Gerunds, Participles and Infinitives - Answers

Gerunds
Exercise Answers:
Underline the gerunds or gerund phrases in the following
sentences and label how they function in the sentence (subject,
direct object, subject complement, object of preposition).
1. Swimming keeps me in shape. [subject]
2. Swimming in your pool is always fun. [subject]
3. Telling your father was a mistake. [subject]
4. The college recommends sending applications early. [direct
object]
5. He won the game by scoring during the overtime period.
[object of preposition]
6. Her most important achievement was winning the national
championship. [subject complement]
7. Going to work today took all my energy. [subject]
8. Fighting for a losing cause made them depressed. [subject]
Participles
Exercise Answers:
Underline the participial phrase(s) in each of the following
sentences, and draw a line to the noun or pronoun modified.
1. Getting up at five, we got an early start. [modifies we]
2. Facing college standards, the students realized that they
hadn't worked hard enough in high school. [modifies the
students]
3. Statistics reported by the National Education Association
revealed that seventy percent of American colleges offer
remedial English classes emphasizing composition. [1. modifies
statistics; 2. modifies classes]
4. The overloaded car gathered speed slowly. [modifies car]
5. Gathering my courage, I asked for a temporary loan.
[modifies I]
In each of the following sentences, underline the participial
phrase(s), draw a line to the word(s) modified, and punctuate
the sentence correctly. Remember that some sentences may not
need punctuation.
6. Starting out as an army officer, Karen's father was frequently

transferred. [modifies Karen's father]
7. Mrs. Sears, showing more bravery than wisdom, invited thirty
boys and girls to a party. [modifies Mrs. Sears]
8. The student left in charge of the class was unable to keep
order. [modifies student]
9. Applicants must investigate various colleges, learning as much
as possible about them before applying for admission. [modifies
applicants; note that applying for admission is a gerund phrase,
not a participial phrase]
10. The crying boy, angered by the bully, began to fight. [both
modify boy]
Rewrite the following sentences (you may need to reword them
slightly) with the correct placement and punctuation of the
participial phrases.
11. Espousing a conservative point of view the proposal for more
spending on federal social programs bothered him.
The opening participial phrase is misplaced because it is intended
to modify him, not the proposal. A possible revision would be:
Espousing a conservative point of view, he was bothered by the
proposal for more spending on federal social programs.
12. Absorbed in an interesting conversation my scheduled
appointment time passed unnoticed.
The opening participial phrase is dangling because it modifies a
term that doesn't appear in the sentence: I, that is, the person
having the conversation. The "scheduled appointment time"
couldn't have been "absorbed in an interesting conversation." A
possible revision would be: Absorbed in an interesting
conversation, I allowed my scheduled appointment time to pass
unnoticed.
Infinitives
Exercise Answers:
Underline the infinitive phrase and label the way it is used in the
sentence.
1. I want to go. [noun/direct object]
2. I want you to go home. [noun/direct object]
3. We want to see the play. [noun/direct object]
4. To see a shooting star is good luck. [noun/subject]

5. To fight against those odds would be ridiculous.
[noun/subject]
6. To design a new building for them would be challenging.
[noun/subject]
7. I want him to be my bodyguard. [noun/direct object]
8. Jim is expected to program computers at his new job.
[noun/direct object]
9. They will try to build a new stadium in ten years. [noun/direct
object]
10. To distill a quart of moonshine takes two hours.
[noun/subject]
11. The president wants to use nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes. [noun/direct object]
12. She has the money to buy it. [adjective/modifying money]
13. We demonstrated to attract attention to our agenda.
[adverb/modifying demonstrated; note that to our agenda is a
prepositional phrase, not an infinitive phrase]
14. I do not like to give poor grades. [noun/direct object]
15. The dogs were taught to stand, to sit, and to bark on
command. [nouns/direct objects]
16. To be great is to be true to yourself and to the highest
principles of honor. [nouns: 1. subject; 2. subject complement;
note that to yourself and to the highest principles of honor are
both prepositional phrases, not infinitive phrases]
17. To see is to believe. [nouns: 1. subject; 2. subject
complement]

Gerunds, Participles and Infinitives - Answers

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What are gerunds and how are they used in sentences?

What are participles and how are they used in modifying nouns or pronouns?

Gerunds

6. Starting out as an army officer, Karen's father was frequently

4. To see a shooting star is good luck. [noun/subject]

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