Download The Participle and the Participial Phrase

The Participle
and the
Participial
Phrase
What is a Participle?
1.
2.
Looks like a verb – a “verby”
looking word
Ends in –ing or –ed (some irregularly
formed…known)
3.
4.
Behaves as an adjective in the
sentence
Modifies nouns and pronouns
What Does a Participle Look Like?
EX: Leaping the fence, the cat surprised me.
Leaping looks like a verb, but it really
describes the cat. Surprised is the verb.
EX: Defeated teams should congratulate the
winners.
Defeated looks like a verb, but it is an
adjective that describes teams.
Your Turn To
Identify Participles
A peeled and sliced cucumber needs to
be added to the salad.
1.
Look for –ing and –ed words
Decide if the words act as adjectives or
verbs
Those acting as adjectives are participles
2.
3.
Your Turn To
Identify Participles



A peeled and sliced cucumber needs to be
added to the salad.
Peeled describes cucumber…adjective,
thus a participle
Sliced describes cucumber…adjective, thus
a participle
Needs is the action of the sentence…verb
What is a Participial Phrase?

It begins with the participle (-ing or –ed
word acting as an adjective) and also
contains other related words…prepositional
phrase, nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
adverbs
Phrase Look Like?

What Does a Participial
Outwitting the hounds, the raccoons easily
escaped.



Outwitting is the participle…describes raccoons
The hounds relates to outwitting…tells what was
outwitted
Outwitting the hounds is the participial phrase

It tells more information about the raccoons
Phrase Look Like?

What Does a Participial
I saw her fishing contentedly.



Fishing is the participle…describes her
Contentedly is related to fishing…describes how
she was fishing
Fishing contentedly is the participle phrase
Your Turn To
Identify Participial Phrases
1.
2.
3.
4.
Tackled on the one-yard line, Sam fumbled the
ball.
Look for –ing and –ed words
Decide if the words act as adjectives or verbs
Those acting as adjectives are participles and
begin the participial phrase
Identify the related words which make up the
phrase
Your Turn To
Identify Participial Phrases
Tackled on the one-yard line, Sam fumbled
the ball.

Tackled describes what happened to
Sam…adjective, thus participle
On the one-yard line is related to tackled…
tells where Sam was tackled
Fumbled tells what Sam did…verb


Participial Phrases
and Commas

Sentences which begin with a participial
phrase always have a comma at the end of
the participial phrase
Wildly cheering for the team, we celebrated
the victory.
What Are You
Expected To Do With
Participial Phrases?

Be able to locate and identify participial
phrases in sentences

Be able to use participial phrases in your
own writing to modify and enhance your
thoughts, along with adding variety to your
sentence beginnings
So, What’s a dangling participle?




A dangling participle does not describe the
subject of the sentence. For example:
DANGLING: Thrown into the air, the dog chased
after the stick.
CORRECT: Thrown into the air, the stick flew
away from the dog.
As the first sentence is written, it says that the
dog, not the stick, was thrown into the air. Since
the phrase does not describe the subject it is a
dangling participial phrase.
More Examples




DANGLING: Driving home in the storm, a
branch nearly fell on my car.
CORRECT: Driving home in the storm, I
watched as a branch nearly fell on my car.
DANGLING: Watching the play, the actors
enthralled the audience.
CORRECT: Watching the play, the
audience was enthralled by the actors.
A Helpful Hint


When you use a present participle, the
subject of the sentence should be doing
the action described in the participial
phrase.
When you write a past participle, the
subject of the sentence should receive
the action of the participle.
FIND THE PARTICIPIAL PHRASES IN
THESE CORRECT SENTENCES.




Flying from flower to flower, the bee made
its way through the field.
Shown in theatres everywhere, the movie
set a new box office record.
Painting a picture, the artist lost track of
time.
Left home alone by his parents, Johnny
stayed up later than usual.
FIGURE OUT HOW TO CORRECT THESE
SENTENCES WITH DANGLING PARTICIPIAL
PHRASES




Surrounded by Secret Service, the crowd
could barely see the President.
Walking along the beach, the waves crashed
at my feet.
Catching the ball, the last out caused a
celebration.
Dropped from the table, the chair stopped the
fork from hitting the floor.
PRACTICE

Now try creating a sentence of your own
that uses a present participial phrase.

Now try creating a sentence of your own
that uses a past participial phrase.