Participles, Gerunds And Infinitives English Grammar Worksheet printable pdf download

Participles, Gerunds and Infinitives

One of the more confusing practices in English grammar involves the use of verbals (participles,

gerunds and infinitives), which are words that look like verbs but that function as nouns, adjectives, or

adverbs in sentences.

Participles

Participles usually look like either past tense (-ed) or continuous tense (-ing) verbs, but they actually

function as adjectives. The present participle is formed by adding –ing to the verb stem. As an

adjective, the present participle modifies a noun that affects someone or something else.

Ex. The article is interesting.

The article was interesting.

In other words, the ‘article’ in this example is affecting the speaker by provoking her/his interest.

Alternatively, the present participle can be placed before the noun:

Ex. the interesting article

Note: In this case, the present participle and noun together create an adjectival phrase rather than a

complete sentence as in the first two examples.

The past participle is formed by adding –ed to the verb stem; however, some irregular verbs may end

in –d (ex. ‘paid’), -en (ex. ‘taken’), -n (ex. ‘seen’), or-t (ex. ‘burnt’). Note: With the ending –t, the more

commonly used past tense form of the verb is the conventional –ed; for example, ‘to learn’ is ‘learned’

in academic writing in North America, while the past participle form is ‘learnt’. As an adjective, the

past participle modifies a noun that is affected by someone or something else.

Ex. The professor is interested in the article.

or The professor was interested in the article.

These examples are similar to the first two examples for the present participle, but notice that, in

these two cases, the focus is on the person and her/his reaction to the ‘interesting article’. In other

words, the quality of ‘being interesting’ does not belong to the professor, but rather to the article, and

the professor is in a state of ‘being interested’ because the article has that quality. This important

distinction in meaning between present and past participles can perhaps best be expressed in the two

images below:

This m an i s

This m an

afraid o f

inspires f ear

something

in o thers

Past Participle: the frightened man

vs.

Present Participle: the frightening man

Participles, Gerunds And Infinitives English Grammar Worksheet