Participial%20Phrases
Participles and Participial Phrases
Quick review
So far, we have covered prepositional phrases
Ex: The man walked on the moon. During
break, Laura slept a lot.
Prepositional phrases
Remember: If prep phrases are at the beginning of a sentence, they need to be followed by a comma.
We have also covered appositives
Ex. Sam, a drummer, is in 7th hour. A bass player, Nils, is in 5th hour.
Appositives
Remember: Appositives are always set off by commas.
Now we are moving on to participial phrases:
Participle: Verb (action word) form used as an adjective (describing word) Example: We watched the glowing fire.
woman,
sobbing, went home.
young
The
The burned house was in pieces.
To be sure that you don’t get confused, circle the verb in each sentence. Note: A participle is a verb form that is acting as an adjective. In the above example, burned is the past tense of the verb “burn.” If the sentence read: The burnt house was in pieces, burnt would not be a participial, as it is not a verb form. A good rule is to look for a verb suffix: ed, ing, s, es, etc.
Exercise 1: Underline each participle or participial phrase and draw a line to the word it describes. Then, circle the verb(s) in each sentence.
1.The spitting bull attacked the matador.
2.The tree, swaying in the breeze, was an oak.
3.Burned by the fire, the picture was no longer worth keeping.
4.The crying student was escorted to the counselor.
5.Under Gandolf’s careful watch, a growing Frodo turned into an
incredible steward of the ring.
Participial Phrase: A participle (like you just identified above) plus any of its
complements.
modifiers
or
Examples:
Conner, arriving early, noticed that something was strange in Rm. 2159
"Arriving early” is the participial phrase. The verb here is ____________. The participle is "arriving.” "Early” is included in the phrase because it the adjective which modifies, or describes "arriving.” In other words, it tells how the arriving was done.
Conner, arriving with the keys, noticed that something was strange. "Arriving with the Keys” is the participial phrase. The participle is "arriving.” "With the keys” is included because it is a prepositional phrase that modifies "arriving”
The lawn mower, ruined by the rain,would not start.
"Ruined by the rain” is the participial phrase. The participle is "ruined”. "By the rain” is included because it is a prepositional phrase that modifies "ruined.”
The man teaching the class is Mr. Quinlan
"Teaching the class'" is the participial phrase. The participle is "teaching”. "The class” is included in the phrase because it clarifies what she is teaching—it is called a complement. The verb is _________.
Exercise #2
Directions: underline the participial phrases, circle the participles, and draw an arrow from each participle to the noun or pronoun it modifies/describes.
1.The window broken by Tom’s baseball was an expensive one.
2.The teacher giving the fewest homework assignments gets a prize.
3.Wounded by the porcupine, Tom had to be taken to the emergency room.
4.A special safety film will be shown to the students taking drivers
education.
5.Embarrassed by all the attention on the court, Tasha nodded shyly to
the audience.
6.The mountain-like structures seen on the surface of Mars are actually
natural formations.
7.My sister, Molly, has read every book written by J.R.R. Tolkien.
8.Scanning the sky for clouds, the hikers plodded on slowly.
9.Richard Daley, hearing the results of the election, smiled happily.
10.Mr. Quinlan, presenting his students with the trophy, looked a bit
dubious.
Comma Rules with Participial Phrases
Rule #1: A participial phrase used at the beginning of the sentence is
considered an introductory phrase and, like the introductory
prepositional phrase, is ALWAYS set off by a comma. Example: Driving through the rains, we could barely see the road.
Tired and aching from practice, Sherrod and Steve limped home. Rule #2: Sometimes a participial phrase appears within a sentence — not at the beginning. I f the phrase is absolutely necessary to the
meaning of the sentence, it is called a RESTRICTIVE PHRASE
and is NOT set off by commas.
RESTRICTIVE PHRASE = NO COMMAS (just like relative clauses) Example: All students having honor cards can elect to not take a final exam.
T h i s i s e s s e n t i a l b e c a u s e i f y o u t a k e o u t t h e participial phrase, the s e n t e n c e b e c o m e s
"A l l s t u d e n t s c a n c h o o s e not take a final exam” and that completely changes the
meaning of the s e n t e n c e.T h e r e f o r e,n o c o m m a s are needed around that participial
phrase.
The person seated by Anna is Nick.
T h i s i s e s s e n t i a l b e c a u s e i t d e f i n e s t o w h i c h“p e r s o n”i s b e i n g r e f e r r e d.
Rule #3: A phrase that merely adds description or extra information, but which does NOT identify anything or anyone essential is called
NONRESTRTICTIVE (surprising, isn't it) Set these off WITH
COMMAS.
NONRESTRICTIVE = COMMAS!!! (Just like relative clauses) Examples: Jeff, dribbling down the court, showed his dominance.
Our swimsuits, drenched with water, were in a heap on the
bathroom floor.
Exercise #3
Directions: Underline each of the participial phrases in the following
sentences. Add commas where appropriate. Circle your commas.
1.The crowd cheering and stamping drowned out the audience.
2.The person elected secretary will be in charge of taking notes at the
meetings.
3.Hearing the new evidence the lawyer shook her head in disbelief.
4.A lone windmill creaking mournfully stood high above the deserted farm.
5.The members of the band exhausted from marching practice went home.
6.The shorts given to me for gym class are way too big.
7.Published in 1941 the novel is still a best seller.
8.The person wearing the kilt was Ewen McGregor.
9.The four books chosen by Kevin were all spy novels.
10.The burning bacon filled the kitchen with smoke.
11.The wrestler winning the gold medal is Nick Davey.
Placing Participial Phrases
?Participial phrases must be carefully placed or they can be very confusing to the reader. Be particularly careful with introductory participial phrases, because those have the tendency to get most confusing. Make sure they are describing the noun that first follows them in the sentence. Otherwise, the following types of confusing sentences can happen:
Scratching fleas and hanging by his tail, the photographer watched the monkey.
OR
Covered with butter, I served the pancakes.
?Another common mistake is when the writer forgets to put in ANY word within the sentence that the participial phrase describes. A participial phrase must modify something.
In the following sentences, the participial phrase modifies nothing:
Waving and shouting, the rescue plane came near.
Tired from a long hike, even a meal of crackers sounded tempting.
They need to have something like the following added:
Waving and shouting, the shipwrecked crew rejoiced as the rescue plane came near.
Tired from a long hike, the group thought even a meal of crackers sounded tempting.
Exercise #4
Directions: read each of the following sentences. You will need to rewrite each one to address the following issues:
?Add a noun or pronoun if the phrase modifies nothing
?If needed, move the participial phrase closer to the noun
?Add necessary commas
?Finally, underline the participial phrase and draw an arrow to the word that it modifies.
1.Freshly washed and folded the sheets were stacked in the linen closet.
2.Possessing great agility the athlete outwitted his opponent.
3.Lizzie watched a comet sitting in the tent in her backyard.
4.Waiting for Alan Jackson tickets to go on sale the night grew colder.
5.The honor roll students will meet in that room selling yearbooks.
6.The teakettle whistling shrilly filled the room with steam.
7.Geoff puzzled by the metric measurements in the cookbook put too much sugar
in Kelly’s birthday cake.
8.Suspended above the treetops we saw the full moon.
9.Not knowing any of the answers on the test the score was a zero.
10.I sleepily watched the countryside riding in the yellow school bus.