Honors Day 15: Nonfiction Grammar—Participles Barbara Jordan, “Statement on the Articles of Impeachment” Flow with partner Outline return Partner time Speeches Thursday

A Participle is a verb form that functions as an adjective. Participles aren’t preceded by a helping verb. The sputtering car jerked down the road. (participle) The car was sputtering down the road. (verb) Rozakis, Laurie. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style. New York: Alpha Books, 1997 (136-37).

Present Participles end in –ing (jumping, burning, speaking). The howling children disturbed the neighbors. Fred Flintstone gave Barney Rubble a crumbling rock. Swimming slowly, I didn’t notice the shark on my tail.

Past Participles usually end in –ed, -t, or –en (jumped, burnt, spoken). The frozen candy bar broke her $900 braces. Annoyed, Ms. Werner waited for the students to be quiet. Confused by the noise, the mouse hid its face.

Participles,3 Use participles and participial phrases to create concise and interesting sentences. You can combine to simple sentences to make a more interesting complex sentence. 2 Sentences: Ms. Werner gave the students a pointed glare. She waited for them to be quiet. 1 Sentence: Waiting for them to be quiet, Ms. Werner gave the students a pointed glare. Rozakis, Laurie. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style. New York: Alpha Books, 1997 (137).

Cameron spotted his brother throwing rocks at the passing cars. The participial phrase includes the participle and the object of the participle or any words modified by or related to the participle. Participial phrases act as adjectives [In the following examples, the participle is bold and the participial phrase is underlined.] The car sliding out of control toward the building is going to hit the window. SLIDING modifies the CAR. The verb is IS GOING. Cameron spotted his brother throwing rocks at the passing cars. THROWING is not a verb in this sentence. It describes the brother. Without an auxiliary verb, it cannot function as a verb. The astronaut chosen to ride the space shuttle to Mars is afraid of heights. CHOSEN describes the ASTRONAUT. http://grammar.uoregon.edu/phrases/participialP.html

Running down the street, Alicia tripped and fell. RUNNING certainly indicates something the subject is doing, but the verbs for the subject are TRIPPED and FELL. Penned in by other runners, Steve was unable to make a break for the finish line. STEVE is the subject. WAS is the verb. PENNED describes STEVE. Mark returned the damaged package to the manufacturer. DAMAGED describes PACKAGE. Alex fell down the broken staircase. BROKEN describes STAIRCASE.