Question

each sentence below contains an underlined verbal phrase. in each sentence, identify the verbal as a participle or gerund. if the verbal is a participle, write the noun that it is modifying. if the verbal is a gerund, write its function (subject, direct object, appositive, object of preposition, subjective complement). an example has been done for you.
example: reading a good horror story always gives me pleasure. answer: gerund, subject

1. sammie and sally enjoyed walking along the haunted trail.
2. they hoped they would see the dancing zombies hidden in the bushes.
3. instead, they came up on an old, wrecked truck.
4. the trucks engine, bubbling with green gook, began to make funny noises.
5. sammie, scared to get any closer, reached for his cell phone.
6. clearing her throat, sally said, \whoever you are...come out now!\
7. sammie, trying to sound brave, added to sallys command: \we arent afraid of you!\
8. sally whispered to sammie, \arent you afraid of seeing whats under there?\
9. suddenly, the truck, shaking and rattling, looked as if it were going to explode.
10. add a sentence (or short paragraph) that tells the ending of this story. be sure to use gerunds and/or participles. underline and label any you include. use the back of this sheet, if needed.

Explanation:

1. In the sentence "Sammie and Sally enjoyed walking along the haunted trail", "walking" is a gerund. The verb "enjoyed" is followed by a gerund as its direct object.
2. In the sentence "They hoped they would see the dancing zombies hidden in the bushes", "dancing" is a participle. It modifies the noun "zombies".
3. In the sentence "Instead, they came up on an old, wrecked truck", "wrecked" is a participle. It modifies the noun "truck".
4. In the sentence "The truck’s engine, bubbling with green gook, began to make funny noises", "bubbling" is a participle. It modifies the noun "engine".
5. In the sentence "Sammie, scared to get any closer, reached for his cell phone", "scared" is a participle. It modifies the noun "Sammie".
6. In the sentence "Clearing her throat, Sally said, “Whoever you are...come out now!”", "Clearing" is a participle. It modifies the noun "Sally".
7. In the sentence "Sammie, trying to sound brave, added to Sally’s command: “We aren’t afraid of you!”", "trying" is a participle. It modifies the noun "Sammie".
8. In the sentence "Sally whispered to Sammie, “Aren’t you afraid of seeing what’s under there?”", "seeing" is a gerund. It is the object of the preposition "of".
9. In the sentence "Suddenly, the truck, shaking and rattling, looked as if it were going to explode", "shaking" and "rattling" are participles. They modify the noun "truck".

Answer:

1. Gerund, direct object
2. Participle, modifies “zombies”
3. Participle, modifies “truck”
4. Participle, modifies “engine”
5. Participle, modifies “Sammie”
6. Participle, modifies “Sally”
7. Participle, modifies “Sammie”
8. Gerund, object of preposition
9. Participle, modifies “truck”