Transcript Intro to Participles - Montgomery County Schools


A participle is a verb form that can be
used as an adjective.
Ex. The boiling water on the stove is
hot.
Boil is a verb but when adding
–ing to the word in makes it a
participle.

Present Participles
These are formed by adding an –ing to
the base form of the verb.
Base Verb Form
Present Participle Form
burn
burning
chase
chasing
dance
dancing
learn
learning

Mr. Sanchez rescued three people from
the burning building.
Burning is the present participle of the
verb burn. The participle modifies the
noun building.

Chasing the cat, the dog ran down the
street.
Chasing is the present participle of the
verb chase. The participle modifies the
noun dog.

Past Participles
These are formed by adding a –d or –ed
to the end of the base form. However,
some verbs are irregular and are formed
in other ways.
Base Verb Form
Past Participle Form
train
trained
freeze
frozen
discourage
discouraged
fall
fallen

Well trained, the soldier successfully
carried out her mission.
Trained the past participle of train
modifies the noun soldier.

We skated on the frozen pond.
Frozen the irregular past participle
modifies the noun pond.
Follow the three steps
1. Find the subject of the sentence.
The pouring rain drove us inside during the party.
2.
Find the real verb.
The pouring rain drove us inside during the party.
3.
Look for other words that look like verbs.
(HINT: look for words ending in –ing, -ed,
-d, -en, or –t)
The pouring rain drove us inside during the party.

Be careful not to confuse Participles used as adjectives with
participles in verb phrases.
REMEMBER: Participles in verb phrases are part of the
verb.
Example:
Singing cheerfully, the birds perched among the
branches on the trees.
The birds were singing cheerfully among the
branches of the trees.
Participial Phrases are made up of a
Participles together with its modifiers and
complements.
Participle
Adverb
Modified
Noun
Stretching slowly, the cat jumped from the
windowsill.
Notice that the Participle is modified by the
adverb slowly. The entire phrase,
Stretching slowly, modifies the noun cat.

The tornado predicted by the meteorologist did
not hit our area.
The Participle predicted is modified by the
prepositional phrase by the meteorologist. The
entire participial phrase modifies the noun tornado.

Reading the assignment, she took notes
carefully.
The assignment modifies the Participle reading. The
entire phrase, reading the assignment, modifies the
noun she.
Both Participles and Participial Phrases can be
found at the beginning, middle, or end of a
sentence. However, they must be relatively
close to noun that they are modifying!
They can appear as the following:
1. Sentence Openers
2. Subject-Verb Split
3. Sentence Closers
Surrounded by her closest friends, Jane enjoyed
her party.
When the Participle or Participial Phrases is
located at the beginning of the sentence,
it is called a sentence opener.
Surrounded by her closest friends, Jane enjoyed
her party.

Shouting his dog's name, Ross headed for the
park.

Cooked to perfection, my father's meal
beckoned us to eat.

Having been a gymnast, Lynn knew the
importance of exercise.

Bothered by the ants, Larry brought out the
industrial can of RAID ant spray.
Jake, slipping on a banana peel, let out a shriek.
When the Participle or Participial Phrase is
located between the subject and the verb
within the sentence, then it is considered to
be a subject-verb split.
Jake, slipping on a banana peel, let out a shriek.

Children introduced to music early develop
strong intellectual skills.

Mr. Jones, wearing a white tropical suit and
a wide brimmed hat, was the first ashore.

The drummer, searching through the crowd,
located the singer.

Sophie, sitting on the Big Friendly Giant’s
hand, peeped out of the cave.
I heard something pounding against the
windowpane.
When the Participle and Participial Phrase is
located at the end of the sentence it is called
a sentence closer.
I heard something pounding against the
windowpane.

You could see the panther releasing its
grip.

We must raise funds to replace the
window broken in the storm last week.

The cycle hit a stretch of ice as it
rounded the bend and slid sideways,
tottering and veering toward the
shoulder.

Use a comma in the following situations:
 when a Participle and Participial Phrase is used as
an introduction to the sentence.
Ex. Beginning a new school year, Kerri felt
somewhat nervous.
 when a Participle and Participial Phrase is used as
a nonessential piece of the sentence.
Ex. My sister, listening to her radio, did not hear me.