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LESSON 34: PARTICIPIAL PHRASES Review

• Phrases are groups of words, without both a subject and a verb, functioning as single parts of speech.

• Participles are words that are formed from verbs and act as adjectives. They end in ing, -d, -t, or -n.

Lesson

If you mixed those two definitions together, you'd get participial phrases. Notice that we don't call these participle phrases. The word participle changes to participial when we make it an adjective.

A participial phrase is made of a participle and any word(s) that modify or complement it. The whole phrase acts as an adjective.

Examples: Stars shooting across the sky are pretty.

Food frozen for five years doesn't taste good.

Playing the guitar, my sister concentrated on each chord.

Shooting across the sky is a participial phrase modifying the noun stars.

Frozen for five years is a participial phrase modifying the noun food.

Playing the guitar is a participial phrase modifying the noun sister.

Complements and Modifiers

Participles act as adjectives, but because they are formed from verbs, they maintain some of their "verbness" and can do many things that verbs can do.

Starts shooting across the sky are pretty. Across the sky is an adverbial prepositional phrase modifying the participle shooting.

Food frozen for five years doesn't taste good.

For five years is an adverbial prepositional phrase modifying the participle frozen.

Playing the guitar, my sister concentrated on each chord.

Guitar is a direct object of the participle playing. Participles really are a mix between adjectives and verbs!


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Diagramming Participial Phrases

Diagram the participle as you normally would. Add its complements (direct object…) and modifiers (adverbs…) as you see in the following examples.

You already know how to diagram all of these things! Just pretend that the participle is a normal verb (on a slanted line), and diagram everything as you normally would.

Remember that participial phrases are adjectives and they can modify any noun or pronoun.

Diagramming Participial Phrases

Participle + Adverb

Participle + Prepositional Phrase

Participle + Direct Object

Participle + Predicate Noun/

Predicate Adjective


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Here is a participial phrase modifying the subject of the sentence. It contains a participle, an adverb, a direct object, and an adjective.

Happily playing the guitar, my sister concentrated on each chord.

Gerund or Participle?

Gerunds end in -ing, and participles may end in -ing.

How can you tell if a word is acting as a participle or a gerund? Ask yourself these questions.

• Is it being used as an adjective? Remember that participles act as adjectives. If the answer is YES, then the word is a participle. Playing the guitar, my sister concentrated on each chord. Playing the guitar is an adjective modifying sister, so playing the guitar is a participial phrase and playing is a participle.

• Is it being used as a noun? If the answer is YES, then the word is a gerund. Playing the guitar is my favorite activity. Playing the guitar is the subject of the sentence (a noun), so playing the guitar is a gerund phrase and playing is a gerund.


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Lesson 34 Sentence Diagramming Exercises

1. We searched for the treasure hidden in the forest.

Key

We searched for the treasure hidden in the forest.

We

searched

for the treasure

for

treasure

the

participial phrase (adjective)

participle (adjective)

prepositional phrase (adverb)

preposition

object of the preposition (noun)

the


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2. Swaggering through the room, the man looked confident.

Key

Swaggering through the room, the man looked confident

man

the



through the room

through

room

the

verb (intransitive linking)

predicate adjective


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3. Delivering newspapers, David rode his bike through the neighborhood.

Key

Delivering newspapers, David rode his bike through the neighborhood.

David

Delivering newspapers

Delivering

newspapers

rode

through the neighborhood

through

neighborhood

the

bike

his


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4. Whistling a song from the concert, he walked through the street and arrived at his car.

Hints: Participial phrases come immediately before or after the noun or pronoun that they modify. The participial phrase in this sentence is modifying the pronoun he.

This sentence contains a compound verb.

Key

Whistling a song from the concert, he walked through the street and arrived

at his car.

subject (pronoun)



direct object of participle (noun)

a


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from the concert

from

concert

the

compound verbs (intransitive complete)

coordinating conjunction

through the street

through

street

the

at his car

at

car

his


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5. Filled with joy, Mark opened his birthday presents.

Key

Filled with joy, Mark opened his birthday presents.

Mark

Filled with joy

Filled

with joy

with

joy

opened

presents

his, birthday

Extra Practice: Diagramming Participles & Participial Phrases Directions: Diagram the following sentences on a separate sheet of paper.

1. The sleeping dogs snuggled in the corner of the porch.

2. I need baked apples for this recipe.

3. Oh no! Tom has a broken arm!

4. Burnt marshmallows taste delicious.

5. The ceremony was held outside, and we were grateful for the shining sun.

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LESSON 34: PARTICIPIAL PHRASES - Amazon S3 · LESSON 34: PARTICIPIAL PHRASES Review ... Guitar is a direct object of the participle playing. Participles really are a mix between …