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The Participle and the Participle Phrase. Verbals and Verbal Phrases. A VERBAL is a word that is formed from a verb but is used as a noun, an adjective or an adverb. There are 3 types of verbals The participle The gerund The infinitive. The Participle.
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Verbals and Verbal Phrases • A VERBAL is a word that is formed from a verb but is used as a noun, an adjective or an adverb. • There are 3 types of verbals • The participle • The gerund • The infinitive
The Participle • A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective. • 1. Present participles end in –ing • Ex) The smiling child waved. • Smiling, a form of the verb smile, modifies the noun child. • Ex) The horses trotting past were not frightened by the crowd. • Trotting, a form of the verb trot, modifies the noun horses.
2. Most past participles end in –d or –ed. Some past participles are irregularly formed.
Examples • Ex.) The police officers searched the abandonedwarehouse. • Abandoned, a form of the verb abandon, modifies the noun, warehouse. • Ex.) This plate, boughtat a flea market, is a valuable antique. • Ex.) Chosenfor her leadership abilities, Dawn was an effective team captain.
*One last Tip: • Do not confuse a participle used as an adjective with a participle used as part of a verb phrase. • ADJECTIVE: Planningtheir trip, the class learned how to read a road map. • VERB PHRASE: While they were planning their trip, the class learned how to read a road map.
The Participial Phrase • A participal phrase consists of a participal and any modifiers or complements the participle has. The entire phrase is used as an adjective.
A participle may be modified by an adverb or an adverb phrase and may also have a complement, usually a direct object.
Examples • Seeing itself in the mirror, the duck seemed quite amused. • The participal phrase modifies the nounduck. The pronounitself is the direct object of the present participleseeing.The adverb phrasein the mirror modifies the present participleseeing.
Examples • After a while , we heard the duck quacking noisily at its own image. • The participal phrase modifies the noun duck. The adverb noisily and the adverb phrase at its own image modify the present participle quacking.
Examples: • Then, disgusted with the other duck, it pecked the mirror. • The participal phrase modifies the pronoun it. The adverb phrase with the other duck modifies the past participle disgusted.
A participial phrase should be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies. Otherwise, the phrase may appear to modify another word and the sentence may not make sense. • MISPLACED: Slithering through the grass, I saw a snake trimming the hedges this morning. • CORRECTED: Trimming the hedges this morning, I saw a snakeslithering through the grass.