Participial Phrase: Definition and Examples

Types of Participial Phrases

Participles are usually in present or past tense.

Present participle

A present participle is used in a participial phrase when the subject acts as the predicate verb. Present participles end in ‘ing.’

For example:

• The bird, flying high in the sky, was startled by the loud noise.

In this sentence, “flying” is a present participle modifying “bird,” and it can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.

Present participles are also used in progressive verb tenses.

For example:

• “I am singing,” said Maria while she walked to the stage.

In this sentence, “singing” is a present participle that modifies the subject pronoun “I,” and it can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.

Past participle

A past participle is used in a participial phrase when the subject of that sentence acted the predicate verb previously.

For example:

• The bird that was startled by the loud noise, flew away quickly.

In this sentence, “startled” is the past participle modifying the subject pronoun “bird,” and it can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.

The past participle of regular verbs is created by adding ‘ed’ to the base verb form.

For example:

• “work” becomes “worked.”

For irregular verbs, the past participle is created by changing the spelling of the base verb.

For example:

• “sing” becomes “sung.”

Past participles can be used in both simple and perfect verb tenses.

For example:

• “I have finished working,” said Maria when she came home from her last shift.

In this sentence, “finished” is a past participle modifying the verb “have,” and it can be removed from the sentence without changing its meaning.

Participle clauses

A participle clause is a participial phrase that begins with a subordinating conjunction and ends with a comma. When writing a sentence with a participle clause, the comma should come before the subordinating conjunction.

For example:

• After the sun had risen, we all went outside to play.

In this sentence, ‘after’ is a subordinating conjunction that begins a participial phrase modifying the subject pronoun “we.”

We can remove “after,” and the meaning of the sentence remains intact.

The comma is necessary because it separates the main clause (the part that can stand alone as a sentence) from the participial phrase.

For example:

• After the sun had risen we all went outside to play.

This sentence is unclear whether “after” is modifying ‘we’ or whether it is modifying ‘the sun.’ Hence the need for a comma.

Perfect participle clauses

A perfect participle clause is a participial phrase that begins with an auxiliary verb and ends with a comma. When writing a sentence with a perfect participle clause, the comma should come before the auxiliary verb.

For example:

Other participial Phrase Examples

Participle Phrase Punctuation

When a participial phrase ends in a pronoun or noun that it modifies, then the comma should come before the pronoun.

For example:

• The driver, who had been drinking all day, drove his car onto the tracks.

In this sentence, “who had been drinking all day” modifies “driver,” and the comma should come before the pronoun.

• The boy, who had been swimming in the lake all day, was exhausted.

In this sentence, “who had been swimming” modifies “the boy,” and the comma should come before the pronoun.

When a participial phrase ends in “and” or “as well as” and modifies a noun, the comma should come before the conjunction.

For example:

• The children, as well as their parents, will be arriving soon.
• The sun, which had been covered up all day, was beginning to set.

When a participial phrase ends in a participial phrase and modifies a noun, the comma should come immediately before the antecedent.

For example:

• The driver, who had been drinking all day, waited until he arrived at the tracks to drive his car onto them.

In this sentence, “who had been drinking all day” modifies “driver,” and the comma should come before “who.”

• The boy, who has been running for the past three miles, is exhausted.

In this sentence, “who has been running…” modifies “the boy,” and the comma should come before “who.”

• The children, tired from running around all day, waited for their parents to arrive.

In this sentence, “tired from running around all day” modifies “children,” and the comma should come before “tired.”

A comma should come after the phrase when a participle phrase begins a sentence and modifies a noun.

For example:

• Running through the field, the child saw a rabbit.

In this sentence, “running through the field” modifies “the child.”

• Hiking up the mountain, it turned out to be more challenging than they thought it would be.

In this sentence, “hiking up the mountain” modifies “it.”

• Swimming in the lake all day, the boy was exhausted.

In this sentence, “swimming in the lake all day” modifies “the boy. instructions ivermectin and doxycycline heartworms in dogs treatment ”

No comma should be used before a participial phrase when it ends a sentence and modifies a noun.

For example:

• The children tired from running around all day, quickly fell asleep when their parents tucked them into bed.

Here, “tired from running around all day” modifies “children.” A comma is not needed before “tired.”

• The driver who had been drinking all day, waited until he arrived at the tracks to drive his car onto them.

In this sentence, “who had been drinking all day” modifies “driver.” A comma is not needed before “who.”