In English grammar, Verbs are known as the action or the doing words. Although the word ‘verbals’ comes from the word verbs, the functions of the two are completely different. Verbals mean the words acting as verbs. Verbals, in different situations, act as nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. It is a part of speech with three types in total – Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles. These are never used alone and are important in phrases. However, their function changes when these are used along with the helping verbs. With ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ verbs, they begin to act as action verbs and form the verb tenses. It is important to focus on the suffixes and their place in the sentences.

Gerunds

Gerunds are a part of Verbals in English grammar. These are formed out of verbs. But Gerunds, in different sentences, act as nouns. Nouns are the names of a person, place, animal, or thing. When Gerunds act as nouns, ‘ing’ is added to them. Most of the time, these appear to be the subjects in sentences. The other times, these can appear to be the objects in a sentence. It sometimes gets confusing to identify Gerunds because the present participles have the same suffix as Gerunds. The difference between the two is the functioning of Gerunds as nouns. The examples of Gerunds are as follows;

• The dance teacher taught us dancing
• You should not be scared of flying
• Watching TV series is my favourite past-time
• The dog’s favourite activity is running

Infinitives

Infinitives are a part of Verbals. Most of the time, they are written with ‘to’ before them. These can function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs under different circumstances. Infinitives use the simple present tense form of the verb and ‘to’. When used as adjectives, the infinitives describe the nouns. The noun comes after the infinitive. The infinitives can appear as subjects or objects. For example –

• This is not the right time to start

In some instances, the infinitives also act as adverbs to describe the verb in a sentence. These are mostly present at the beginning or the end of the sentence. When these are present at the beginning, a comma needs to be used to separate them. Example –

• My team needs the highest number of goals to win
• To prepare for the earthquake, they hid under the tables

Participles

The participles, in Verbals, act as adjectives in a sentence. The suffixes are ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’. Participles are used to modify the nouns or the pronouns in a sentence. There are two types of participles, present participles and past participles.

• Present Participles – These are the participles that always end with ‘-ing’. ‘-ing’ is added at the end of the verb in sentences to work as an adjective

For example –

1. The boiling milk in the kettle is hot.

• Past Participles – These are the participles that always end with ‘-ed’ or ‘-en’. These suffixes are added to the verbs to act as adjectives. For example :

1. The glasses were shattered by them.
2. The broken piece was thrown away.

Exercises on Verbals

Q- Identity the verbals in the following sentences –

• The men captured for the robbery killed the guards
• The flowers waving in the garden look pretty
• Their terrifying looks were of no use
• Your broken promises are all that she remembers
• Delighted with the fame, she decided to throw a party
• Can they offer a chance to be a painter?
• Viraj hoped that missing the classes would not affect him badly
• The dogs barking outside the door have refused to come in
• The alcoholic, driven by the need to be relaxed, drank some shots again
• They really enjoy running
• The waxed tiles were glowy and shiny
• Walking to the market is good
• They enjoyed dancing on the street
• Their departure has been delayed
• Jiya likes to sing

Conclusion

Verbals are a part of English grammar. These come under the parts of speech. There are three types of verbals which are used differently in sentences. The verbals are derived from verbs, but their functions are completely different. Verbals are used as the modifiers of the nouns, adverbs, and adjectives in sentences. One can identify the types of verbals by looking at their places in the sentences and by looking at the suffixes of the main verbs.