What Is A Participle?: Underline The Verb and Circle The Participle in These Sentences

What Is a Participle?
Before we talk about what it means to dangle a participle, we have to answer the question What is a participle?
Participles can be in the present tense or the past tense, and the present participle always ends with "ing." For example,
"dream" is a verb, and "dreaming" is its present participle. "Speed" is a verb, and "speeding" is its present participle. To use
the verb, you could say, "He will speed on the freeway." "Speed" is an action, a verb.
To use "speeding" as an adjective-like participle, you could say "Follow that speeding car." "Speeding" acts something like
an adjective modifying the noun "car." It tells you what the car is doingwhat kind of car it isa speeding car.
Here's another example:
"hike" is a verb, and "hiking" is the present participle. To use the verb, you could say "Let's hike the trail." To use the
participle, you could say, "Wait for the hiking campers to get back. "Hiking," the participle, tells you what the campers are
doingwhat kind of campers they arehiking campers.
What Is a Participial Phrase?
So now I trust that you understand how to use verb and their participles, but to understand dangling participles, we need to
talk about participial phrases.* These are just phrases that contain a participle and modify the subject of the sentence.
They can include words besides the participle, such as prepositions, pronouns, and nouns, but for now, we'll just focus on
the idea that they contain a participle like "speeding" or "hiking." The way they modify the subject isn't as straightforward
as a single adjective modifying a single noun, but the participial phrase is still modifying a nounthe subject.
Here are some examples to help make it more clear:
Floating in the pool, I marveled at the clouds.
"Floating in the pool" is the participial phrase that modifies the subject, "I." "Floating" is the participle in the phrase
"floating in the pool." It describes what I am doing.
Here's another one:
Biting his victim, the vampire felt a momentary thrill.
"Biting his victim" is the participial phrase that modifies the subject, "the vampire." "Biting" is the participle in the phrase
"biting his victim." It describes what the vampire is doing.
And one last example:
Beating you over the head with examples, I hope to make you understand participial phrases.
"Beating you over the head with examples" is the participial phrase modifying the subject, "I." "Beating" is the participle in
the phrase "beating you over the head with examples." It describes what I am doing.
A dangling participle modifies an unintended subject.
In all three of those examples, the subject that was being modified by the participial phrase came right after the phrase. It
was sticking close to the modifier so you couldn't miss it. The participial phrase doesn't have to be at the beginning of a
sentence, but that is the place where it's most likely to dangle, so we'll stick with that format today.
phrase.
Underline the verb and circle the participle in these sentences.
1.) The speeding car hit the guard rail.
[verb=hit, participle=speeding]
2.) She praised the winning horses.
[verb=praised, participle=winning]
3.) I have a hammering headache.
[verb=have, participle=hammering]
4.) Every day Julie is thankful for running water.
[verb=is, participle=running]
5.) The flying dust tickled his nose.
[verb=tickled, participle=flying]
Underline the participial phrase and draw an arrow to the subject it is modifying.
1.) Ordering pizza, I pondered Italian seasonings.
[participial phrase=ordering pizza, subject=
2.) Hoping for a raise, Loubell scheduled the meeting for a time when her boss was most often in a good mood.
[participial phrase=hoping for a raise, subject=Loubel
3.) Flailing in the surf, Pat hoped the lifeguard would get there soon.
[participial phrase=flailing in the surf, subject=Pat]
4.) Fighting over restaurants again, Sue and Rambo wondered if they should just skip dinner.
[participial phrase=fighting over restaurants again, subject=Sue and Rambo
5.) Rising on the horizon, the blazing sun signaled a brand new day.
[participial phrase=rising on the horizon, subject=the blazing sun. Extra credit if you noted that "blazing" is a
participle.]
Advanced
Not all participial phrases are at the beginning of sentences or are in the present tense. Underline the participial phrases
in these examples.
1.) The instructor, beating the students over the head with examples, hoped to make participial phrases easier to
identify.
[beating the students over the head with examples]
2.) Wounded by an arrow, Jim's horse dragged him down the path.**
[Wounded by an arrow]
3.) Squiggly called to the peeves hiding in the trees.
[hiding in the trees]
4.) Trimming and coloring Jill's green spiky hair, the stylist daydreamed about bonsai trees.
[Trimming and coloring Jill's green spiky hair]

What Is A Participle?: Underline The Verb and Circle The Participle in These Sentences

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