PARTICIPLES

A participle is a verbal that is used as an adjective and most often ends in -ing or -ed. The term verbal indicates that a participle, like
the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However, since they function as
adjectives, participles modify nouns or pronouns. There are two types of participles: present participles and past participles. Present
participles end in -ing. Past participles end in -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne as in the words asked, eaten, saved, dealt, seen, and gone.

Examples:
The crying baby finally fell asleep.
Smiling, the woman left the room.
The wrecked car was sent to the salvage yard.
Shaken, he walked away from the wrecked car.

Forms of Participles: -ing and -ed

1. If the participle of a noun is the agent (doing the action of the participles), choose an -ing (present participle) form.
Example:
The game tired the players.
the tiring game (agent)

2. If the participles is NOT the agent, choose an -ed (past participle) form.
Example:
The game tired the players.
the tired players (not the agent)

Participial Phrases
Participle phrases are longer modifying phrases that start with a participle.
Examples:
Bombarded by bullets, the troops retreated.
Dogs trained by professionals are much more obedient.
Kit Carson roamed the Rockies and the Southwest, working as a trapper and establishing a reputation as one of the most able
mountain men of his time.

Participle Clauses
Participle clauses are a form of adverbial clause which enables us to say information in a more economical way. We can use participle
clauses when the participle and the verb in the main clause have the same subject.

Example:
Waiting for John, I made some tea.
Waiting for John, the kettle boiled. [This would suggest that the kettle was waiting for John!]

Participle clauses with past participles have a passive meaning.

Example:
Shouting loudly, Peter walked home. [Peter was shouting]
Shouted at loudly, Peter walked home. [Someone was shouting at Peter]

Uses of the Participle

1. Condition (in place of an if-condition)
Example:
If you look after it carefully, this coat will keep you warm through many winters.
Looked after carefully, this coat will keep you warm through many winters.

2. Reason ( in place of words such as so or because)

Example:
I wanted to speak to him about the contract, so I decided to arrange a meeting.
Wanting to speak to him about the contract, I decided to arrange a meeting.
3. Result (in place of words such as because or as a result)
Example:
I had no time to read my book because I had spent so long doing my homework.
I had no time to read my book, having spent so long doing my homework.
Having spent so long doing my homework, I had no time to read my book.

4. Time (in place of words such as when, while, or as soon as)

Examples:
While I was sitting at the café with my friends, I suddenly realized that I had left the oven on at home.
Sitting at the café with my friends, I suddenly realized that I had left the oven on at home.

Rules for Using Participles (Placement and Punctuation)

The rules for participial phrases are relatively straightforward:
1. If you start a sentence with a participial phrase, that participial phrase must logically modify the noun that follows the comma
(unless there is another modifier inserted cleverly after the participial phrase). Example of a modifier error of this type:

Incorrect: Alarmed by the recent decline of the stock market, many retirement investments have been switched from stocks
to more conservative options, such as money market funds.

Correct: Alarmed by the recent decline of the stock market, many investors have switched their retirement investments from
stocks to more conservative options, such as money market funds.

2. If participial phrases are used in the middle of a sentence, they follow the noun they are modifying and are either set off by
commas or not, depending on whether the information is essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Examples:
Dogs trained by professionals are generally very obedient. (essential) to the meaning of the sentence so no commas)
The city’s oldest church, recently destroyed by fire, has not yet been rebuilt (extra, non-essential information, so commas
must be used)

Incorrect: Children, introduced to music early, develop strong intellectual skills.

Correct: Children introduced to music early develop strong intellectual skills.

3. When participial phrases are put at the end of a sentence with a comma, they are confusing because they can modify the subject
of the sentence or the subject of the clause preceding it, even though they are not beside it.

Example:
Nadal beat Federer in five sets, shocking the tennis world.

Here shocking the tennis world is a participial phrase modifying Nadal. This sentence is a very common and important exception to
the broad grammar rule that modifiers should be close to the noun they are modifying. This structure is used when you want to modify
the subject of the sentence after you have learned something about that subject. By putting the participial phrase at the end, it
necessarily links the two pieces of information. Nadal beat Federer, and with that action he was shocking the tennis world. Commonly,
students want to change this sentence to: Nadal beat Federer in five sets and shocked the tennis world. This sentence, while not
necessarily wrong, changes the meaning: If Nadal beat Federer and shocked the tennis world, then the sentence means that he
shocked the tennis world with something other than the act of beating Federer. Perhaps he beat him and then shocked the tennis
world in his press conference. If the goal is to show that Nadal beat Federer and that action shocked the tennis world, then the
participial construction should be used.

Example:
Kit Carson roamed the Rockies and the Southwest, working as a trapper and establishing a reputation as one of the most able
mountain men of his time.

This might appear to be an error of modification or parallelism to many students. However, the participial phrases at the end are
properly modifying Kit Carson, even though the modifiers are very far away from the noun they are modifying. Because this is a
confusing construction for many test-takers, it is used frequently on tests.

While most adjectival modifiers should be beside the nouns they are modifying, participial phrases can be far from the nouns they are
modifying when attached with a comma at the end of a sentence or clause.
MODIFIER PLACEMENT
Basic Principle: Modifiers are like teenagers: they fall in love with whatever they're next to. Make sure they're next to
something they ought to modify!

Misplaced Modifier: Some modifiers, especially simple modifiers — only, just, nearly, barely — have a bad habit of slipping
into the wrong place in a sentence. (In the sentence below, what does it mean to "barely kick" something?)
Confusion He barely kicked that ball twenty yards.
Repair Work He kicked that ball barely twenty yards.

The issue of the proper placement of "only" has long been argued among grammarians. Many careful writers will insist
that "only" be placed immediately before the word or phrase it modifies. Thus "I only gave him three dollars" would be
rewritten as "I gave him only three dollars." Some grammarians, however, have argued that such precision is not really
necessary, that there is no danger of misreading "I only gave him three dollars" and that "only" can safely and naturally
be placed between the subject and the verb. The argument has been going on for two hundred years.

Dangling Modifier: When we begin a sentence with a modifying word, phrase, or clause, we must make sure the next
thing that comes along can, in fact, be modified by that modifier. When a modifier improperly modifies something, it is
called a "dangling modifier." This often happens with beginning participial phrases, making "dangling participles" an all
too common phenomenon. In the sentence below, we can't have a car changing its own oil.
Confusion Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car seemed to run better.
Repair Work Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, Fred found he could get much better gas mileage.

A participial phrase followed by an expletive construction (See note below.) will often be a dangling participle — but the
expletive construction is probably not a good idea anyway. This faulty sentence can be remedied by changing the
participial phrase into a full-fledged clause with a subject and verb.
Confusion Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, there is an easy way to keep your car running smoothly.
Repair Work If we change the oil every 3,000 miles, we can keep our car running smoothly.

A participial phrase followed by a passive verb is also apt to be a dangler because the real actor of the sentence will be
disguised.
Confusion Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, the car was kept in excellent condition.
Repair Work Changing the oil every 3,000 miles, we kept the car in excellent condition.

An infinitive phrase can also "dangle." The infinitive phrase below should probably modify the person(s) who set up the
exercise program.
Confusion To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, an exercise program was set up for the
summer months.
Repair Work To keep the young recruits interested in getting in shape, the coaching staff set up an exercise program
for the summer months.

EXPLETIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
This sounds like something a politician has to learn to avoid, but, no, an expletive construction is a common device that
often robs a sentence of energy before it gets a chance to do its work. Expletive constructions begin with there is/are or it
is.
Good: There are twenty-five students who have already expressed a desire to attend the program next
summer.
It is they and their parents who stand to gain the most by the government grant.

Better: Twenty-five students have already expressed a desire to attend the program next summer.
They and their parents stand to gain the most by the government grant.