Verbals

Participles

A participle is the third verbal: a verb form used as an adjective. Like an adjective, it describes a noun. Like a verb, it can take its own object and modifiers, so it often leads a whole phrase: the letter lying on the table.

What you’ll learn

Tell a participle from a gerund and from a progressive verb
Recognise present and past participles, including two-word forms such as having stopped
Draw a participle on a slant beneath the noun it describes
Attach a participial phrase to the right noun, and fix one that dangles
Recognise a participial phrase that completes the verb
Recognise an absolute phrase and draw it apart from the main clause

Present and past participles

English has two participles. Their names say present and past, but when they describe a noun, the difference between them is not time. It is voice: whether the noun does the action or receives it.

Present participle, ending -ing: the noun does the action. the letter lying on the table (the letter lies there).
Past participle, usually ending -ed or -en: the noun usually receives the action. the horses startled by thunder (the thunder startled them).

In these examples, both participles work as adjectives. The same forms also work inside a verb phrase. There they are part of the verb, not adjectives. Look at the helper in front of the word:

be + -ing makes the progressive: was lying.
have + past participle makes the perfect: had startled.
be + past participle makes the passive: were startled.

An -ing word is part of the verb only when a form of be is its helper: is lying, has been lying, will be lying. Without that helper, it is a verbal: a participle when it describes a noun, and a gerund when it works as a noun.

An -ed word with no helper can be the main verb in the past tense (the horses bolted). It can also be a past participle that describes a noun (Startled by the thunder).

A participle can also have a helper of its own. having + past participle shows an action finished earlier: having stopped. being + past participle is passive: being interviewed. Both appear later on this page. They are still verbals, so they carry no tense, and the tense-aspect chart leaves them out.

Participial phrases

A participle can take its own object and modifiers. Together they form a participial phrase, which works as one adjective. In the Roles exercise, a participial phrase that describes a noun gets one label: Participial phrase.

The phrase can come after its noun or at the front of the sentence. The diagram does not change: the phrase is drawn under the noun it describes. The dependency tree does change. After its noun, the participle is an acl of that noun. At the front, it is an advcl of the main verb. The Roles boxes follow the diagram, not the tree: the phrase is in the box of the noun it describes. At the front, the Subject box is Startled by the thunder, the horses.

Find the -ing or -ed word that is not the main verb
In the sentence below, the main verb is bolted: it carries the tense. Startled is not part of that verb, and no helper such as was comes before it, so it is a participle.
Ask which noun it describes
“Who was startled?” → the horses. That is the noun it attaches to, wherever the phrase stands in the sentence.
Check that the noun is there
If no noun in the sentence answers that question, the participle is dangling: Walking home, the rain started (the rain was not walking). That is a writing error to fix, not something to diagram.

“Startled by the thunder, the horses bolted.”

Reed-Kellogg — the phrase is drawn where it belongs, not where it sits

advcl Adverbial clause modifier
prep Prepositional modifier
det Determiner
pobj Object of preposition
nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence

Dependency — the fronted phrase hangs from the verb, as an advcl

Comparing the two views

The phrase comes first, but it describes horses, which comes later. Reed-Kellogg moves it under horses, so the picture shows what the phrase describes, not where it stands. The dependency tree keeps the word order and attaches Startled to the verb bolted as an advcl, not to horses. It treats the phrase as an adverbial clause: here, it tells why the horses bolted.

After its noun: participle or main verb?

In The letter lying on the table was mine, the phrase lying on the table tells you which letter, so it describes letter. A participle right after its noun can look like the main verb, but here the main verb is was.

Use the tense test: put yesterday in front and see which word changes. In The letter lying on the table is mine, is becomes was, but lying stays the same. A participle carries no tense, so it is never the main verb.

Participial phrases that complete the verb

Like an adjective, a participial phrase can also complete the verb instead of describing a noun. Then it fills a slot of its own:

After a linking verb, it is a predicate adjective: The puppy kept chewing the rug. Here kept works as a linking verb, as in kept busy. Kept talking works the same way.
After a direct object, it is an objective complement: The coach kept us running. Here is the same pattern again: Gretchen saw the witch attempting to light the oven.

In the diagram, the phrase stands on a pedestal behind the slot’s backslash. The Roles exercise gives it two labels: the slot (Pred. adjective or Obj. complement) and Participial phrase.

“The puppy kept chewing the rug.”

Reed-Kellogg — a participial phrase as a predicate adjective

det Determiner
nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
xcomp Open clausal complement
dobj Direct object

Dependency — xcomp of kept, with its own dobj

Comparing the two views

In the diagram, chewing the rug stands on a pedestal behind the backslash after kept, the predicate adjective’s mark. So the phrase describes the puppy, and rug is the participle’s own object. The tree calls chewing the xcomp of kept. It gives the same label to an infinitive object (She hopes to visit Lisbon), so only the diagram shows that this phrase describes the subject.

“The coach kept us running.”

Reed-Kellogg — a participle as an objective complement

det Determiner
nsubj Nominal subject
ROOT Root of the sentence
dobj Direct object
xcomp Open clausal complement

Dependency — xcomp again; the object beside it makes the difference

Comparing the two views

Same verb, one more word, a different slot. Reed-Kellogg puts running on a pedestal behind the backslash after us, the objective complement’s place. So the participle describes us, not the coach. The tree labels running the xcomp of kept, as it labels chewing above. Only the dobj beside it tells the two apart: no arc joins running to us.

