Question

Read the sentence and identify the type of verbal used.

"She was sad to hear that she had hurt their feelings."

A) Gerund
B) Infinitive
C) Participial phrase
D) Past verb tense

Answer 1

The verbal in the sentence "She was sad to hear that she had hurt their feelings" is an 'infinitive'. The infinitive phrase 'to hear' acts as an adverb, modifying the verb 'was sad'. Infinitives can function as nouns, adverbs, or adjectives in a sentence.

Therefore, option B is correct

Step-by-step explanation:

The sentence "She was sad to hear that she had hurt their feelings" uses an infinitive verbal. In this case, the infinitive phrase "to hear" functions as an adverb because it modifies the verb "was sad," explaining the reason for the sadness.

A few examples of identifying different types of verbals and phrases are:

• Participial Phrase: "Hoping against all hope that the balding tires would hold," is a participial phrase.
• Gerund Phrase: "He grew tired of their partying late into the night," uses a gerund phrase.
• Infinitive Phrase: "A fistfight is no way to resolve an argument," the phrase "to resolve" is an infinitive phrase functioning as an adjective.

Answer 2

The sentence contains an B) infinitive phrase, 'to hear', which functions as an adverb modifying the verb 'was'. The infinitive is the base form of a verb with 'to' preceding it, and it can act in various roles such as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Step-by-step explanation:

The sentence "She was sad to hear that she had hurt their feelings" contains an infinitive phrase. The infinitive phrase here is to hear, which is the base form of the verb hear preceded by the word to. This infinitive phrase functions adverbially, providing a reason for her sadness by modifying the verb 'was'. In general, an infinitive can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. For example, in the sentence "A fistfight is no way to resolve an argument.", the infinitive phrase to resolve an argument acts as an adjective modifying the noun way.