Participle phrases in English Grammar

Hello learners!

In this, we will learn what is a participle phrase in English.

What is a participle phrase?

A participle phrase is a phrase- a group of words without the subject-verb combination- that starts with a participle and works as an adjective in a sentence.

What is a participle in English?

A participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective in a sentence. It is either the present participle - the verb form ending with ING or the past participle (V3) - generally ending with ed, t, en, and n.

Present participles - smoking, reading, dancing etc.

Past participle - kicked, packed, learnt, broken, risen etc.

Examples-

1. The man jumping in happiness won a car in a lottery.

• jumping in happiness - participle phrase
• jumping - present participle

"Jumping in happiness" is the participle phrase that's starting with the present participle "jumping" and modifying the noun "man". Which man are we talking about? We talked about the man jumping and happiness. So, this participle phrase is giving essential information about the noun "man" and helping us to identify it.


2. Did you check out the video made by my sister?

• made - past participle
• made by my sister - participle phrase

"Made by my sister" is the participle phrase here, starting with the past participle "made" and giving information about the noun "video". This is working as an adjective in the sentence.


3. Devastated by the news, he broke down in tears.

• Devastated by the news - participle phrase
• Devastated- past participle

"Devastated by the news" is the participle phrase here, starting with the past participle "devastated" and modify the subject "he". This is working as an adjective in the sentence.

So, a participle phrase can come in the beginning of a sentence, in the middle of a sentence, and also at the end of a sentence.

When it comes in the beginning of a sentence, there are two things that you need to keep in mind:

1. Separate the participle phrase with the rest of the sentence using a comma.

2. Always place the noun the participle phrase modifies close to it. If you don't do it, it will be a mistake known as a misplaced modifier.

Let us take some examples and understand this!

• I saw some pens in his hands made of gold.

• Participle phrase - made of gold
• Participle - made

No what is the participle phrase- made of gold - modified? "Is it modifying the noun "hands"? No, it is not. Hands can't be made of golds, right?

Then what is it modifying? It is modifying the noun "pens". But just because it is placed away from the noun it modifies, it looks like it is modifying a different noun. This is called a misplaced modifier. So, always place the modifying phrase just after or before the noun it modifies, else it can be confusing.

Let us take one more example!

• Did you see a girl near your house fighting with your mother?

• fighting with your mother - participle phrase
• fighting - participle

So, "fighting with your mother" is the participle phrase starting with the present participle "fighting".

But what is it modifying? Can a house be fighting with somebody? That's very stupid to think, right? A house cannot fight with anybody.

So what is it modifying? What is the modifying noun?

It is modifying the noun "girl". It is giving information about

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