PARTICIPLE and PARTICIPIAL PHRASE

A participle is a verb form that functions as an adjective by modifying nouns an

d pronouns. A participle can be either a present participle or a past participle
. A participial phrase includes the participle, plus any modifiers and complemen
ts.
Present Examples:
Shivering, the couple ran out of the rain and into the house.
(Shivering is the present participle. It modifies couple.)
The sobbing child held his injured knee.
(Sobbing is the present participle. It modifies child.)
Sweeping across the night sky, the bats hunted their prey.
(Sweeping is the present participle, and sweeping across the night sky is the pa
rticipial phrase. The participial phrase modifies bats.)
Searching the glove compartment, Eva looked for her sunglasses.
(Searching is teh present participle, and searching the glove compartment is the
participial phrase. The participial phrase modifies Eva.)
Past Examples:
The broken window needed to get repaired quickly.
(Broken is the past participle. It modifies window.)
To make the batter, stir the beaten eggs into the flour.
(Beaten is the past participle. It modifies eggs.)
Excited about dinner, Marco ran the whole way home.
(Excited is the past paticiple, and excited about dinner is the participial phra
se. The participial phrase modifies Marco.)
Frightened by the loud fireworks, the dog hid under the couch.
(Frightened is the past participle, and frightened by the loud fireworks is the
participial phrase. The participial phrase modifies dog.)
Exercises: Circle the participle in the sentence and underline the word it modif
ies.
1. The burning building collapsed into the street.
2. We loved the laughing baby.
3. The excited fan screamed when she saw the singer.
4. The poor child had a worn coat with no buttons.
5. The proud mother looked at her grown children and knew she had raised them we
ll.
Words made of a verb but is modifying a noun:
*shooting star (shoot-verb)
*crying babies (cry=verb)
*frozen food (froze=verb)
*burned toast (burn-verb)
*Frozen lakes are beautiful.
PHRASES- are group of words, without both a subject and a verb, functioning as a
single part of speech
PARTICIPIAL PHRASE-consist of a participle along with all of its modifiers and c
omplements
Examples:
1. Babies crying in the night bother me.
2. Food frozen for over five years tastes icky.
3. Burned on each side, toast was inedible.
4. Throwing rocks across the water, my friend smiled.
5. Crunching caramel corn for the entire movie.
6. Stuck in the bcak of the closet behind the obsolete computer.

7. The horse trotting up to the fence hopes that you have an apple or carrot.
8. The water drained slowly in the pipe clogged with dog hair.
9. Eaten by mosquitoes, we wished that we had made hotel, not campsite, reservat
ions.
10. Shouting with happiness, Celso celebrated his chance to an interview.
STEPS:
a. Find the participle (throwing)
b. Find the noun that it modifies (friend)
c. Find the rest of the phrase (rocks across the water)
d. Figure out what the rest of teh phrase is doing
Identify the Participial Phrase and Gerund Phrase in the sentence.
1. Walking on the beach, Amor dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore.
Walking on the beach is painful if jellyfish have washed ashore.
2. After a long day at school and work, Shane found her roommate Ben eating the
last of teh leftover pizza.
Ben's rudest habit is eating the last of the leftover pizza.
3. Waking to the buzz of the alarm clock, Fred cursed the arrival of another Mon
day.
Fred hates waking to the buzz of the alarm clock.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
n.
o.
p.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.
w.
x.
y.
z.

The jumping frog landed in her lap.

Lucy had a calling to help other people.
The mother barely caught the crawling baby before he went into the street.
Escaping was the only thought he had.
Paul bought new climbing gear.
They won the award for caring for sick animals.
Running in the halls is strictly forbidden.
The house was filled with a haunting spector.
I saw him lying on the beach.
She believes in giving her whole heart.
He likes running in the sand.
Choosing the right major is a tough job for a lot of students.
He likes flying bugs.
He switched to smoking electronic cigarettes.
Eating in the grass-filled noodles, he made a face.
The girl eating the chocolate bar is going to gain weight.
The children playing in the yard need to go inside.
Shouting at the top of his lungs, he threw a brick at the house.
Terrifying experiences can scar a child for life.
I watched the raising of the U.S. flag last night.
His eyes followed the bouncing ball across the screen.
The horses ran into the burning barn.
She thought he'd be mad, but he showed her compassion and understanding.
I like baking dishes.
Falling down in Belfast was a memorable experience.
Sometimes preacher pray, "Forgive us for falling short of your glory."