Participles

Participles have three Iunctions in sentences. They can be components oI multipart verbs, or they can Iunction as adjectives or
nouns.
Participles in Multipart Verbs
A verb can have as many as Iour parts. When you Iorm multipart verbs, you use a combination oI auxiliary verbs and participles.
Look at the examples below:
Our pet alligator ate Mrs. Olsen's poodle.
Ate simple past tense |no participle|.
With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her poodle.
Was auxiliary verb; beating present participle.
Our pet alligator has been stalking neighborhood pets because my brother Billy Iorgets to Ieed the poor reptile.
Has auxiliary verb; been past participle; stalking present participle.
Our pet alligator should have been eating Gator Chow, crunchy nuggets that Billy leaves Ior him in a bowl.
Should, have auxiliary verbs; been past participle; eating present participle.
Participles as Adjectives
Past and present participles oIten Iunction as adjectives that describe nouns. Here are some examples:
The crying baby drew a long breath and sucked in a spider crouching in the corner oI the crib.
Which baby? The crying baby. Which spider? The one that was crouching in the corner.
The mangled pair oI sunglasses, bruised Iace, broken arm, and bleeding knees meant Genette had taken another spill on her
mountain bike.
Which pair oI sunglasses? The mangled pair. Which Iace? The bruised one. Which arm? The broken one. Which knees? The
bleeding ones.
INFINITIVES
An inIinitive is a verbal consisting oI the word to plus a verb (in its simplest "stem" Iorm) and Iunctioning as a noun, adjective, or
adverb. The term verbal indicates that an inIinitive, like the other two kinds oI verbals, is based on a verb and thereIore expresses
action or a state oI being. However, the inIinitive may Iunction as a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or
adverb in a sentence. Although an inIinitive is easy to locate because oI the to verb Iorm, deciding what Iunction it has in a
sentence can sometimes be conIusing.
O %o wait seemed Ioolish when decisive action was required. (subject)
O veryone wanted to go. (direct object)
O His ambition is to fly. (subject complement)
O He lacked the strength to resist. (adjective)
O We must study to learn. (adverb)
Be sure not to conIuse an inIinitive--a verbal consisting oI to plus a verb--with a prepositional phrase beginning with to, which
consists oI to plus a noun or pronoun and any modiIiers.
Infinitives: to Ily, to draw, to become, to enter, to stand, to catch, to belong
Prepositional Phrases: to him, to the committee, to my house, to the mountains, to us, to this address
An Infinitive Phrase is a group oI words consisting oI an inIinitive and the modiIier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or noun phrase(s)
that Iunction as the actor(s), direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) oI the action or state expressed in the inIinitive,
such as:
We intended to leave early.
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of
the verb 3903/0/.
to leave (inIinitive)
early (adverb)
I have a paper to write before class.
The infinitive phrase functions as an adjective
modifying 5,507.
to write (inIinitive)
beIore class (prepositional phrase as adverb)
Phil agreed to give me a ride.
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of
the verb ,700/.
to give (inIinitive)
me (indirect object oI action expressed in inIinitive)
a ride (direct object oI action expressed in inIinitive)
They asked me to bring some food.
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of
the verb ,80/.
me (actor or "subject" oI inIinitive phrase)
to bring (inIinitive)
some Iood (direct object oI action expressed in inIinitive)
veryone wanted arol to be the captain of the team
The infinitive phrase functions as the direct object of
the verb ,390/.
Carol (actor or "subject" oI inIinitive phrase)
to be (inIinitive)
the captain (subject complement Ior arol, via state oI
being expressed in inIinitive)
oI the team (prepositional phrase as adjective)