Linguistic Overview
Verbals take on one of the four non-finite verb forms:
- Bare Infinitive (the base form found in dictionaries)
- Full Infinitive (the ‘to ___’ form)
- Active Participle (the ‘___-ing’ form)
- Perfect/Passive Participle (the ‘___-ed/en’ form)
Each of these can be used as main verbs: Bare Infinitives come after standard modal verbs; Full Infinitives come after certain the marginal modal ought and all pseudo-modals; Active Participles are used in continuous tenses; and Perfect/Passive Participles are used in perfect tenses and in Passive Voice.
Each of these forms can also be used for something other than verbs. In such cases, they are considered verbals.
Infinitives and participles can be used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs, or as complements in Verb Patterns. A verbal may stand alone, or it may be the nucleus of entire phrases. When they head phrases, they can take on any number of modifiers and/or complements, just like verbs can.
- Modifiers for verbal phrases are usually adverbs or prepositional phrases, but they can also be other verbal phrases or Adverbial Clauses.
- Complements for verbal phrases are usually direct objects, but they can also be indirect objects, predicative nominatives, or predicative modifiers.
Words that appear to be infinitives and participles but that no longer retain the properties of verbs are called deverbals.
Verbal Applications
as Modifiers
Participle Adjectives
Both Active and Passive Participles can play the role of adjectives. They can be used in virtually any adjective placement. For example:
- “Her enchanting voice is stuck in my head.”
- “That story was so confusing.”
- “Relieved, Whitney let out a sigh.”
- “Put something frozen over that swollen eye.”
Active Adjectives generally indicate an action or state that the modified noun does or causes. Passive Adjectives generally indicate a condition that affects the modified noun.
For more details, visit the Active & Passive Adjectives page.
Infinitive & Participial Phrases
Any type of participle can be the nucleus of a phrase. The rest of the phrase would be composed of complements, modifiers, or both. For example:
- “I found the dog wandering through the park.”
- the nucleus is an Active Participle
- the participial phrase includes a prepositional phrase
- the participial phrase modifies ‘the dog’
- “Connie, filled with confidence, stepped through the doorway.”
- the nucleus is a Passive Participle
- the participial phrase includes a prepositional phrase
- the participial phrase modifies ‘Connie’
- “Having finished his tour, the soldier returned home.”
- the nucleus is a Perfect Participle
- the participial phrase includes a direct object
- the participial phrase modifies ‘the soldier’
Full Infinitives can similarly head modifier phrases. Such phrases usually indicate a purpose, or sometimes a result. For example:
- “To complete the challenge, you must cross the finish line by sundown.”
- “Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.”
Participial Phrases usually modify nouns, but they can also modify entire clauses. Infinitive Phrases usually modify verbs, but they can also modify nouns or entire clauses.
For more details, visit the Participial Phrases page or the Full Infinitives page.
as Complements in Verb Patterns
Verbal Complements are the second half of Verb Patterns. Active Participles are commonly used to express events in progress, or sometimes for general applications. Full Infinitives are commonly used to express actions intended for the future, and usually for more specific instances.
While Active Participles and Full Infinitives are common for standard Verb Patterns, there are other variations of Verb Patterns. For instance:
- Any nonfinite verb form can be used in Causatives.
- Only Bare Infinitives can follow make and let. Either Infinitive form can follow help.
- Passive Participles can follow verbs like get or have to remove a degree of agency.
- Active Participles are used for expressions of activities.
- They follow the light verb go for certain recreational activities.
- They follow ‘spend time’, ‘waste time’, etc.
- Full Infinitives are used for future expressions like “are planning to ____”, “were hoping to ____,” etc.
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Bare Infinitive |
Full Infinitive |
Active Participle |
Passive Participle |
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Standard Verb Patterns |
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Reporting Verb Patterns |
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✓ |
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Causatives |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
✓ |
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Activity Expressions (after “go” or “spend time”) |
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✓ |
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Future Expressions |
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as Nominals
Gerunds and Gerund Phrases are verbal nouns in the form of Active Participles or Active Participial phrases. They often represent activities. For example:
- “Fishing is my favorite hobby.” ← a verbal as a subject
- “It’s as easy as riding a bike.” ← a verbal as a prepositional object
- “She hates getting caught in the rain.” ← a verbal as a direct object
Full Infinitives can also be verbal nouns, though they are not very common. Here are some examples:
- “Your role is to oversee the whole operation.” ← a verbal as a predicative nominal
- “To err is human.” ← a verbal as a subject
Deverbals
Deverbals are words that are rooted in verbs but that no longer retain the properties of verbs.
Type 1 deverbals appear to be nonfinite verb forms, just like verbals. But unlike verbals, they can’t be modified by adverbs, and they can’t take on direct objects or other complements.
For instance, in “I can’t stand her nagging,” the noun ‘nagging’ appears to be an Active Participle. However, it can be modified by adjectives and accompanied by a determiner, like nouns can; but it can’t be modified by adverbs or take direct objects, like verbs can. Therefore, it is a deverbal (although it is easy to create a similar sentence for which ‘nagging’ is a verbal).
Type 2 deverbals do not retain any verb forms, but instead undergo some morphological change (usually taking on a suffix) appropriate for the relevant part of speech.
For instance, ‘explanation’ is a deverbal noun derived from the verb ‘explain’, and ‘creative’ is a deverbal adjective derives from the verb ‘create’.
Further Reading
| Related Concepts | Applied Grammar Topics |
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