gerunds

infinitives
participial phrases
prepared by:
tim nubla, bse, mat
He wanted to
see her again.
She told him
to get lost.

He watched her
walk away.
He wanted to
see
her again.

She told him

to get lost.

He watched her
walk away.
She continued
walking.
He couldn’t bear
her leaving him.
She resented his
being such a
wimp.
She continued
walking.

He couldn’t bear
her leaving him.

She resented his

being such a wimp.
Gerunds
Gerund: a verb form, ending in -ing, which
acts as a noun.

Ex. Running in the park after dark can be

dangerous.

Gerunds are frequently accompanied by other

associated words making up a gerund
phrase ("running in the park after dark").
Gerunds
Gerund as subject:
Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. (Traveling
is the gerund.)

Gerund as direct object:

They do not appreciate my singing. (The gerund is singing.)

Gerund as subject complement:

My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. (The gerund is sleeping.)

Gerund as object of preposition:

The police arrested him for speeding. (The gerund is speeding.)
Gerunds
A Gerund Phrase is a group of words consisting of a
gerund and the modifier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or
noun phrase(s) that function as the direct object(s),
indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or
state expressed in the gerund, such as:

Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than

what we're trying to do.

The gerund phrase functions as the subject

of the sentence.
Gerunds
The gerund phrase functions as the subject complement.

Jerry's favorite tactic has been lying to his constituents.

lying to (gerund)
his constituents (direct object of action expressed in gerund)

The gerund phrase functions as the object of the preposition for.

You might get in trouble for faking an illness to avoid work.

faking (gerund)
an illness (direct object of action expressed in gerund)
to avoid work (infinitive phrase as adverb)

The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence.

Being the boss made Jeff feel uneasy.

Being (gerund)
the boss (subject complement for Jeff, via state of being expressed in gerund)
Infinitives
Recognize an infinitive when you see one.

To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to

read, to eat, to slurp—all of these are infinitives. An
infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the
simple form of the verb, like this:

to + verb = infinitive

Important Note: Because an infinitive is not a verb, you

cannot add s, es, ed, or ing at the end.
Infinitives
Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs. Look at these examples:

To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double

shift waiting tables at the neighborhood café.
To sleep functions as a noun because it is the subject
of the sentence.

No matter how fascinating the biology dissection is,

Emanuel turns his head and refuses to look.
To look functions as a noun because it is the direct
object for the verb refuses.
Infinitives
Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book
to read in case conversation lags or she has a
long wait.

To read functions as an adjective because it

modifies book.
Infinitives

Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly

squid eyeball stew into the apartment dumpster.

To throw functions as an adverb because it

explains why Richard braved the inclement
weather.
When should I use infinitives?  When should I use gerunds? 
There are some situations when BOTH an infinitive and gerund can be used with no change in
meaning. 
For example,
The children like to go to the zoo.
The children like going to the zoo.
These two sentences have the same meaning.

For some other verbs, there is a difference in meaning:

Example Meaning
Louise stopped smoking.
She doesn’t smoke anymore.

Louise stopped to smoke.

She stopped doing an activity because she wanted to smoke.
So, now you may want to ask, “What’s the
difference between infinitives and gerunds?” 
Rules to Remember!

Some verbs can be followed by both

gerunds and infinitives with little or no
change in meaning.

I love to eat hamburgers.

I love eating hamburgers.  
Some verbs can be followed by both gerunds and infinitives, but THERE IS A CHANGE IN
MEANING.  The most common of these types of verbs are forget, quit, remember, and
stop.

Bob forgot to watch that TV show. 

Bob didn’t watch the show because he forgot to watch it.

Bob forgot watching that TV show. 

Bob watched the show, but he forgot that he watched it.  

Christine quit to teach.

Christine quit her first job because she wanted to teach.

Christine quit teaching.

Christine doesn’t teach anymore.  
Joseph remembered to wash the dishes.
Joseph had stopped his first activity so he could go and wash the
dishes.
Joseph remembered washing the dishes.
After Joseph finished washing the dishes, he remembered that he
had already washed the dishes.  

Lori stopped to exercise. 

Lori had stopped her first activity so that she could go and exercise.
Lori stopped exercising.
Lori stopped the activity of exercising.
Participial
The steps to finding a participle:
1. Find the subject and verb to eliminate any confusion.

Al Gore, knocked around by Bill Bradley for being "pro-gun," is confidently

pushing gun control to the forefront of his presidential campaign.
▫ AL GORE is the subject. IS PUSHING is the verb. KNOCKED is a form of the
verb, acting as an adjective, modifying Al GORE.

The activist called for a waiting period for gun purchases to help reduce illegal gun
trafficking.
▫ The subject is ACTIVIST. The verb is CALLED. WAITING is a form of the verb,
acting as an adjective, modifying PERIOD.
Headed by conservative media watchdog leader Brent Bozell, the
Parents Television Council announced the results of a study.
▫ The subject is THE PARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL. The
verb is ANNOUNCED. HEADED is a form of the verb, acting as
an adjective, modifying the subject.

The network reported on the springtime ritual of young men and

women flocking to warm beaches around the globe.
▫ The subject is NETWORK. The verb is REPORTED. FLOCKING
is a form of the verb, acting as an adjective, modifying men and
women. It can't act as a verb without an auxiliary verb. For
example: Young men and women WERE flocking to warm
beaches.
2. Decide what part of the sentence the verbal belongs to.
The statement issued by Columbia noted that a current
weakness of the Internet is the inability to authenticate material.
▫ The subject is STATEMENT. The verb is NOTED. ISSUED is part of the
complete subject. It is a form of the verb, acting as an adjective.
The armed services struggle to meet recruiting goals in a tight
job market.
▫ The subject is SERVICES. The verb is STRUGGLE. RECRUITING is part
of the complete predicate. It is a form of the verb, acting as an adjective
modifying goals.
Participial Phrase
The participial phrase includes the participle and the object of the participle or any
words modified by or related to the participle.
[In the following examples, the participle is bold and the participial phrase is underlined.]

The car sliding out of control toward building will likely hit the window.
▫ SLIDING modifies the CAR. The verb is WILL HIT.

Cameron spotted his brother throwing rocks at the passing cars.

▫ THROWING is not a verb in this sentence. It describes the brother. Without an auxiliary verb,
it cannot function as a verb. SPOTTED is the verb for the subject Cameron.

The astronaut chosen to ride the space shuttle to Mars is afraid of heights.
▫ CHOSEN describes the ASTRONAUT.
• Running down the street, Alicia tripped and fell.
▫ RUNNING certainly indicates something the subject is doing, but the verbs for
the subject are TRIPPED and FELL.

• Penned in by other runners, Steve was unable to make a break for

the finish line.
▫ STEVE is the subject. WAS is the verb. PENNED describes STEVE.

• Mark returned the damaged package to the manufacturer.

▫ Follow the steps to find the participle. What is the subject? MARK. What is the
verb (i.e. what did Mark do?) RETURNED. And DAMAGED describes PACKAGE.

• Alex fell down the broken staircase.

▫ BROKEN describes STAIRCASE.