Present and Past Participles

In the sentence, 'The smiling child waved to her friends,' which word is the present participle?

• child

• waved

• smiling

• friends

Answer explanation

A present participle is a verb form ending in -ing that acts as an adjective. Here, 'smiling' describes the noun 'child'.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.4C

CCSS.L.8.1A

Which word is the past participle in the sentence 'The frozen pizza needs to be cooked'?

• pizza

• needs

• cooked

• frozen

Answer explanation

A past participle can act as an adjective to describe a noun. 'Frozen' is the past participle of 'freeze' and describes the 'pizza'.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.4C

CCSS.L.8.1A

True or False: To form the present participle of most verbs, you add '-ed' to the end.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

To form the present participle, you add '-ing' to the base verb (e.g., walk -> walking). The '-ed' ending is used for the simple past and past participle of regular verbs.

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1D

CCSS.L.3.1E

Which sentence uses the word 'running' as a participle (an adjective)?

• Running is my favorite way to exercise.

• I saw a running faucet in the bathroom.

• She is running in the marathon tomorrow.

• He hurt his ankle while running.

Answer explanation

In this sentence, 'running' acts as an adjective describing the 'faucet'. In the other options, 'running' is used as a gerund (a noun) or as part of a verb phrase.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.4C

CCSS.L.8.1A

Identify the full participial phrase in this sentence: 'The student, tapping his pencil on the desk, annoyed his neighbor.'

• The student

• tapping his pencil on the desk

• annoyed his neighbor

• on the desk

Answer explanation

A participial phrase includes the participle ('tapping') and all the words that modify or complete it. The entire phrase acts as an adjective describing 'The student'.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.4C

CCSS.L.8.1A

True or False: In the sentence 'I ate the last cookie,' the word 'ate' is a past participle.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

'Ate' is the simple past tense form of the verb 'eat'. The past participle is 'eaten', which is used with helping verbs like 'have' or 'was' (e.g., 'I have eaten').

Tags

CCSS.L.1.4C

CCSS.L.8.1A

Which sentence correctly uses the past participle 'been'?

• We are been to that park before.

• She has been waiting for an hour.

• They were been very quiet.

• I am been tired all day.

Answer explanation

The past participle 'been' must be used with a form of the helping verb 'have' (has, have, had). 'Being' is the present participle used with a form of 'be' (is, am, are, was, were).

Tags

CCSS.L.4.1B

CCSS.L.5.1.B-D

CCSS.L.5.1B

CCSS.L.5.1C

CCSS.L.5.1D

Complete the sentence: The news about the snow day was very _____.

• exciting

• excited

• excite

• excites

Answer explanation

Use the -ing participle ('exciting') to describe the thing that causes the feeling (the news). Use the -ed participle ('excited') to describe the person who has the feeling.

Tags

CCSS.L.1.1F

CCSS.L.2.1E

CCSS.L.K.5B

Complete the sentence: The new skate park was _____ by a famous architect.

• designing

• designed

• designs

• design

Answer explanation

This sentence is in the passive voice, which requires a form of the verb 'to be' (was) plus the past participle ('designed') to show that the subject (skate park) received the action.

Tags

CCSS.L.2.1F

CCSS.L.8.1B

CCSS.L.8.1D

CCSS.L.8.3A

True or False: The following sentence is grammatically correct: 'Shattered into a million pieces, the boy dropped the glass.'

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This sentence contains a dangling modifier. The participial phrase 'Shattered into a million pieces' should describe the glass, not the boy. A correct version is 'The boy dropped the glass, which shattered into a million pieces.'

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C