Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives

Gerunds

Rule #1: A gerund will ALWAYS end in –ing.
Rule #2: A gerund will ALWAYS be a noun.
Rule #3: A gerund will ALWAYS function as the subjects, subject complement, direct object, indirect object, and object of prepositions.

Examples:
· Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.
o Swimming = subject of the verb has been.

· Francisco's first love is swimming.
o Swimming = subject complement of the verb is.

· Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.
o Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys.

· Francisco gives swimming all of his energy and time.
o Swimming = indirect object of the verb gives.

· When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.
o Swimming = object of the preposition to.


Participles

Rule #1: A present participle will ALWAYS end in –ing.
Rule #2: A past participle of regular verbs will ALWAYS end in –ed, BUT there are irregular verbs (break, bring) which will end some other way (broken, brought).
Rule #3: A participle will function as an adjective.

Examples of Present participles:

· A great white shark ate Francisco's swimming coach.
o Swimming = present participle modifying “coach”

· Now Francisco practices his sport in safe swimming pools.
o Swimming = present participle modifying “pools”

Examples of PAST participles:
· The mangled pair of sunglasses suggested that Genette had taken another spill on her mountain bike.
o Mangled = past participle modifying “pair”

· Valerie’s cooked chicken burned the tip of my tongue.
o Cooked = past participle modifying “chicken”

· Her bruised face suggested that she had gotten into a fight.
o Bruised = past participle modifying “face”

Participial Phrases: A participial phrase contains a participle, plus any complements and modifiers.
Example: A house heated with solar energy is economical.
Example: Jessie, crying in defeat, needs to learn that checkers is just a game.

Infinitives

Rule #1: An infinitive will ALMOST always take the following form: to + verb
Rule #2: An infinitive will NEVER function as a verb.
Rule #3: An infinitive will ALWAYS function as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Examples of Infinitives:
· To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting tables at the neighborhood café.
o 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.
o To look functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb refuses.

· 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.

· Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly squid eyeball stew into the apartment dumpster.
o To throw functions as an adverb because it explains why Richard braved the inclement weather.