The Other Two Verbals

Grade 8 · Grammar · Page 1 of 2

Name Date
DIRECTIONS: For each bold part, write the job it is doing — naming a thing or describing one — and then its name: gerund, participle or infinitive.
Three verbals, three jobs.
Gerund
a verb naming a thing
swimming is hard
Participle
a verb describing a thing
the running water
Infinitive
to + verb, and it can do either
to run is enough
The ending tells you nothing: broken is a participle too.
  1. The running water was freezing.
  2. Running is cheaper than a gym.
  3. He wants to run the whole loop before dark.
  4. Exhausted, she sat down on the step.
  5. She has a letter to mail.
  6. The broken window let in the cold all week.

The Other Two Verbals — continued

Grade 8 · Grammar · Page 2 of 2

The same verb three times. Job, then name.
  1. Painting the ceiling took two days.
  2. There was a painted line down the middle of the road.
  3. To paint the whole house in one weekend was never going to happen.
The window was broken. It let in the cold. → The broken window let in the cold.
Join each pair into one sentence using a participle. One of them cannot be done this way — when you hit it, say why instead.
  1. The window was broken. It let in the cold all week.
  2. He was carrying two bags and a folder. He could not get the door open.
  3. The bus was pulling away. We ran the last hundred yards.