#7: Verbals

Verbs That Aren't Verbs

Welcome back to the discussion of verb forms. Only verbals, which are formed like verbs, are not used as verbs in the sentence. They are nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, and are commonly found starting a phrase.

They are three types of verbals: participle, gerund, and infinitive. What this tutorial will do is define each type, give examples of their phrases, and let you test yourself on them.

Participle

Example One: The rapidly developing storm kept small boats in port.

The participle is a verb form used as an adjective. As we saw with the different forms of verbs, when teamed with a helping verb, the participle describes the action of the sentence. Without the helping verb, it is a verbal. You can use both the present participle (formed with -ing endings) and the past participle (formed with -ed, -d, -t. –en, or -n endings) as verbals.

Example Two: Destroyed by fire, the church was never rebuilt.

In the first example, the participle alone is modifying "storm."

In the second example, the participle introduces the participial phrase, and the entire phrase modifies "church." When using a participial phrase, you want to keep it close to the word it modifies. Otherwise, you'll create what is known as a dangling participle.

Example Three: Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught on the step.

Corrected: Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her foot on the step.

Gerund

Example Four: Good writing comes from much practice.

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing used as a noun. It and the phrase made with it can be used as the subject, object of the verb, object of the preposition, etc. in the sentence.

Example Five: Telling your sister was a mistake.

Infinitive

Example Six: To wait for the bus is tiresome.

An infinitive is a verb form, usually preceded by to used as a noun or a modifier.

Example Seven: We lacked the strength to resist.

"To resist" is an adjective modifying "strength."

Example Eight: We study to learn.

"To learn" is an adverb modifying "study."

Sometimes, the word to can be omitted.

Example Nine: She made me [to] leave.

You want to be careful not to confuse the infinitive with the prepositional phrase beginning with to and a noun or a pronoun.

Infinitives

• to fly
• to draw

Prepositional Phrases

• to her
• to school

The phrases adds modifiers and complements to the infinitive.

Example Ten: We intended to leave early.

I have a paper to write before class.

You can also give an infinitive a subject and have an infinitive clause.

Example Eleven: I expected Gloria to vote for me.

I asked her to help me.

Homework

Identify the numbered phrases and tell what word it modifies or how it is acting in the sentence.

1. (1) Reading the newspapers, I was struck by the difference between fact and fiction.
2. (2) Writing fiction requires different talents than (3) writing nonfiction.
3. (4) Realizing they are likely (5) to be sued for what they write, writers of nonfiction are very careful about (6) qualifying what they say with frequent attributions.
4. (7) Rarely claiming any direct certainty, they credit others with saying what they report in their stories through phrases like "unofficial sources report," "it is said," and the like.
5. Fiction never claims (8) to be fact, and the writer of fiction seems to aim at (9) distorting facts deliberately.
6. This writing, though written by real people and (10) shaped by real experiences, aims at the creation of unreal characters and events and depends upon the reader's imagination (11) to make them real.

Grade yourself here.