Participle Phrase
* A. What is a
participle?
==> ‘Participle’
is a term in English grammar to refer to two endings of non-finite verbs. These
are ‘ing’, the present participle, and ‘ed’, or other irregular verbs, the past
participle.
Forms:
1.
Present Participle: Verb
+ ing
2.
Past Participle: V3
Regular
verb Irregular
verb
stay...................
stayed do.............................done
look..................looked speak........................spoken
desert................deserted write.........................written
kill....................killed
steal..........................stolen
Usages
- Verb
Participles are used with t he
auxiliary verbs be and have to make progressive, perfect and passive verb
forms.
Examples:
-
With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our
alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her poodle.
-
There are a lot of people listening to his speech.
-
She has been
here for ages.
-
I had seen
him before.
-
The book was read.
-
The bridge was being repaired.
- Adjective
Participles can
be used like adjectives.
Examples:
-
I love the noise of falling rain.
- She
ways she’s got a broken heart.
-
John has become very boring.
-
The house looked abandoned.
- Adverbs
Sometime
participles are used like adverbs.
Examples:
-
She ran screaming
out of the room.
-
He walks eating
cake.
-
He walked smoking.
-
He is walking singing.
* B. What is a participle phrase?
==> A participial phrase contains a
participle plus its modifiers. A
participial phrase has a past or present participle
as its head.
There are two functions of
Participle Phrase as Adjective Phrase (see Adjective Phrase) and Adverbial
Phrase. However, Adverbial Phrase _ in Participle Phrase _ is called Absolute
Phrase (see Absolute Phrase).
- Adjective (see Adjective and Adjectival Phrase)
Examples:
-
I saw an interesting
book on the table.
-
She looked at the broken
chair.
-
The pond, frozen over
since early December, is now safe for ice-skating. [modifies
"pond"]
-
The completed statue looked very lifelike.
2.
Participle phrase as adverbial phrase (Adverb clause is
reduced)
(see Adverbial
phrase)
a.
Impersonal Absolute
(1) The participle is
preceded by a Verb-Adjective, must qualify some Noun or Pronoun. As such, it
must have a proper “subject of reference” or, in other words, it must be in
agreement with the Subject.
Examples:
-
Instead of saying, “walking on the road, I saw a snake,”
we should say, “When I was walking on the road, I saw a snake.
- Similarly, instead
of saying, “Being a fine day, we went out for
a picnic”, we should say “It being a fine day, we went out for a picnic.”
-
Used
economically, one tin will last for six weeks. (= if it is used…)
-
Having failed my
medical exams, I took up teaching. (= As I had failed…)
-
Putting down my
newspaper, I walked over to the window. (= After I had put down my newspaper, …)
-
It rained for two weeks on end, completely ruining our holiday. (…, so that it completely ruined
our holiday.)
(2) In some
cases, however, there may be no proper “subject of reference” for the verb.
Examples:
-
Truly speaking, she loves her
mother dearly.
-
Considering his achievements, he deserves to
be promoted.
-
Looking for her dog, she went out. =
She
went out looking for her dog.
b. Nominative Absolute and Absolute
Phrase
When a Participle,
preceded by a Noun or Pronoun forms an Independent Phrase, the latter is called
an Absolute Phrase and the preceding Noun or Pronoun is called a Nominative
Absolute.
Examples;
-
Weather-permitting, we shall see you
in the evening. (if weather permits,…)
-
God-willing, you will be
successful in your venture. (if God wills,…)
-
The weather being fine, we went out for
a picnic. (Because the weather was fine,…)
-
The sun having risen, we set out on
our journey. (After the sun had risen,…)
-
He, working with full strength, could not pass.
(Although he worked with full strength,…
* Be careful not to mistake a gerund
phrase or a present participle phrase.
Gerund and
present participle phrases are easy to confuse because they both begin with an ing word. The difference is that a gerund phrase will
always function as a noun while a present participle phrase describes another
word in the sentence.
Check out these examples:
- Jamming too much clothing into a washing machine will result in
disaster.
==> Jamming too
much clothing into a washing machine = gerund phrase, the subject of the
verb will result.
- Jamming too much clothing into the washing
machine, Aamir saved $1.25 but had to tolerate the curious stares of other
laundry patrons as his machine bucked and rumbled with the heavy load.
==> Jamming too much clothing into the
washing machine = present participle phrase describing Aamir.
-
Bernard hates buttering
toast with a fork.
==> Buttering toast with a fork = gerund
phrase, the direct object of the verb hates.
-
Buttering toast
with a fork, Bernard vowed that he would finally wash the week's worth of
dirty dishes piled in the sink.
==> Buttering toast with a fork = present
participle phrase describing Bernard.
-
My dog's most annoying habit is hogging the middle of the bed.
==> Hogging the middle of the bed =
gerund phrase, the subject complement of the linking verb is.
-
Last night I had to sleep on the couch because I found
my dog Floyd hogging the middle of the
bed.
==> Hogging the middle of the bed =
present participle phrase describing Floyd.
* Points to remember
- A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, or -n (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun.
- A participial phrase consists of a participle plus modifier(s), object(s), and/or complement(s).
- Participles and participial phrases must be placed as close to the nouns or pronouns they modify as possible, and those nouns or pronouns must be clearly stated.
- A participial phrase is set off with commas when it:
- a) comes at the beginning of a sentence
- b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element
- c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.
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