Participles and Participle Phrases

• A verb that acts as an adjective

• Present Participles end in -ing

• Past participles end in -ed, d, -t, or -en

• One word

• Must be relatively close to the noun or pronoun it modifies

• Example: Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.

• They evoke ACTION in your writing

• Let's take a look at an example...

Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the snake attacks its prey in anger.

• A phrase that has a verb that acts as an adjective

• Can be in the beginning, middle, or end of sentences

• Consists of that ONE word (participle), plus all the words that modify it.

• Example: Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.

• What or who does the phrase modify in this sentence?

• Sarah noticed her cousin walking along the shoreline.

• The participial phrase is functions as an adjective modifying cousin.

• walking (participle)

• along the shoreline (prepositional phrase)-- this tells us where the cousin is walking.

• The participial phrase acts as an adjective modifying James.

• Having been is the participle.

• a gymnast (subject complement)

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• When a participial phrase begins a sentence, a comma should be placed after the phrase.

• Example: Arriving at the store, I found that it was closed.

• Example: Washing and polishing the car, Frank developed sore muscles.

• If the participial phrase is placed in the middle of the sentence, it should be separated with commas only if the information is not essential (unnecessary) to the rest of the sentence.

• Sid, watching an old movie, drifted in and out of sleep.

• The church, destroyed by an old fire, was never rebuilt.

• The student receiving the highest grade point average will receive a special reward.

• The guy wearing the chicken costume is my cousin.

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