perfect of _rise_) about five hundred feet above the
tallest building; then it (past passive of _raise_)
about fifty feet more to get it out of an air current
that (past progressive of _raise_) one end of it.
=Exercise 121--Infinitives and Participles=
_Infinitives_ are verb forms that are used as nouns, as adjectives, or
as adverbs. _Participles_ are verb forms that are used as adjectives.
Thus at the same time each acts as two parts of speech. As verbs both
have the meaning of the verbs from which they are made; both have tense
and voice; both may be modified by adverbial expressions; and, if they
are made from transitive verbs, both may take objects.
The Participle
The tenses and voices of the participle are as follows:
ACTIVE VOICE
_Present_
_Simple_ _Progressive_
selling ----
_Perfect_
having sold having been selling
PASSIVE VOICE
_Present_
being sold ----
_Perfect_
having been sold ----
The participle frequently introduces a phrase. Usually the phrase is
used like an adjective; occasionally it is used like a noun (sometimes
called the _gerund_ phrase).
_Adjective_: _Seeing your perplexity_, I'll offer a
suggestion. (Notice the punctuation.)
_Noun_(Gerund): _Playing tennis_ is good exercise.
The Infinitive
The infinitive is distinguished by the word _to_, either expressed or
understood. The tenses and voices of the infinitive are as follows:
ACTIVE VOICE
_Present_
_Simple_ _Progressive_
to sell to be selling
_Perfect_
to have sold to have been selling
PASSIVE VOICE
_Present_
to be sold ----
_Perfect_
to have been sold ----
The infinitive is often used to introduce a phrase; as,
_Noun_: _To get to the top of the hill_ was a difficult matter.
_Adverb_: I went _to buy the sugar_.
_Adjective_: It's a drawing _to be proud of_.
Grouping all the facts that we have thus far learned about phrases, and
expressing them in diagram form, we have the following:
Phrases may be classified:
_According to Form_ _According to Use_
Prepositional Adverbial
Participial (Gerund) Adjective
Infinitive Noun
The prepositional and infinitive phrases may have all three uses; the
participial phrase has two--adjective and noun (gerund).
Variety of Expression[2]
Phrases are important because, like clauses, they help us to vary the
form of our sentences. They help us, above all, to avoid the childish
_so_ habit. Thus, instead of _They wished to make the ice smooth so they
flooded the pond_, we may use, for example:
_Subordinate clause_: Because (as, since) they wished
to make the ice smooth, they flooded the pond.
_Participial phrase_: Wishing to make the ice smooth,
they flooded the pond.
_Infinitive phrase_: To make the ice smooth, they
flooded the pond.
_Gerund phrase_: Flooding the pond made the ice
smooth.
_Prepositional phrase modifying noun subject_: The
flooding of the pond made the ice smooth.
Recast each of the following sentences in at least two of the ways shown
above: