Unit 7

Verbals: Participles, Gerunds, Infinitives,

& Noun Clauses

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 too-common 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 Participles

The car was racing around the curve.

The racing car crashed into the wall.

A child was crying.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 public-school 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.