Verbals: Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles

The three verbals— gerunds, infinitives, and participles—are formed from verbs, but are never
used alone as action words in sentences. Instead, verbals function as nouns, adjectives, or
adverbs. These verbals are important in phrases.

The gerund ends in -ing and functions as a noun.

Jumping is fun.

He liked skiing.

He had a unique way of whistling.

The infinitive is the base form of a verb with to. Usually it functions as a noun, although it can
also function as an adjective or adverb.

To jump is fun. (noun; subject of the verb is)

I like to ski. (noun; direct object of the verb like)

She had a suggestion to offer. (adjective modifying suggestion)

He called to warn her. (adverb modifying the verb called)

A participle is a verb that ends in -ing (present participle) or -ed, -d, -t, -en, -n (past
participle). Participles may function as adjectives, describing or modifying nouns.

The dancing parrots entertained the crowd.

The wrecked sailboat washed up on shore.

But participles have another function. When used with helping verbs such as to be and to have,
they are action verbs and form several verb tenses.

She is thinking of the children.

The conference room had been cleaned before they arrived.

Learn These 4 Word Stress Rules to Improve Your Pronunciation
To communicate clearly when you are speaking in English, it’s important to stress
the correct syllables in each word. This is called word stress, which means
pronouncing one syllable of a multisyllabic word with greater emphasis (stress)
than the other syllables in the word. Here are four general rules to keep in mind
about word stress as you practice pronunciation:

1. Stress the first syllable of:

o Most two-syllable nouns (examples: CLImate, KNOWledge)
o Most two-syllable adjectives (examples: FLIPpant, SPAcious)
2. Stress the last syllable of:
o Most two-syllable verbs (examples: reQUIRE, deCIDE)
3. Stress the second-to-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -ic (examples: ecSTATic, geoGRAPHic)
o Words ending in -sion and -tion (examples: exTENsion, retriBUtion)
4. Stress the third-from-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy (examples: deMOCracy, unCERtainty,
geOGraphy, radiOLogy)
o Words that end in -al (examples: exCEPtional, CRItical)

Learn These 4 Word Stress Rules to Improve Your Pronunciation

To communicate clearly when you are speaking in English, it’s important to stress
the correct syllables in each word. This is called word stress, which means
pronouncing one syllable of a multisyllabic word with greater emphasis (stress)
than the other syllables in the word. Here are four general rules to keep in mind
about word stress as you practice pronunciation:

1. Stress the first syllable of:

o Most two-syllable nouns (examples: CLImate, KNOWledge)
o Most two-syllable adjectives (examples: FLIPpant, SPAcious)
2. Stress the last syllable of:
o Most two-syllable verbs (examples: reQUIRE, deCIDE)
3. Stress the second-to-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -ic (examples: ecSTATic, geoGRAPHic)
o Words ending in -sion and -tion (examples: exTENsion, retriBUtion)
4. Stress the third-from-last syllable of:
o Words that end in -cy, -ty, -phy and -gy (examples: deMOCracy, unCERtainty,
geOGraphy, radiOLogy)
o Words that end in -al (examples: exCEPtional, CRItical)