Verbals Worksheets

About Our Verbals Worksheets

Our Verbals Worksheets collection is designed to support students in mastering the concept of verbals, a crucial aspect of grammar that expands their ability to manipulate language effectively. Falling under the Grammar category within the Skills section, these worksheets guide learners through understanding and applying verbals in various contexts, helping them to refine both their written and spoken communication skills. Verbals include gerunds, participles, and infinitives, and mastering them enables students to use verbs in more flexible and creative ways, enriching their expression and grammatical precision.

The worksheets are presented in a user-friendly PDF format, making them easy to view, download, and print for flexible use in classrooms or home study. Each worksheet comes with a downloadable answer key, which allows students to self-assess their progress or enables educators to quickly evaluate students’ understanding. This collection serves as a valuable resource for building a strong foundation in grammar and language proficiency.

Exploring Verbals: Definitions and Key Types

Understanding verbals is essential for students aiming to enhance their command of grammar. Verbals are verb forms that function as different parts of speech rather than as traditional verbs. Although verbals retain the qualities of verbs, they do not act as the main verb in a sentence. Instead, they function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, depending on their form. Let’s explore the three primary types of verbals—gerunds, participles, and infinitives—and how they are used in language.

What Are Verbals?

Verbals are words derived from verbs that do not act as the main verb in a sentence. Instead, they perform other grammatical roles such as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. The three main types of verbals are:

Gerunds: Verb forms ending in -ing that function as nouns.

Example: Running is fun.

In this sentence, running is a gerund acting as the subject.

Participles: Verb forms used as adjectives. Participles can be present (ending in -ing) or past (typically ending in -ed, but irregular verbs may differ).

Example: The laughing child enjoyed the party.

Here, laughing is a present participle describing the child.

Example: The broken vase was on the table.

In this sentence, broken is a past participle describing the vase.

Infinitives: The base form of a verb, usually preceded by the word to. Infinitives can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Example: To swim is her favorite activity.

In this case, to swim is an infinitive functioning as a noun, the subject of the sentence.

Key Features of Each Verbal Type

Each type of verbal has distinct functions and forms, and understanding their roles helps students improve sentence variety and complexity.

Gerunds: Always function as nouns and can appear as subjects, objects, or complements.

- Reading is a hobby I enjoy. (Reading is the subject.)
- She likes swimming in the ocean. (Swimming is the direct object.)

Participles: Act as adjectives, modifying nouns or pronouns. Present participles end in -ing, while past participles vary but often end in -ed for regular verbs.

- The barking dog woke everyone up. (Present participle modifying "dog")
- The baked cookies smell delicious. (Past participle modifying "cookies")

Infinitives: Can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, making them versatile in sentence structure.

- He has plans to travel next year. (Infinitive functioning as a noun, object of "has plans")
- She is determined to win the contest. (Infinitive functioning as an adjective describing "determined")

Verbals allow for greater variety in sentence construction, making students’ writing more dynamic and nuanced. Understanding these forms is essential for students to navigate complex grammatical structures.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

As students begin learning about verbals, they may face some challenges due to the multifunctional nature of these verb forms. Differentiating between gerunds, participles, and infinitives can be difficult at first, as can recognizing when a verbal is functioning as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Below are some common challenges and strategies for overcoming them.

Challenges Students May Face

Confusing Gerunds with Present Participles: Since both gerunds and present participles end in -ing, students may struggle to identify whether the verbal is functioning as a noun (gerund) or an adjective (participle).

- Example: Running is tiring. (Gerund as subject)
- The running water filled the basin. (Present participle modifying "water")

Mistaking Infinitives for Prepositional Phrases: Students might confuse infinitives with prepositional phrases, especially when to is used.

- Example: She went to swim (Infinitive functioning as a noun, the object of "went")
- She went to the store (Prepositional phrase)

Misplacing or Dangling Participles: Students sometimes place participles incorrectly in a sentence, leading to confusion about what noun or pronoun is being modified.

- Example of a misplaced participle: Walking through the park, the flowers were blooming. (It sounds like the flowers were walking!)

Strategies to Overcome These Challenges

Use Context Clues: Encourage students to ask what role the -ing word is playing in the sentence. If it functions as a noun, it is a gerund; if it describes something, it is a participle. For example, in “The dancing girl smiled,” dancing modifies girl, so it is a participle.
Practice Identifying Verbals in Sentences: Students can improve by reading sentences and identifying whether the verbal is acting as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Have them underline or highlight verbals and label their function to reinforce understanding.
Teach Dangling Participle Avoidance: Educators can show examples of misplaced participles and ask students to rewrite sentences so the participle clearly modifies the correct noun or pronoun. For example, Walking through the park, I saw the flowers blooming is correctly placed.

Through these strategies, students can improve their ability to identify and use verbals effectively in their writing.

Enhancing Language Fluency with Verbals

Verbals play an important role in enhancing students’ fluency in reading, writing, and speaking. Mastering gerunds, participles, and infinitives allows students to create more varied and sophisticated sentences, contributing to their overall language proficiency.

Reading: Understanding verbals helps students interpret complex sentence structures more effectively. When students recognize verbals within a text, they can more easily grasp the relationship between actions and descriptions, improving comprehension.
Writing: Incorporating verbals into writing enhances clarity and variety. For instance, instead of writing multiple simple sentences like “She was running. She was tired,” students can write “Running made her tired,” which combines ideas smoothly and efficiently.
Speaking: Fluent speakers often use verbals to express actions in concise ways. Knowing how to form and use verbals correctly allows students to communicate more dynamically in both formal and informal conversations.

Mastering verbals gives students greater flexibility in their language use, allowing them to express ideas more clearly and creatively.

Suggested Activities for Further Practice

To reinforce the understanding of verbals, educators can implement a variety of engaging and interactive activities that encourage students to apply their knowledge in fun and creative ways. These activities are effective in both classroom and homeschool settings and provide additional opportunities for students to deepen their grasp of gerunds, participles, and infinitives.

Recommended Activities

Verbals Scavenger Hunt: Have students search for examples of gerunds, participles, and infinitives in a reading passage or short story. They can underline the verbals and identify their type and function in the sentence. This activity helps students practice recognizing verbals in context and can be adapted for different grade levels, particularly grades 5 through 8.
Create-a-Story Using Verbals: Ask students to write a short story or paragraph incorporating a set number of gerunds, participles, and infinitives. For example, they might need to include three gerunds, two participles, and one infinitive in their story. This creative exercise helps reinforce the concept while encouraging sentence variety.
Verbals Charades: Turn learning into a game by having students act out sentences that include verbals, while their classmates guess which verbal is being used and its function in the sentence. This activity works well for kinesthetic learners and adds a fun, interactive element to the lesson.

These activities are particularly effective for middle school students, though they can be adapted for younger learners who are beginning to explore verbals.

The Importance of Verbals in Language Mastery

In conclusion, mastering verbals is an essential component of language learning. Gerunds, participles, and infinitives add depth and variety to sentence construction, enabling students to express ideas in a more sophisticated and dynamic manner. Understanding verbals not only enhances grammatical accuracy but also supports students in becoming more fluent readers, writers, and speakers.

The Verbals Worksheets collection offers a structured and practical way for students to build a solid understanding of these important grammatical tools. By combining these worksheets with additional activities and consistent practice, students can gain confidence in their ability to use verbals effectively, applying this knowledge in both academic settings and everyday communication. Verbals are a vital skill that equips students for greater language proficiency and prepares them for more advanced grammar concepts.