Identify the verbal in this sentence as infinitive, gerund or participle.
The old woman slept, not realizing she was no longer poor.
gerund
infinitive
participle
To identify the verbal in the sentence, we need to understand the characteristics of infinitives, gerunds, and participles.
- An infinitive is the base form of a verb preceded by the word "to" (e.g., "to sleep").
- A gerund is a verb that ends in "-ing" and functions as a noun (e.g., "sleeping").
- A participle is a verb form that can function as an adjective (e.g., "sleeping" in "the sleeping dog").
Now let's analyze the sentence: "The old woman slept, not realizing she was no longer poor."
The verbal in this sentence is "realizing." To determine its classification, we observe that "realizing" is not preceded by "to," so it is not an infinitive. Additionally, "realizing" is not functioning as a noun, so it is not a gerund. Instead, "realizing" describes the old woman, indicating it functions as an adjective. Therefore, "realizing" is a participle in this sentence.