Participle & Gerund Phrases

Adding Variety to Your WritingVerbal Phrases

NEC FACET CenterHave you ever felt as if your writing is monotonous and dull?

If so, bring it to life by varying your sentence structure.Try Using These Special PhrasesParticiple PhrasesGerundPhrasesInfinitive PhrasesWhat is a gerund?ImportantDefinitionA gerund is the -ing form of a verb functioning in the sentence as a noun.Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but it acts like a noun.

Gerunds as SubjectsSome gerunds function as the subject of the sentence. The subject identifies who or what the sentence is about.Painting is Jims favorite hobby.Gardening keeps Aunt Ruth busy for hours.

Gerunds as Direct ObjectsMy entire family likes bowling. (The verb is likes. Bowling tells what the family likes.)The dirty floor required mopping. (The verb is required. Mopping tells what the dirty floor required.)Direct objects follow the verb and identify the receiver of the action.

Gerunds as Objects of the PrepositionWill Rogers was famous for roping. (Roping follows the preposition for and identifies a cause of his fame.)Derek finished work before skateboarding. (Skateboarding follows the preposition before.)

Common Prepositionsaboveaboutacrossamongaroundatbeforebelow, beneathbesidebetweenbyforfromin, into, insideofoffoverthroughto, towardunderuponwithGerund Phrases as SubjectsSinging with a country band occupies most of my brothers weekend.Crying at the top of his lungs generally got little Joey what he wanted.

Gerund Phrases as ObjectsHerrmann the Great demonstrated making a rabbit appear from an empty hat. For our final few minutes at Frontier City, we chose riding the roller coaster.

Gerund Phrases as Objects of the PrepositionDavid enjoys the ancient Japanese art of raising bonsai trees.Have you ever tried relaxing by watching tropical fish?

Identify the Gerund Phrase

Hitting a grand slam homerun enabled Raphael to win the game for his team.Charles was ready for a quiet evening at home after flying a rescue mission in the mountains.Gerund Phrase Identified

Hitting a grand slam homerun enabled Raphael to win the game for his team. (subject)Charles was ready for a quiet evening at home after flying a rescue mission in the mountains. (object of the preposition after)

Identify the Gerund PhrasesSteve succeeded in climbing the mountain.When the director finished yelling at the production crew, he felt much better.

Identify the Gerund PhrasesSteve succeeded at climbing the mountain. (object of the preposition at)When the director finished yelling at the production crew, he felt much better. (object of the verb finished, telling what he finished.)

Identify the Gerund PhrasesYelling at the production crew made the director feel much better.

Identify the Gerund PhrasesYelling at the production crew made the director feel much better. (subject telling what made Jack feel better)

What is a participle?ImportantDefinitionA participle is a verb form used as an adjective (a descriptive word).Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but it acts like an adjective.

Present & Past ParticiplesPresent participles end in -ing.Past participles end in -ed or have irregular endings.Remember this:ExamplesThe laughing child held up her brimming piggy bank.With a cramped leg, the screaming boy waded out of the pool.Notice that each of these -ing or -ed words acts as an adjective by describing another word.Laughing describes child.Brimming describes the bank.Cramped describes leg.Screaming describes boy.

Outside the Halloween spook house, dozens of grinning skeletons greeted the visitors.

Identify the Descriptive ParticiplesTired, I spilled the steaming coffee.Outside the Halloween spook house, dozens of grinning skeletons greeted the visitors.Tired, I spilled the steaming coffee.

Descriptive Participles IdentifiedIdentify the Descriptive ParticiplesAfter the torrential rain, I returned home to a flooded basement.I read the gripping spy novel until 2:00 a.m.

Irregular ParticiplesAlthough most participles end in -ing and -ed, some are irregular. To identify the verbs with irregular participles, think of the form correctly used with the helping verbs have, has, and had.Example: Built to last, the great pyramids of Egypt may be around for the next millenium.Built to last, the great pyramids of Egypt may be around for the next millenium.Notice that the phrase built to last works as an adjective to describe the word pyramids; therefore, it is a participial phrase.However, youll see that the participle form, in this case, doesnt end in -ed or -ing.

To indicate past tense, as in the following sentence, we dont say builded: The two children builded an elaborate sand castle.Instead, we would write The two children built an elaborate sandcastle.This is one of many irregular verbs.

Descriptive Participles IdentifiedAfter the torrential rain, I returned home to a flooded basement.I read the gripping spy novel until 2:00 a.m.

Participial PhrasesYou have seen several examples of single word participles ending with -ing and -ed.Some participles do not appear alone, but instead as the first word of a phrase.This phrase still serves as an adjective and, therefore, describes a noun.How to Identify the Correct Past Participle FormIf you are not sure what the correct past participle form is, pick the form that would be correctly used following the helping verbs has, have, or had.For example, the past participle of the verb take is taken.You can tell by trying the verb with the words listed above: has taken, have taken, had taken.

A Few Examples of Irregular Verbs and Their Past Participlesbegin-begunblow-blownbring-broughtcatch-caughtchoose-chosendraw-dreweat-eatenfall-fallenfly-flownforget-forgotten

forgive-forgivenfreeze-frozengo-gonehear-heardhold-heldride-riddenrise-risenspeak-spokenthink-thoughtwear-worn

Examples of Participial PhrasesLaughing gleefully, the child held up her piggy bank. Notice that Laughing gleefully works as a participial phrase describing the noun child.Attacked by a sudden leg cramp, the screaming boy waded out of the pool.Notice that Attacked by a sudden leg cramp acts as a participial phrase describing the noun boy.

Identify the Participial PhraseListening intently, the students translated Spanish sentences into English.Using a hoe and a rake, Steve cleared the dead plants from the garden.

Participial Phrases IdentifiedListening intently, the students translated Spanish sentences into English. (describes the noun students)Using a hoe and a rake, Steve cleared the dead plants from the garden. (describes the noun Steve)

What is anInfinitive?ImportantDefinitionAn infinitive is the word to plus the base form of the verb.Strange . . . It looks like a verb, but its preceded by the word to.

Examples of InfinitivesWe started to practice for the concert.Its time to rake the yard.I asked Jeff to go sailing on Grand Lake.

NoteWhen followed by anything other than a verb, the word to forms a prepositional phrase rather than an infinitive.Examples:I took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I went to the post office to mail the package. (Notice that the sentence also contains the infinitive to mail.)I gave the gift to MichaelI need to talk to her. (This sentence also contains the infinitive to talk.)

Identify the Infinitives.Sally decided to enter the Tulsa Run.Brad learned to operate the new photocopier.

Identify the InfinitivesSally decided to enter the Tulsa Run.Brad learned to operate the new photocopier.

Identify the Infinitive PhrasesWhen they went to the Fourth of July parade, they began to wave their flags.Charles paid a visit to the gypsy fortune teller to learn what the new year would bring.

Infinitive Phrases IdentifiedWhen they went to the Fourth of July parade, they began to wave their flags.Charles paid a visit to the gypsy fortune teller to learn what the new year would bring.

Remember . . . You can bring monotonous sentences to life by using gerund, participial , and infinitive phrases in your writing.