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The Participle and the

Participle Phrase

English-2

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Verbals and Verbal Phrases

• A VERBAL is a word that isformed from a verb but is used

as a noun, an adjective or anadverb.

• There are 3 types of verbals

• The participle

• The gerund

• The infinitive

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The Participle

• A participle is a verb form thatcan be used as an adjective.

• 1. Present participles end in  – ing• Ex) The smiling child waved.

 –  Smiling , a form of the verb smile,modifies the noun child.  

• Ex) The horses trotting past were notfrightened by the crowd.

 –  Trotting, a form of the verb trot, modifies the noun horses. 

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Examples

• 2. Most past participles end in– d 

or – ed.  Some past participles are

irregularly formed.

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Examples

• Ex.) The police officers searched the

abandoned  warehouse.

 –  Abandoned, a form of the verb

abandon, modifies the noun, warehouse. 

• Ex.) This plate, bought  at a flea

market, is a valuable antique.

• Ex.) Chosen  for her leadershipabilities, Dawn was an effective team

captain.

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*One last Tip:

• Do not confuse a participle used

as an adjective with a participle

used as part of a verb phrase.•  ADJECTIVE: Planning  their trip, the class learned

how to read a road map.

• VERB PHRASE: While they were planning their 

trip, the class learned how to read a road map.

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The Participial Phrase

• A participal phrase consists of a

participal and any modifiers or 

complements the participle has.The entire phrase is used as an

adjective.

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Modifier 

• A participle may be modified by

an adverb or an adverb phrase

and may also have acomplement, usually a direct

object.

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Examples

• Seeing itself in the mirror, the

duck seemed quite amused.

• The participal phrase modifies thenoun duck.  The pronoun itself is the

direct object of the present participle 

seeing.   The adverb phrase in the 

mirror modifies the present participle seeing.  

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Examples

• After a while , we heard the

duck quacking noisily at its own

image.• The participal phrase modifies the noun duck.

The adverb noisily and the adverb phrase at its

own image modify the present participle

quacking. 

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Examples:

• Then, disgusted with the other 

duck, it pecked the mirror.• The participal phrase modifies the pronoun it.

The adverb phrase with the other duck modifies

the past participle disgusted. 

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participial phrase

• A participial phrase should be placedas close as possible to the word itmodifies. Otherwise, the phrase mayappear to modify another word andthe sentence may not make sense.

• MISPLACED: Slithering through the grass, I sawa snake trimming the hedges this morning.

• CORRECTED: Trimming the hedges thismorning, I saw a snake slithering through thegrass.