4 Types of Gerunds and Gerund Phrases

  1. Subject. Gardening is my favorite hobby. (Gardening is normally a verb, but here it is the name of an activity.) …
  2. Direct Object. My neighbors admire my gardening. …
  3. Object of Preposition. I have received several awards for my gardening. …
  4. Subject Complement.

Besides, How do you tell the difference between a gerund and a participle phrase?

Present participle phrases and gerund phrases are easy to confuse because they both begin with an ing word. The difference is the function that they provide in a sentence. A present participle phrase will always act as an adjective while a gerund phrase will always behave as a noun.

Keeping this in mind, What are the 4 types of gerund? In general, there are four different ways that we use gerunds: as subjects, subject complements, direct objects, and objects of prepositions.

How do you identify a gerund and infinitive?

Gerund = the present participle (-ing) form of the verb, e.g., singing, dancing, running. Infinitive = to + the base form of the verb, e.g., to sing, to dance, to run. Whether you use a gerund or an infinitive depends on the main verb in the sentence.

How do you identify a participle phrase?


Points to remember

  1. A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun.
  2. A participial phrase consists of a participle plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).

What are the 5 function of gerund?

Many sentences can include a gerund, meaning that gerunds can function as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, and predicate nouns.

What are the 4 verbals?

Infinitives, gerunds, and participles are all types of verbals. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of to + a verb, and it acts like a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence.

What are gerunds in grammar?

A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being.

How do you identify infinitives?

Make sure you are looking at an infinitive and not a prepositional phrase by viewing the word or words that appear after the word “to” in the sentence. If the word “to” in the sentence is followed by a root-form verb, it is always an infinitive.

What are the six rules of using gerunds and infinitives?

  • Subject = Gerund. When you need an action as a subject, use a gerund. …
  • Preposition + Gerund. After a preposition, use a gerund. …
  • Verb + Gerund. A gerund or an infinitive can be used after a main verb. …
  • Adjective + Infinitive. After an adjective, it is common to use an infinitive verb. …
  • Noun + Infinitive. …
  • Verb + Infinitive.

What are infinitives examples?

An infinitive usually begins with the word “to” and is followed by the base form of a verb (the simple form of the verb that you would find in the dictionary). Examples of infinitives include to read, to run, to jump, to play, to sing, to laugh, to cry, to eat, and to go.

What is a participle phrase example?

Usually, participial phrases modify the subjects of sentences, but sometimes they modify other nouns. For example: In the sentence, “Wearing his new suit, Bill went to work,” the participial phrase wearing his new suit acts like an adjective to describe the subject of the sentence, Bill.

What are some examples of participial phrases?


Examples of Participial Phrase

  • The boys sitting by the road were gossiping.
  • Coming to the varsity, I came to know the fact.
  • I was drinking coffee in a mug made of ceramic.
  • I did the assignment sitting in the library.
  • The man standing by the tree is suspicious.
  • We were waiting for you sitting in the canteen.

What are the 5 types of gerund?


Types of gerunds

  • Subjects.
  • Predicate Nominative.
  • Direct object.
  • Object of preposition.

What is the function of a modal?

A modal is a type of auxiliary (helping) verb that is used to express: ability, possibility, permission or obligation. Modal phrases (or semi-modals) are used to express the same things as modals, but are a combination of auxiliary verbs and the preposition to.

What is the function of participle?

A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun. A participial phrase consists of a participle plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).

What are the types of verbals?

There are three kinds of verbals: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. The participle is a verb form used as an adjective.

What are examples of verbals?

Verbals (Participles)

The Verb The Present Participle The Past Participle
To bake the baking bread the baked bread
To print the printing document the printed document
To lower the lowering prices the lowered prices

What is verbal and its types?

A verbal is a verb form that acts as another part of speech—either as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Participles, gerunds, and infinitives are the three verbal types. A participle is a verbal form that functions as an adjective. … A participial phrase includes the participle, plus any modifiers and complements.

What is gerund give two examples?

A gerund is the –ing form of a verb that functions the same as a noun. For example, “Running is fun.” In this sentence, “running” is the gerund.

What are gerunds and participles?

Remember, gerunds are words that are formed from verbs and used as nouns, always ending in -ing; participles are words created from verbs that can be used as adjectives or in adverbial phrases, also ending in -ing (unless expressing past tense); and infinitives are verbs that take the simple tense and follow the …

How do you identify infinitive phrases?

The word to appears in infinitive phrases and can also appear in some prepositional phrases. To distinguish between these two types of phrases, pay attention to the word that directly follows to. If it is a verb, then the phrase is an infinitive phrase. Prepositional phrases do not contain verbs.

How do you identify an infinitive phrase in a sentence?

An infinitive phrase uses an infinitive plus a modifier, object, complement or actor. There can be more than one of these and they may not all be present in the phrase. Infinitive phrases only require a comma when used as an adverb at the beginning of the sentence.

What are the 3 types of infinitives?

Forming the infinitive

In English, when we talk about the infinitive we are usually referring to the present infinitive, which is the most common. There are, however, four other forms of the infinititive: the perfect infinitive, the perfect continuous infinitive, the continuous infinitive, & the passive infinitive.