Absolute phrases (nominative absolutes)

Sometimes a participle has its own subject. In The rain having stopped, we walked home, the subject of walked is we. The rain is the subject of having stopped. Together they form a small unit that is not attached to any word in the main clause.

This unit is an absolute phrase. Traditional grammar calls it a nominative absolute: a phrase with a logical, but not a grammatical, connection to the rest of the sentence.

Recognise it by its shape: a noun, then a participle, then a comma, all before the main clause. Her voice trembling, Nora read the letter and The storm having passed, the birds returned have the same shape. Compare Startled by the thunder, the horses bolted: that phrase has no subject of its own, so it is a participial phrase that describes horses.

The Roles exercise labels the unit Absolute phrase. It stays outside the Main clause box, and its participle gets no Verb phrase box.

“The rain having stopped, we walked home.”

Reed-Kellogg — the absolute floats above, unconnected

det Determiner
nsubj Nominal subject
aux Auxiliary
advcl Adverbial clause modifier
ROOT Root of the sentence
advmod Adverbial modifier

Dependency — the absolute is an advcl with its own nsubj

Comparing the two views

Reed-Kellogg gives the absolute a line of its own and joins it to nothing: it is grammatically separate. The dependency tree has no label for an absolute. It files stopped as an advcl of walked, with rain as its own nsubj. So the tree shows a clause with a subject but no tense, attached to the main verb like any adverbial clause.

Common mistakes with participles

Three mistakes are common in learners’ writing. Each item shows the error (✗) and a correct version (✓).

Make the phrase describe the right noun. A participial phrase at the start describes the subject after the comma. ✗ Arriving home, the door was open. The door did not arrive. ✓ Arriving home, Omar found the door open. ✓ When Omar arrived home, the door was open. Check this when you translate al llegar, al salir and similar phrases.
Do not use a participle as the only verb. A participle carries no tense, so it cannot be the main verb. ✗ The children playing in the park. ✓ The children are playing in the park. ✓ The children playing in the park are my cousins.
Choose -ing or -ed by who does the action. The same rule explains adjectives such as boring and bored, which the Tags exercise usually marks JJ. The -ing word describes the cause; the -ed word describes the person who feels it. ✓ I was bored at the conference. I was boring would mean that I made other people bored. See Subjective Complements.

Quick check

What job does repairing do in each sentence? (a) The man repairing the bike is Omar. (b) Omar is repairing his bike. (c) Omar enjoys repairing bikes.
Answer
(a) It is a participle: it describes man (which man?), and the main verb is is. (b) It is part of the verb phrase: is + -ing makes the progressive is repairing. (c) It is a gerund: it names the thing Omar enjoys, and it can take its place (Omar enjoys it). The tag is VBG all three times, so only the job tells them apart.
What slot does running fill in each sentence? (a) Nina kept running. (b) Nina kept the engine running.
Answer
(a) A predicate adjective. It follows kept directly and describes Nina, as busy would in Nina kept busy. (b) An objective complement. It follows the direct object, the engine, and describes the engine. In both diagrams the participle stands on a pedestal behind a backslash, and the Roles exercise gives it two labels: the slot and Participial phrase.
Which noun does the participial phrase describe in Covered in mud, the players walked off the field? Where does each view attach it?
Answer
players: who was covered in mud? The players. Reed-Kellogg draws Covered under players, with in mud hanging from its line. The dependency tree keeps the word order and attaches Covered to the verb walked as an advcl, because the phrase comes first. Covered is a past participle: the players received the action.
Which sentence has an absolute phrase, and how can you tell? (a) The bus having left, Priya took a taxi. (b) Having missed the bus, Priya took a taxi.
Answer
Sentence (a). The bus is the subject of having left, so the phrase has its own subject and is attached to nothing in the main clause. The Roles exercise labels it Absolute phrase, outside the Main clause box. In (b) the phrase has no subject of its own: Priya missed the bus, so it is a participial phrase that describes Priya. In the tree both are an advcl of took; only (a) has its own nsubj.

Key terms

Present participle: The -ing form used as an adjective, and the form used in the progressive. Tagged VBG, like a gerund, so the tag alone cannot tell you which it is. The whistling kettle woke us. People sitting in the corner laughed.
See: Gerunds
Past participle: The -ed/-en form used as an adjective. Also the form used in the perfect and the passive. Usually tagged VBN, but one that has become an ordinary adjective is often tagged JJ, like broken below. The broken vase lay on the floor. Boxes stacked in the closet fell.
See: Verbs & Auxiliaries
Participial phrase: A participle with its own objects and modifiers. Usually it modifies one noun; after a linking verb or a direct object it completes the verb instead, as a predicate adjective or an objective complement. Sitting in the corner, the boys laughed. Boxes stacked in the closet fell.
Absolute phrase: A noun and a participle forming a small unit of their own, attached to nothing in the main sentence; also called a nominative absolute. Drawn floating above the clause. The rain having stopped, we walked home. Her voice trembling, Nora read the letter.
Dangling participle: A participial phrase with no noun in the sentence for it to modify. A writing error, not a diagramming one. Walking home, the rain started. — the rain was not walking. Having finished the exam, the pencils were collected.

Practice on a real sentence

This sentence has a two-word participle, being interviewed. It is passive: the noun it describes receives the action. In the Roles tab, find that noun. In the Tags tab, being is an -ing form (VBG) and interviewed a past participle (VBN). In the Dependencies tab, interviewed comes after its noun: which label does that give it?

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