• A verbal is a part of speech formed from a verb that does not function as a verb.
• Verbals are sometimes referred to as non-finite verbs, meaning they do not,
  as finite verbs do, agree in person, number, and tense with a subject.
• Verbals do not take a subject; however, they can take a direct object or indirect object,
  and can be modified like verbs.
  
• There are three types of verbals: gerunds, participles, and infinitives.

• A gerund is a verbal that functions as a noun.
  
• A gerund always ends in “ing.”

Gerund as Subject:
Winning isn't everything.

Gerund as Direct Object:
I appreciate your coming.

Gerund as Subject Complement:
The English attitude was keeping a stiff upper lip.

Gerund as Object of Preposition:
After running for several miles, Eunice always liked a big mug of beer.

• The participle is the form of the verb that, when not working with an auxiliary verb, functions as an adjective.
  
• Like gerunds, present participles end in “ing,” but unlike gerunds, they cannot be a subject or an object, since they are not nouns. 
  
• Past participles can end in “ed,” “en.”

Present Participle:
Even the crime-scene cleaning crew from the could do nothing about my son's room.

Past Participle:
Because Maurice had driven across the frozen lake in February, he mistakenly thought it was fine to repeat his drive in April.

Past Perfect Participle:
Having given everything else to the victors, the men in our families turned over the remote controls.

Participial Phrase:
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

(yearning to breathe free is a participial phrase modifying masses; it also contains an infinitive complement, to breathe free; also, huddled is a past participle modifying masses)

• The infinitive is the form of the verb that may act as an adjective, an adverb, or a noun.
  
• Infinitives can be recognized by the fact that they are the base form of the verb preceded by “to,” as in “to run.”

Infinitive as Subject:
To be in love has always been my fondest desire.

Infinitive as Direct Object:
The teacher chose to ignore the chaos.

Infinitive as Object of Preposition:
The ambassador told us to do nothing except to listen.

(to listen is the object of the preposition except; to do is also an infinitive, the entire phrase functioning as the direct object of the verb told [us is the "actor" of the phrase; as such it is in the objective case] )

Infinitive as Adjective:
The best apple to pick is the hardest to reach.

(to pick modifies apple; to reach modifies [implied] apple)

Infinitive as Adverb:
We came to bury Caesar. (to bury modifies came)