 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 FormPresent Participle Form burnburning chasechasing dancedancing learnlearning

 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 FormPast Participle Form traintrained freezefrozen discouragediscouraged fallfallen

 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. 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. Participle Adverb Modified Noun

 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.