Infinitives, gerunds & adjectival participles (verbal forms) Skills Enhancement Program,
Infinitives & infinitive phrases Infinitives and infinitive phrases are used when we want to refer to a kind of action without also referring to a person, subject or time. Infinitives are formed by putting to in front of the base verb form. For example, to work, to study, to promote, to succeed, to live and so on.
Sentence examples To win the final game was the team s big objective. The dog ran to snatch the bone. We laughed as we tried to walk across the icy lake. It is important to wear sunblock cream in summer in Australia. You should try to find the answers for yourself.
Gerunds (participles serving as nouns) Gerunds look like present participles because they have an ing ending. However, they function like nouns in a sentence. That is, we can use words like painting, shopping, arguing, giving and watching as the names of activities, treating the activities like nouns or things rather than verbs.
Examples of gerunds at work Renovating can be a very rewarding activity. Walking is a good way to keep fit. Giving is the best way to be happy. Giving your flatmate your assignment notes was a big mistake. (Here, the gerund leads a phrase.)
Showing a relationship between a noun and a gerund To show a relationship between a noun or pronoun and a gerund, use either a possessive version of the noun or a possessive pronoun my, your, his, her, our, your (plural), their. Examples: His working late bothered his wife. The dog s barking angered the neighbours. Every night that week, the fans cheering deafened people who lived nearby. Her singing was a source of pleasure to others in the building.
Participles serving as adjectives Although participles can t work on their own as verbs, because they need auxiliaries such as had and has, they can work as adjectives without auxiliaries. However, they need to be next to the nouns they are describing e.g. going rate; kneeling figure; hammering noise; tinkling sound; stolen book; fleeing assassin; shouting police officer; pleading child.
Participial phrases Similarly, when a participial phrase a group of words led by a participle is used as part of a sentence, the noun to which it refers should be next to the phrase. For example: i) Following his owners scent, the dog eventually limped home. ii) Looking everywhere, Jill tried to remember where she had left her completed essay.
Unattached or dangling participles See if you can diagnose the flaws in the following sentences: Being not quite fully grown, his trousers were too big. Walking into the tunnel, the light faded as we left it behind. The television series shows dishes by famous chefs cooked on each program. Running for the train, her briefcase slipped from her grasp.
Revised versions with clearer subjects. Because he was not quite fully grown, his trousers were too long. Walking into the tunnel, we left the fading light behind. The television series shows dishes cooked by famous chefs on each program. Running for the train, she let her briefcase slip from her grasp.
References: King, G. (2009). Improve Your Grammar. Glasgow, UK: Collins. Loberger, G. & Shoup, K. (2009). Webster s New World English Grammar Handbook (2 nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Lester, M. (2008). ESL Grammar. New York, USA: McGraw-Hill. Practice resource: Murphy, R. (2004). English Grammar in Use (3 rd ed.). Cambridge, UK: CUP. Units 53-68