Grammar Mini-Lesson #13: Participles and Participial Phrases
Objective: To be able to recognize participles and participial phrases
Purpose: To . . . well, you know
Definition: You already know one kind of verbal (gerunds). Just as with gerunds, participles can work alone or link up with other words to form a participial phrase. Participles are used as adjectives. As with gerunds, do not confuse participles with verb phrases, which show action.
Gerund: Boiling an egg properly is tricky for an inexperienced cook. (Boiling an egg properly is an activity, so it’s a gerund phrase.)
Verb Phrase: The water was boiling in the teakettle. (Was boiling is what the water was actually doing, so it’s a verb phrase.)
Participle: Boiling over with anger, he threw his cup of coffee across the room and shouted obscenities. (Boiling over with anger describes he – as well as demonstrates an unhealthy and potentially dangerous way to deal with anger unless one is alone – so it’s a participial phrase.)
Participles and participial phrases can also be built from past participles:
She felt frozen in place after she learned she’d won the award.
Concerned by his response, she made an appointment to meet with him.
Words in Action: Participial phrases are underlined.
1. Nodding his head, the defendant acknowledged his guilt.
2. The theater company, thrilled by the success of the show, added several more performances.
3. Delayed by the cold temperatures, the school day began two hours late.
Practice: Underline the participial phrases.
1. Staking his reputation on the success of the product, the CEO took the company public.
2. Their dishes, broken beyond repair by the earthquake, were thrown in the trash.
3. Drumming his wings wildly, the male pheasant tries to attract the female’s attention.
4. Flamingoes, stretching their wings and bowing, perform an elaborate courtship dance.
5. Waiting patiently on the deck, the passengers were hoping on another ship to rescue them.
6. Struggling vigorously, she managed to swim to safety.