Participial Phrases

Lesson 3 Participial Phrases

Essential Question

How can a verb join forces with other words to transform itself into a complex adjective?

Grammar in the World

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What Do I Know?

What do you already know about groups of words that give more information? Take this quiz to find out.

Directions: Read each of the following sentences carefully, in which participial phrases are in bold. Then, identify which word the participial phrase describes.

Building Blocks

Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:

Learn About Participial Phrases

Participial phrases always describe a noun or a pronoun. The complete phrase functions as a single adjective in the sentence.

Participial phrases are a wonderful tool for creating more interesting sentences, because unlike boring lists of adjective after adjective, they can take so many different forms! Your writing will never get dull if you sprinkle it with participial phrases that add rich details and extra information to your sentences.

Consider this example:

Pho is a famous dish in Vietnam. Pho is my favorite food. Pho is salty and spicy.

There’s some good information about pho here, but these aren’t particularly fun or interesting sentences to read.

Now look what happens when I replace the simple adjectives with a participial phrase:

Always salted and spiced just right, pho is my favorite Vietnamese dish.

Vietnamese pho chefs, salting and spicing with precise care every time, have created my favorite dish

Do you hear the difference? Participial phrases give you control as a writer because they give you so many options for ways to enrich and add texture to your sentences.

Participial phrases can be a bit confusing at first, however, because they come in so many different forms.

Review: Participles

First, let’s review what a participle is:

A participle is a word formed from a verb (e.g. blushed, blushing) that acts as an adjective (e.g. blushed cheeks, blushing bride). It describes a noun or a pronoun in the sentence.

Participle forms are determined by the verb tense.

For Example:

Present =

verb ending with -ing

Past =

verb ending with -ed (or irregular past tense verb)

working

loving

relaxing

cooking

worked

loved

relaxed

cooked

*Even though they don’t end with -ed, past tense irregular verbs also can be past participles:

written

broken

given

known

cut

dreamt

sung

Regardless of the verb's form (and verbs come in a wide variety of forms and tenses!), it becomes an adjective when it describes a noun or pronoun, and that's what turns the verb into a participle:

Working mothers are exhausted. [arrow from working to mothers]

Using worked wood makes the new furniture look antique. [arrow from worked to wood]

Having worked, I was due for a break. [arrow from 'having worked' to I]

Review: Phrases

A phrase is a group of words that works together to give more information about something in a sentence. Phrases do not contain a subject and verb, so they can’t stand on their own as a complete thought.

since breakfast
for my favorite meal
for attention

A participial phrase, then, is a participle plus the word or group of words that complement and modify it.

The participle:

The complements and modifiers that add more information to the participle:

All the words in the complete participial phrase, functioning together as one adjective that describes a noun or a pronoun in the sentence

starved
starving
having been starved

starved since breakfast
starving for my favorite meal
having been starved for attention

Starved since breakfast, Cristina ate three servings of pho before the main dish was served.

She ate it all and left me starving for my favorite meal.
It was a fortunate thing that I, having been starved for attention my whole life, knew how to fend for myself.

Caution

Don’t misplace or dangle your participial phrases! In clear, logical sentences, participial phrases appear right next to the nouns or pronouns they modify.

Example 1

Already overstressed and exhausted, the airline lost her luggage.

The airline is not what was not overstressed and exhausted. This sentence is missing the word that the participial phrase intends to modify.

Already overstressed and exhausted, Margie couldn’t believe the airline lost her luggage.

Example 2

Comforting and calming as she knew it would be, Margie bought a cup of her favorite tea while she waited for the airline to retrieve her bags.

The tea (not Margie!) is comforting and calming. The participial phrase needs to be closer to the noun it modifies.

While she waited for the airline to retrieve her bags, Margie bought a cup of her favorite tea, comforting and calming as she knew it would be.

Do I Get It?

What have you learned about participial phrases? Use this interactive to find out.

Directions: Read the following paragraph carefully. Then identify which of the following word groups from the paragraph are participial phrases.

On the eve of my long-awaited vacation to London, I could hardly contain my excitement. My itinerary, designed for adventure, was set. First, I would be attending a cricket match. Knowing virtually nothing about the game of cricket, I was surprised at first when my travel agent suggested it, but then I did some research. A surprisingly exciting though slow-moving game, cricket has maintained popularity in England since the 18th century. I don’t know if they sell concessions at cricket grounds like they do in American baseball and football stadiums, but I sure hope so! England, having an undeserved reputation for rather bland cuisine, actually has a lot of culinary treats to explore. Beloved above all other basket snacks, fish and chips tops the list. Then there’s tea-time, relaxed and sweetened with cookies and cakes. But at the cricket match, I will want only one thing: England’s best pint. This is going to be the best trip ever!