Page 30 - Yellow Feather Book 2

Language. Verbals and Verbal Phrases
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A verb shows action and it is used as a simple predicate. A verbal is a form of verb that works as a part of speech. There are three types of verbal in English which are: Participles, Gerunds, and Infinitives.
A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns or pronouns. The present participle ends in –ing the past participle ends in –ed or –en.
Examples
Present participle: glistening coin
Glistening is a present participle and it is modifying the noun coin.
Past participle: polished surface
Polished is a past participle and it is modifying the noun surface.
A gerund is a verb form used as a noun. The gerund ends in –ing.
Examples
The children’s singing and laughing woke me up. Singing and laughing is the subject of the sentence.
They would be worth the plucking.
Plucking is used as a direct object, remember the direct object is a noun.
An infinitive is a verb form —often preceded by the preposition to— that can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
Examples
If he ever happened to gaze for an instant at the gold-tinted clouds of sunset, he wished that they were real gold and that they could be squeezed safely into his strong box.
To gaze is used as a noun.
“It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” (Gore Vidal)
To succeed is used as a noun.
The Yellow Feather Literature Third Course
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