Question

1) Identify the infinitive in the sentence: My brother wants to buy headphones with his extra money, but I think swimming goggles would be more practical. A) to buy B) wants to C) would be D) swimming
2) Which sentence uses a participial phrase? A) The fence, which was broken and dirty, looked terrible. B) Shutting out their opponent, the other team celebrated in victory. C) Swimming in the pool all day is my favorite way to spend the summer. D) I am pretty tired and not interested in staying up too late tonight.

3) Which sentence contains a correctly used participial phrase? A) Camping by the lakeside, the squawking geese kept me awake. B) After brushing on another stroke of fiery crimson, the canvas looked complete. C) Peering through the rain spattered window, the scenery appeared lush and verdant. D) Kicking the ball into the upper left hand corner of the goal, the striker scored the winning goal.

4) What is the BEST description and explanation for the underlined word in this sentence? The entire printed document was placed in a box and delivered to the office. A) Printed is a verb form being used as a noun to name type the type of document. B) Printed is a verb form being used as an adjective to describe the type of document. C) Printed is a noun form being used as an adjective to describe the type of document. D) Printed is an adjective form being used as a verb to describe the task that was completed.

5) Which description is accurate and true of all three sentences? 1. We struggled to understand the complicated algebraic expressions. 2. We could not wait to hear our grades on the final exam. 3. We failed to demonstrate our knowledge and understanding. A) All sentences have a gerund that takes the place of a verb. B) All sentences have a participle that replaces a verb phrase. C) All sentences have an infinitive that takes the place of a noun. D) All sentences have a participle phrase that functions as an adjective.

Answer 1

The correct answers are:

1) A) To buy. That is the infinitive in the sentence. Infinitive is the form of a verb without inflection often preceded by "to".

2) B) Shutting out their opponent, the other team celebrated in victory. This is the sentence using a participial phrase, which is "Shutting out their opponent".

Participial phrases are created with a verb ending in "ed" or "ing", and they function as adjectives modifying a noun or a pronoun. In our example the participial phrase is modifying the "other team".

3) D) Kicking the ball into the upper left hand corner of the goal, the striker scored the winning goal. The first phrase (in bold) is modifying the noun "striker". Even if we take this phrase out of the sentence we would still have a sentence with a complete thought: "The striker scored the winning goal".

4) B) Printed is a verb form being used as an adjective, appearing immediately before the noun "document".

5) C) All sentences have an infinitive that takes the place of a noun: "to understand", "to hear" "to demonstrate".

Answer 2

1. A
2. B
3. D
4. B
5. C