I have read the defination of Working Verb & Verbal in the glossary of Manhattan SC book , yet could not understand the concept . Can someone please explain them ?

Hi,

I don't think reading the definitions will suffice.

My suggestion is that you read chapter 13, which is the last advanced chapter that deals with verbals in details to understand them.

If you have already read it and still not understood, please post back

Regards

Sunil

i HAVE READ THE CHP 13 , THEREAFTER ONLY HAS PUT UP THE DOUBTS

Hi,

Ok, I will explain using some examples but I think if you do not understand verbals from chapter 13 then you may have to go a step back and understand the basic parts of a sentence.

Very simply put, a verbal is a noun, adjective or an adverb formed from a verb. I will use an example from the book:

I love to swim.

Here, the infinitive (to + swim) is the object of the main verb "love". "I" is the subject. As you may know, nouns that are subjects generally perform an action in the sentence. Objects receive the action. They are generally followed by verbs. In this sentence, "to swim" forms the object of the verb love.

Now, an example where swim is not a verbal but a simple verb:

Fishes swim in water.

This is a simple sentence whose subject is "fishes" and "swim" is the verb i.e. the action that the subject performs.

Remember, the subject is usually what the sentence is about, the verb tells what the subject does or is, and the object receives the action of the verb.

I suggest that you give Verbals another try but make sure you understand subject, object, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs etc beforehand. By understanding these, I mean that you should be able to see a sentence and point out what these are in that sentence.

There are some good sites on the web that define parts of a speech and parts of a sentence. If you need recommendations, let me know

Hope this helps

Regards

Sunil

Let me please add few words to the explanation. Please remember following about the Verbals -

Verbals are not the verbs though often end in +ing.

Verbals are used as noun or adjectives.

Verbals don't act as main verb.

Verbals are singular.

Whenever you see a +ing form of verb, you must look for the Helping Verb (is, am, was etc) if the Helping Verb is not present, the +ing form verb is not a verb but is verbal.

Hi Sunil,

Yes please some recommendation of websites with good explanations of parts of speech would be very helpful. Thanks!

Thanks Sunil! Sounds like those would indeed be helpful.

_________________
Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor