Participial

Phrases
 ▫ Appositives, noun phrases that
Review! clarify, are important for complex
writing.

▫ Absolute phrases, their

interruptions adding details,
make our sentences more
interesting.

2
 Which is it?

Animal Farm, an
allegory for the
Russian
Revolution, has a
creepy ending.
3
 Which is it?

Teeth chattering,
he stepped
outside to get the
mail for the day.
4
 DEFINITION:
What is a ▫ Phrase that contains a participle
participial (verb ending in -ing or -ed) that is used to
phrase? describe a noun
◦ Acts like an adjective
▫ You can remove the participial phrase and
still have the sentence make sense

Participle is a
verb ending in
-ing or -ed 5
 Verb:
▫ He was clearing his throat loudly. (can’t remove)
Examples
Gerund:
▫ Clearing his throat loudly was how Mr. Epstein
got everyone’s attention. (can’t remove)

Participial Phrase:
▫ Clearing his throat loudly, he stepped out
from the side of the stage to address the
audience. (removeable)
6
 Beginning Ending Multiple participial
More participial participial phrases (beginning
Examples... phrase phrase or end)

Scratching his The student The student

head, the tried to begin tried to begin
student tried to his essay, his essay,
begin his scratching his scratching his
essay. head. head and
crumpling
paper,
wondering
where to start

7
 Participial Phrase:
Comma
▫ Because a participial phrase is always
Rules with
unnecessary, you must always set it off
Participial
from the rest of the sentence using a
Phrases
comma
◦ Lying down on his bed, Roscoe the
dog was finally ready to sleep.

8
 Is this a participial phrase?

Curled up on my
bed, my cats
sleep all
afternoon.
9
 Is this a participial phrase?

Lying was how

the pigs got
away with
everything on
Animal Farm.
10
 Is this a participial phrase?

Mulan pretended
to be a man in
order to spare her
father’s life.

11
 Is this a participial phrase?

The girl spent all

afternoon on the
phone, chatting
with her best
friend.
12
Your turn!
Describe what is happening in this picture using
a participial phrase.

13
 Your turn!
Describe what is happening in this scene using a
participial phrase.

Characters Featured:
T-rex
Tim (boy)
Lex (girl)
Dr. Grant
Dr. Malcolm

14