What Are The Kinds Of Verbals?

There are many different types of verbals, but the three main ones are gerunds, infinitives and participles.
Gerund A gerund is a verb ending in -ing and usually may take objects, complements and modifiers. In the sentence:

• Borrowing money is often a mistake.Borrowing is the gerund as it is the subject of the sentence and money is its object.

So, a gerund replaces the noun in a sentence so that the verbal is the subject.

Infinitive An infinitive verbal is the root of the verb and usually starts with 'to' followed by the present form of the verb. This can be used as an adverb, noun or adjective and can have subjects, objects, complements or modifiers.
An example of this is:

• Language to suit the occasion is best.

In this case, the object of the infinitive is occasion, and the infinitive has been used to modify the noun language.

Participle The participle verbal is used as an adjective and can take an object, a complement or modifiers.
An example of this is:

• The athlete running the fastest lap won.

In this instance, the participle is running, which modifies the noun athlete, and has lap as its object.

The kinds of verbals are infinitives, gerunds, and participles.