Verbals:
Participles, Gerunds, Infinitives,
& Noun Clauses
Unit 7
Participle
• a form of a verb that acts as an adjective
– A present participle ends in –ing.
• A growing baby sleeps much of the day.
• Bonduel is a farming community.
– A past participle ends in –ed.
• The conquered territory was under Spanish
control.
• Troubled, she asked for advice.
Identify the participle in each sentence
and state if past or present.
Where did you hide my running shoes?
running – present
She dropped the burnt toast into the trash when
my stressed mom was not looking.
burnt – past, stressed – past
The students surprised their hard-working principal
with a loud hurrah.
hard-working – present
Many advertising companies target women in their
late teens.
advertising – present
Abandoned cats and dogs have become a toocommon sight in our cities.
Abandoned – past
The movie star waved at her cheering fans.
cheering – present
Verb or Participle?
• Sometimes verb phrases (main verbs with
helping verbs) are confused with
participles. In the chart, however, note
that a verb phrase always begins with a
helping verb. A participle used as an
adjective stands by itself and modifies a
noun or pronoun.
Verb Phrases
The car was racing
around the curve.
A child was crying.
Participles
The racing car crashed
into the wall.
I heard a crying child.
Identify each of the underlined words as
either a verb or participle. If the word is a
participle, circle the word it modifies.
By 1856, the government was taking steps to
create a public-school system.
verb
Progressing, the legislature passed the first publicschool law in 1860.
participle – legislature
This encouraged other districts that were building
schools in other parts of the territory.
verb
The University of New Mexico was built for the
increasing population of Albuquerque in 1889.
participle – population
Established schools became more numerous in
some areas by the early 1900’s.
participle - schools
Also, rising in popularity were cattle ranches.
verb
These, however, declined when sheep were
brought in.
verb, verb
Homesteaders needed fenced land to farm.
participle - land
Participial Phrase
• a present or past participle that is modified
by an adverb or adverb phrase or that has
a complement.
• The entire phrase acts as an adjective in a
sentence.
The diner, chewing rapidly, called for
the waiter walking near his table.
A participial phrase that is placed at the
beginning of a sentence is always set off
with a comma.
Running for the ball, a player slipped in
the mud.
Other participial phrases may or may not
need commas. If the phrase is necessary
to identify the modified word, do not set it
off with commas. If the phrase simply
gives additional information about the
modified word, set it off with commas.
The player kicking the ball is Tyler.
Tyler, kicking the ball, scored the final
point.
• A participial phrase can appear before or
after the word it describes. Place the
phrase as close as possible to the
modified word; otherwise, the meaning of
the sentence may be unclear.
Attracting huge crowds, soccer is a
popular sport.
Underline each participial phrase. Then draw two
lines under the word that the phrase describes.
Add commas if needed to set off the phrase.
Working in the lab, the scientist created a robot.
Working in the lab – scientist
Early films were still pictures projected on a
wall.
projected on a wall – pictures
Quickly frozen food is necessary to preserve
the freshness.
Quickly frozen – food
Coming into the room, the boy threw his books
on the desk.
Coming into the room – boy
Joe, searching for the code, was really excited.
searching for the code – Joe
Pork and beans canned in tomato sauce is my
favorite.
canned in tomato sauce – pork and beans
Relaxing on his back patio, Jeff fell asleep.
Relaxing on his back patio – Jeff
Food sealed in cans was given to the campers.
sealed in cans – food
Gerund
• an -ing form of verb that acts as a noun in a
sentence
• Like other nouns, a gerund can serve as the
simple subject of a sentence. It can also be a
direct object, indirect object, predicate noun, or
the object of a preposition.
– Subject: Remodeling was a good idea.
– Predicate Noun: His sport is fishing.
– Direct Object: She enjoys painting.
– Indirect Object: He gave hunting a try.
– Object of a Preposition: She never gets tired
of singing.
Identify the underlined word. Write verb
(V), participle (P), or gerund (G) to show
how it is used in the sentence.
The playing field is one hundred yards long. _____
participle
The coach or the captain chooses playing
strategies. ______
participle
The quarterback does not like guessing the next
play. ______
gerund
The team members are hoping for a victory.
