Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles
The three verbals— gerunds, infinitives, and participles —are formed from verbs, but are never used alone as action words in sentences. Instead, verbals function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. These verbals are important in phrases.
Gerunds end in -ing and function as a noun, usually used to describe activities. They are NOT to be confused with the progressive or continuous verb form.
Example of a gerund: Swimming is one of her favorite things to do at the beach.
NOT A GERUND: Right now, we are swimming in the ocean.
The infinitive is the base form of a verb with to . Usually it functions as a noun, although it can also function as an adjective or adverb.
Usually, we use the infinitive after words such as: like, love, want, need.
Example of an infinitive: We need to leave the house at 7:00 AM tomorrow.
Her little brother always wants to play hide and seek.
A participle is a verb that ends in -ing (present participle) or -ed, -d, -t, -en, -n (past participle). Participles may function as adjectives, describing or modifying nouns. Often, they are used as cooking terms to describe how something is usually prepared.
Example of a participle : Do you like fried chicken?
The screaming baby across the aisle made my flight very unpleasant.
I’m kind of glad that I don’t need to know what it’s called to use it correctly 
