Verbals and Verbal Phrases
Grammar Rules Guide - Chapter 37
Verbals are verb forms which act as another part of speech in a sentence (i.e. as adjectives, nouns and adverbs).
Verbal phrases are verbals and any of the verb form's modifiers, objects or complements. The three types of verbal phrases are participial, gerund, and infinitive phrases.
Participial Phrases are present participles or past participles and any modifiers, objects or complements. Participial phrases contain verbs which act as adjectives in a sentence.
Examples:
Singing very softly, the boy lulled his baby brother to sleep. (participial phrase as adjective modifying boy)
The girls, frightened by the police car's headlights, quickly came down from the school's roof. (participial phrase as adjective modifying girls)
Gerund Phrases contain verbs ending in -ing and any modifiers, objects, or complements. Gerund phrases act as nouns in a sentence. They can act as the subject or object of a verb, as a predicate nominative, and as the object of a preposition.
Examples:
Waiting for his grades drove him crazy. (gerund phrase as subject of verb)
The woman denied knowing her own husband. (gerund phrase as object of verb)
He thought he could escape from his problems by running away. (gerund phrase as object of preposition)
Making many acquaintances is cultivating future friendships. (gerund phrases as subject and as predicate nominative)
Infinitive Phrases contain verbals consisting of to followed by a verb and any modifiers, objects, or complements. Infinitive phrases usually act as nouns, but they can also act as adjectives and adverbs.
Examples:
To live in Boston eventually is his main goal in life. (infinitive phrase as subject)
Quentin Tarentino loves to babble during interviews. (infinitive phrase as object of verb)
Do you have any clothes to donate at the homeless shelter? (infinitive phrase as adjective modifying clothes)
She went home to visit her family. (infinitive phrase as adverb modifying went)
Grammar Rules Guide Index
Active and Passive Voice - Chapter 1
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses - Chapter 2
Adjectives - Chapter 3
Adverbs - Chapter 4
Appositives - Chapter 5
Auxiliary Verbs - Chapter 6
Common and Proper Nouns - Chapter 7
Comparatives and Superlatives - Chapter 8
Complements - Chapter 9
Conjunctions - Chapter 10
Conjunctive Adverbs - Chapter 11
Dangling Modifiers - Chapter 12
Direct and Indirect Objects - Chapter 13
Fused Sentences, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices - Chapter 14
Homophones - Chapter 15
Independent and Dependent Clauses - Chapter 16
Interjections - Chapter 17
Mass and Count Nouns - Chapter 18
Misplaced Modifiers - Chapter 19
Noun and Pronoun Case - Chapter 20
Noun and Verb Phrases - Chapter 21
Nouns - Chapter 22
Parallelism - Chapter 23
Perfect and Progressive Verb Forms - Chapter 24
Prepositional Phrases - Chapter 25
Prepositions - Chapter 26
Principal Parts of Verbs - Chapter 27
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement - Chapter 28
Pronouns - Chapter 29
Regular and Irregular Verbs - Chapter 30
Relative Clauses - Chapter 31
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses - Chapter 32
Sentence Fragments - Chapter 33
Sentence Types - Chapter 34
Subjects and Predicates - Chapter 35
Verb Mood - Chapter 36
Verbals and Verbal Phrases - Chapter 37
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