______
verb
Scoring in football can occur in four different
ways. _____
gerund
A team earns six points by crossing the
opponent’s goal line. ______
gerund
Underline each gerund then write subject
(S), direct object (DO), or object of a
preposition (OP).
Tourists in New Mexico may enjoy
horseback riding at a dude ranch. ______
riding – direct object
Hiking and camping are year-round activities
in New Mexico. ______
Hiking, camping – subject
Visitors may also find excitement in visiting the
ancient ruins of the Native Americans who have
lived here for thousands of years. ______
visiting – object of preposition
Native American dancing and festivals draw many
visitors to New Mexico. ______
dancing – subject
Above all, touring New Mexico is a pleasant
vacation. ______
touring - subject
Gerund Phrase
• a gerund with modifiers or a complement
• The entire phrase acts as a noun in a
sentence.
– Subject: The loud, shrill howling continued all
morning.
– Object of the Preposition: Pueblo tribe members
astound spectators by dancing skillfully on the
stage.
Underline the gerund phrase/s in the sentences
below. Above each phrase label each one subject
(S), direct object (DO), predicate noun (PN), or
object of a preposition (OP).
Running across a busy street can be very
dangerous for a young child.
Running across a busy street – subject
Jeffrey loves seeing good movies.
seeing good movies – direct object
The difficult part of our vacation will be getting to
Florida.
getting to Florida – predicate noun
Sandra was awarded a medal after winning the
race.
winning the race – object of a preposition
Cramming for tests is not a good study strategy.
Cramming for tests – subject
John enjoyed swimming in the lake after dark.
swimming in the lake after dark – direct object
I'm really not interested in studying biochemistry
for the rest of my life.
studying biochemistry for the rest of my life –
object of the preposition
Infinitive
• a form of verb that comes after the word to
and acts as a noun, an adjective, or an
adverb.
– Noun: To whistle is difficult for some people.
(Subject)
– Adjective: The person to contact is the dean.
– Adverb: This is easy to do.
Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase is a group of words
that includes an infinitive and other words
that complete its meaning.
A player may try to influence the call.
To go to every game of the season is my
dream.
Infinitive Phrase or
Prepositional Phrase
How can you tell whether the word to is a
preposition or part of an infinitive? If the word to
comes immediately before a verb, it is part of the
infinitive.
Those young players want to win. (infinitive)
The coach is pointing to the pitcher.
(prepositional phrase)
Look at the underlined groups of words.
Identify if each group of words is an infinitive
phrase (IP) or a prepositional phrase (PP).
Infinitive Phrase
• an infinitive with modifiers or a complement
• The entire phrase acts together as a single
part of speech.
– To go to New York is my hope. (noun phrase
used as a subject)
– To help others, first responders must know CPR.
(adjective phrase)
– It will be important to listen carefully. (adverb
phrase)
(See text pgs. 443-445 for more practice.)
Noun Clause
• a subordinate clause used as a noun
– It has a subject and a verb but cannot stand
alone as a complete thought.
– Unlike an adverb or adjective clause, a noun
clause cannot be separated from the main
clause. Rather, the entire clause becomes a
noun in the sentence.
Words that introduce
Noun Clauses
how
however
that
whose
what
whatever
where
whether
which
whichever
who
whoever
whom
whomever
why
when
Noun Clause Usage
• Subject: Whoever plays ice hockey must skate
extremely well.
• Predicate Noun: This rink is where the teams will
play.
• Direct Object: Players know that the game can be
dangerous.
• Indirect Object: They give whoever gets in their
way a body check.
• Object of the Preposition: Victory goes to whoever
makes more goals.
Find the Noun Clauses
• That ice hockey began in Canada is not
surprising.
• Where the sport began is not easily
verified.
• Three different cities claim that they
hosted the first hockey game.
• Most people believe that the game was
played in Jamaica as early as 1830.
More Noun Clauses
• The fact is that the first recorded game
occurred in Montreal around 1875.
• You could argue that Canadians are still
among the best hockey players.
• There have been some changes in how
ice hockey is played.
More Noun Clauses
• Whoever plays hockey today must wear
protective equipment.
• Do you know which sport is most
dangerous?
• Some people question whether hockey
has to be so dangerous.