
and her family love to sail." Sometimes an infinitive needs other words to complete its meaning. The infinitive along
with these other necessary words is called an infinitive phrase. "To sail around the Cape of Good Hope was
Rocco's life-long dream." To sail around the Cape of Good Hope is an infinitive phrase functioning as a subject.