2. There are three types of Verbals
• Participles
• Gerunds
• Infinitives
– The swept floor looked immaculate.
– Blowing out the candles is always fun.
– Sometimes I like to sit and think.
3. Participles
• A participle is a verbal that
acts as an adjective.
– The crying child was
comforted by her mother.
– My bruised elbow took a few
days to heal.
4. Gerunds
• A gerund is a verbal that acts as a
noun.
- Bowling is not a great exercise
- Most people relax by watching TV.
5. Infinitives
• An infinitive starts with the word “to”
and often acts as a noun. It can also
act as an adverb, or adjective.
– I like to skate. (noun)
– To steal is a crime. (noun)
– Jane always brings a book to read (adj.)
– Bob raised his voice to get our attention
(adv.)
6. A quick review
• Gerunds end in “ing” and act as
nouns.
– Wishing on a star will make your dreams
come true.
• Infinitives begin with “to” and act as
nouns, adverbs, or adjectives.
– The perfomer struggled to reach the high
notes.
• Participles end in “ing,” “ed,” “en,” or
“t” and act as adjectives.
– The roasted peanuts are the best.
7. Dangling, or Misplaced
Modifiers
• A dangling or misplaced modifier is a
word or a phrase that is in the wrong
place or is missing its intended target.
– Having arrived late, the coach demanded a
written excuse.
Who arrived late? It’s not clear from
this sentence. Here’s one fix:
-- The coach demanded a written excuse from the
players who arrived late.
8. Fixing misplaced modifiers
Make sure to place the participial
phrase close to the word it modifies.
• Playing flawlessly, the home team won.
• Fooling around, we broke the lamp.
Note how the undelined participial phrases are
followed by a comma because
they come at the beginning of the sentence and
before the word that is being modified.
