Participles

Participles

Painting a Scene in Narrative Text

What is a participle?

• an ing verb placed at the beginning or end of a sentence

• Examples: chasing, running, breathing

Why should I care about participles?

• They evoke ACTION in your writing

• Let's take a look at an example...

The snake attacks its prey in anger.

Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the snake attacks its prey in anger.

Multiple Choice

In the following sentence, which word(s) is/are acting as participle: "Sweating and shaking, Mary stood up to give her presentation in front of the whole class."

• sweating

• stood

• shaking

• sweating, shaking

• None

Open Ended

Now you give it a try. Add at least one participle to the following sentence: "The man got out of the chair." You can add anything else to the sentence in order for it to make sense.

As you saw, adding participles

• created action

• created specificity and detail

• allowed for elaboration

Let's go even further with

PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

What is a participial phrase?

• a participle + any modifiers that complete the image

• Huh? Let's look at an example...

The snake attacks its prey in anger.

Hissing its pointy tongue, the snake attacks its prey in anger.

Multiple Choice

In the following sentence, identify the participial phrase: "Shaking his closed fist, the old man yelled at the rowdy teenagers on his lawn."

• shaking

• yelled

• shaking, yelled

• shaking his closed fist

• None

Open Ended

Now it's your turn. Add a participial phrase to the following sentence: "He looked up to the top of the building."

In summary...

• Participles are VERBS with ing endings

• Participial phrases are participles + any modifiers that complete the image

• Both of the above add detail, specificity, and elaboration to a piece of your writing