Download Participial Phrases

Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Phrases
A phrase is a group of words
that acts as a part of speech
rather than as a complete
sentence. You already know the
function of a noun, adjective, or
adverb—a phrase simply takes on one
of those functions. A phrase does not
have a subject or a verb. The two main
kinds of phrases are prepositional
phrases and verbal phrases.
!Adios!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Phrases
Another kind of phrase is the verbal—
infinitive, gerunds, & participles.
As you can tell from the name,
they are related to verbs. They
look verby—yes, that’s a word
—but never act as verbs.
Instead they act as nouns, adjectives,
or adverbs. There are three types of
verbals we’ll study: participial phrases,
infinitive phrases, and gerund phrases.
I’m outta
here!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm
!
Learning about Participial Phrases
These are simply phrases that
seem to have verbs but
not subjects. A participle
is really half a verb.
participle
fallen
screaming
verb
had fallen
was screaming
screaming
See the difference? A participle
can’t take a subject, because
it’s missing part of
the verb. A participle
looks like a verb, but
it isn’t complete. A form
of the verb to be + a
participle = a verb.
With the verb to be, you only
have a participle. The
function of a
participial phrase is
to modify a noun—in
other words, a
participial phrase acts
as an adjective. Whoa!
!Hasta la
vista, baby!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Participial Phrases
Lying on her bed,
Shanna ordered
Chinese food.
The socks lost in the
dryer were her
favorites.
Screaming with
laughter, the students
hid under their desks.
Kolby, left behind at
school, wept over his
homework.
See how each participial phrase tells us
something about a noun? Lying on her
bed describes Shanna
and lost in the dryer
describes the socks.
Notice that Shanna is the
subject of the verb ordered;
socks is the subject of were.
So lying, screaming, left, and
lost have no subject; instead
of acting as verbs, they are
describing the subject of the
sentence. Recognizing
participial phrases is
crucial in avoiding the
dreaded misplaced
modifier or dangling
participle. Hey, that’s
pretty simple.
Well,
that’s it!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Dangling Modifiers
A modifier is a word or group of words
that describes another.
Modifiers can be adjectives:
Keng made a brilliant statement
(adjective)
(noun)
Modifiers can be adverbs:
Alex bowled wonderfully
(verb)
(adverb)
 Modifiers can be clauses or phrases:
The girl who snuck out her window was my date.
(noun) (Clause modifies noun = adjective clause)
I’m ghost!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Misplaced Modifiers
Funny things happen when modifiers
appear too far away from
the words they modify.
Example: Carolyn soaked
the foot she sprained in
ice water.
–An odd injury—Carolyn
sprained her ankle in ice
water?
Example: Brandon hit a
homerun to left
field, which flew
over the fence.
•Left field flew over the
fence? Doesn’t that
sound a bit strange?
 Keep modifiers close
to the words modified.
 Keep the subject and
verb together.
 Be clear about which noun a
pronoun stands for.
!Dicho y
hecho!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Dangling Participial Phrases
Another type of misplaced modifier is the
dangling participial phrase.
Participles, as you recall,
are verb forms ending with
-ing in the present tense and
-d or -ed in the past tense. A
few participles end in -t or have
irregular forms.
Participle examples: dribbling,
skating, scaled, burned or burnt
Combine a participle with other words to
create a participial phrase.
Remember, participial phrases
act as adjectives because they
modify a noun in a sentence.
Participle Phrase examples:
filled with hope
cleaning the bathroom
jumping overboard
That’s it!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Verbals (Infinitives)
When the preposition to is followed by a noun,
it is a prepositional phrase: to
the beach. When to is followed
by a verb—to run, to see, to feel
—it is an infinitive. Why does this
matter? The rules that govern
infinitives are different from rules
that govern prepositional phrases; since
infinitives are closely related to verbs,
they can have a passive or active voice
as well as present or perfect tense.
!Hasta
mañana!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Other Types of Phrases
Emily wanted to leave.
Ask yourself: “What
did Emily want?”
Answer: “To leave,” which
is an infinitive phrase acting
as a noun.
Kenny works hard to make
money.
Ask yourself: “Why
does Kenny work?”
Answer: “To make money,”
an infinitive phrase acting
as an adverb, modifying
work.
Woo hoo!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Other Types of Phrases
Emily wanted to leave.
Ask yourself: “What
did Emily want?”
Answer: “To leave,” which
is an infinitive phrase acting
as a noun.
To read is to be transported
to another world.
Answer: to another
world is a prepositional
phrase acting as an
adverb, telling where
transported.
Let’s do
more!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Other Types of Phrases
Liz wanted to know
why her so-called
boyfriend thought he
was a pimp.
Answer: to know is an
infinitive
To have been in love
is to have suffered.
Answer: To have been
is the subject of the
sentence; to have suffered is
an infinitive acting as an
adverbial phrase.
To have been in love
is to have suffered.
Answer: To have been
is the subject of the
sentence; to have suffered is
an infinitive acting as an
adverbial phrase.
Alrighty
then!
Things
That
Make
Ya Go,
Hmmm!
Learning about Gerund Phrases
A gerund is an –ing verb
that acts as a noun.
Since it acts as a
noun, it can be the
subject of a sentence or
the object of a verb or
preposition.
Daydreaming was her
favorite pastime.
Winning the lottery
is my only hope.
She loved eating
pastries and staying up
all night.
Dante hated studying.
Partying and e-mailing
his friends took up most
of his homework time.
He was thinking of hiring
someone to upgrade his
computer, but unfortunately,
spending money appalled him.
!Basta!