Parts of the Sentence - Verbals - Participles
A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. 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. Participles modify nouns and pronouns and can precede or follow the word modified. (Do not confuse participles that end in ing with gerunds. Participles are used as adjectives; gerunds are used as nouns.)
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.
Instructions: Find the participial phrases in these sentences and tell what word they modify.
1. The man running slowly still finished the race.
2. The boy having been scolded finally did his work.
3. The teacher, having retired, could now travel widely.
4. The soldier, having saluted his superior, continued on his way.
5. The truck swerving and sliding hit the brick wall.
--For answers scroll down.
1. running slowly modifies man
2. having been scolded modifies boy
3. having retired modifies teacher
4. having saluted his superior modifies soldier
5. swerving and sliding modifies truck
DAILY GRAMMAR - - - - by Mr. Johanson
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