Download
1 / 22
340 likes | 1.28k Views
Verbals. Verbs acting as another part of speech. Verbals. A verbal is a verb that is being used as another part of speech. There are three kinds of verbals: gerunds, infinitives, and participles. Gerunds and Gerund Phrases. A gerund is a verbal that ends in – ing and acts as a noun.
E N D
Verbals Verbs acting as another part of speech.
Verbals • A verbal is a verb that is being used as another part of speech. • There are three kinds of verbals: gerunds, infinitives, and participles.
Gerunds and Gerund Phrases • A gerund is a verbal that ends in –ing and acts as a noun. Inventing can be dangerous. • A gerund phrase consists of a gerund plus its modifiers and complements. The entire phrase will function as a noun! WritingFrankentsteinmust have given Mary Shelley goose bumps!
Let’s Practice • Mary Shelley is famous for creating the Gothic novel Frankenstein. • Completing Frankenstein at 19 was an incredible accomplishment. • One night, after listening to ghost stories, Mary and three others agreed to write their own horror stories. • Mary Shelley heard her husband and a friend discuss the possibility of reviving a corpse.
Let’s Practice 5. Another idea was assembling a human being from various body parts. 6. Falling asleep was difficult for Mary that night. 7. She dreamed of a man who was responsible for creating a ghastly creature. 8. After seeing this mental image, Mary was terrified.
Let’s Practice 9. Opening her eyes reminded her that the vision was not real. 10. Imagining this ghastly creature inspired Frankenstein.
Participles and Participial Phrases • A participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective. It describes a noun or pronoun. The exhausted campers found a crumbling schoolhouse. • The present participle always ends in –ing. Creaking eerily, the door swung open.
Participles and Participial Phrases • The past participle of a regular verb ends in ed. Past participles of irregular verbs, such as fall, are formed in a variety of ways. The deserted building was old and decrepit. Fallen bricks block the entry.
Participles and Participial Phrases • A participial phrase consists of a participle plus its modifiers and complements. The entire phrase will describe a noun or pronoun! They spied a shape lurking in the dark shadows. Frightened by the sight, they stopped cold.
Let’s Practice • Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is still a frightening story. • A schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane falls in love with the bewitching Katrina Van Tassel. • Handsome Brom Bones, annoyed by Ichabod’s flirtations, turns against him. • Knowing of the schoolmaster’s superstitious nature, Brom tells Ichabod of his encounter with the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Let’s Practice 5. The horseman is the ghost of a beheaded soldier who appears at night. 6. After that chilling story, Ichabod sets out for home through the woods. 7. Suddenly, he is confronted by a hideous figure riding on a horse! 8. The horseman hurtles something resembling a head at Ichabod!
Let’s Practice 9. Scared out of his wits, Ichabod Crane flees from Sleepy Hollow forever. 10. Did Brom, disguised as the ghost, scare Ichabod away?
Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases • An infinitive is a verb form that usually begins with the word to and acts as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Mars is a place some people want to visit.
Infinitives and Infinitive Phrases • An infinitive phrase is an infinitive plus its modifiers and complements. To believe in life on Mars was common in the 1930s. Martians might use flying saucers to invade Earth. I took time to read an old science fiction book.
Let’s Practice • It’s possible to scare an entire nation with an imaginary story. • One day in 1938, Orson Welles began to broadcast a radio play about a Martian invasion. • It was not Welles’s intention to cause a nationwide panic, but that’s what he did. • Welles had designed the play to sound like an actual broadcast with flash news bulletins.
Let’s Practice 5. People tuning in were shocked to hear that giants from Mars had landed in new Jersey! 6. A later bulletin reported that the invaders had started to destroy entire cities! 7. Ready to wade across the Hudson River, the Martians were headed to New York! 8. Many hysterical listeners tried to escape their homes.
Let’s Practice 9. Some rushed outside with wet handkerchiefs over their faces to protect them from the Martians’ lethal gas. 10. The media’s ability to influence the public is astonishing.
Active and Passive Verbs • Verb voice describes how a verb relates to its subject. • There are two types: • Active voice – when the subject performs the action in the sentence • Passive voice – when the subject of an action may be unknown
Active and Passive Verbs • When a sentence contains both active voice and passive voice, a shift in verb voice occurs. • To fix a shift in verb voice, revise the sentence so that the voice is consistently active throughout.
Active and Passive Voice • I called home to ask for a ride. • The phone was answered by my brother. • My message was given to my parents. • My parents picked me up from school. • Then, dinner was eaten. • Later, the dishes were cleaned.
