1. Participial phrases

2. What is a participle?
Looks like a verb
Acts as an adjective

3. Two kinds of participles
Present
Past
Plain form of verb + “-ing”
Verb: The baby was crying.
Adjective: The crying baby…
Plain form of the verb + “-d” or “-ed”
Verb: I had peeled the potato
Adjective: The peeled potato…

4. The Participle Phrase May be modified by an adverb
I saw her fishing contentedly
The phrase “fishing contentedly” describes “her” like an adjective
…or prepositional phrase
Tackled on the one yard line, he fumbled the ball.
The phrase “Tackled on the one yard line” describes “he” like an adjective
…or both
Wildly cheering for the team, we celebrated the victory.

5. The Participle Phrase (CONT.)
May have a compliment (like a direct object in a regular sentence)
Outwitting the hounds, the raccoon easily escaped.
The phrase “outwitting the hounds” describes “raccoon” like an adjective
“hounds” tells us what it was “outwitting” much like a Direct Object