Lesson 229 - Parts of the Sentence - Verbals - Participles

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A participle is a verbal and is used as an adjective. Participles end in various ways. They nouns and pronouns and can precede or follow the word they modify.

 

A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective.  A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly.

 

Examples:

played, broken, brought, sung, seeing, having seen, being seen, seen, having been seen

A participial phrase is made up of a participle and any complements (direct objects, predicate nominatives, predicate adjectives, or modifiers) like the gerund. A participial phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentence is always followed by a comma and modifies the subject of the sentence.

Participial phrases are useful in combining pairs of sentences.

Instructions: Rewrite the following sentences placing the participial phrases where they should be.

1. Carl served me a malt dressed in his new uniform.

2. We found our cat walking home from school.

3. I was stung by a bee pruning my trees.

4. They found an antique store looking for a place to eat.

5. The package was delivered by the mailman wrapped with red paper.

--For answers scroll down.

Answers:

1. Dressed in his new uniform, Carl served me a malt.

2. Walking home from school, we found our cat.

3. Pruning my trees, I was stung by a bee.

4. Looking for a place to eat, they found an antique store.

5. The package, wrapped with red paper, was delivered by the mailman.

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