Participle Phrases
There are many different sentence structures in the English
language. We can use them when we want to have a variety of sentences in our
writing to make our stories more interesting.
Often, we try to avoid using too many simple sentences unless
we have specific purpose for it. We can join our ideas into one sentence to
show the link between the ideas and to create a greater variety for the reader.
Which of the following sounds better?
A
|
B
|
She reached into her bag. She took out a map of the town.
|
Reaching into her bag, she took out a map of the town.
|
We do not just vary our sentence structures when we write. We
also vary them in different situations.
‘Reaching into her bag’, ‘wearing
the dress’ and ‘kicking the ball’ are participle phrases.
We use participle phrases as adjectives to tell us more about
nouns.
Participle phrases can begin with a past participle or a
present participle.
A present participle phrase starts with a verb in the –ing
form. The phrase could also consist of a modifier and an object.
The phrase can be found at the start of a sentence, in the
middle or at the end of a sentence.
Rushing into the house,
Dan announced that he had won the top prize in the lucky draw.
The girl blowing the
balloon is my sister.
The lady rehearsing
in the studio is a renowned ballet dancer.
The predator lurked in the bushes, waiting for its prey.
A past participle phrase starts with a verb in the past
participle form. The phrase could also consist of a modifier and an object.
Startled by the loud
sound, the puppy ran under the table.
The jug, filled to
the brim, was on the countertop.
The student studied the entire night, driven by the will to succeed.
Common Mistakes
1. Not placing the
participle phrase near the noun that it modifies
Running down the stairs, the day ahead seemed exciting for
Peter.
The phrase ‘running down the stairs’ should tell us more
about the noun ‘Peter’ because Peter is the one running down the stairs. The
phrase should not tell us about the day ahead.
The sentence should be,
Running down the stairs, Peter thought of the exciting day
ahead.
We can also rewrite the sentence as,
Peter thought of the exciting day ahead as he ran down the
stairs.
While Peter was running down the stairs, he thought of the
exciting day ahead.
There are so many ways to express your ideas!
|
2. Not using
commas when necessary
Peter thought about the day ahead running down the stairs.
The phrase ‘running down the stairs’ should tell us more
about the noun ‘Peter’ and not the stairs.
The sentence should be,
Peter thought about the day ahead, running down the stairs.
Let’s Practise.
Tick the correct sentences.
1.
(a) Worried about her son, he was back later
than usual.
(b) Worried about her son, she paced about the living room.
2.
(a) Howling eerily, the wind swept through the
dark night.
(b) Howling eerily, the dark night was extremely windy.
3.
(a) Refusing to abide by the traffic rules, an
accident happened.
(b) Refusing to abide by the traffic rules, he ran across the busy road.
4.
(a) The boy, drenched and shivering, entered the
room.
(b) Feeling cold, drenched and shivering, the boy entered the room.
5.
(a) Flipping through the book, its pages were
worn and torn.
(b) Flipping through the book,
she noticed that its pages were worn and torn.
6.
(a) The car, driven by an elderly gentleman,
plunged into the river.
(b) The car plunged into the river driven by an elderly gentleman.
7.
(a) Tania looked at the sky, noticing the bright
stars.
(b) Tania looked at the sky, bright stars were twinkling.
8.
(a) Waiting for passengers, there was no one at
the taxi stand.
(b) Waiting for passengers, the driver stopped at the taxi stand.
Answers:
1.
(b)
2.
(a)
3.
(b)
4.
(a)
5.
(b)
6.
(a)
7.
(a)
8.
(b)
No comments:
Post a Comment