Meaning
Participial phrases play a similar role to verb phrases, except that they do not serve as the main verb within the structure of the sentence. Instead, they provide additional information (as in, secondary to the main verb) about the circumstances surrounding the nominals or actions of the sentence. They may provide more context to the situation, or they can be a way to express multiple actions simultaneously.
Participial phrases carry different meanings depending on what type of participle is used as the nucleus:
- Active Participial Phrases indicate that the noun is currently engaged in an activity at the moment.
- Perfect Participial Phrases indicate that the noun has finished an activity, but either that action or its result continues to have some sort of effect at the current moment.
- Passive Participial Phrases indicate not what the noun has done, but what has been done to the noun.
Note that the term ‘current’/’currently’ in the above bullet points do not necessarily refer to a Present tense, as it can instead apply to the Past or Future. Instead, it refers to the immediate moment of whatever time reference is expressed through the verb tense.
Structure
Headed by Participles
The head or nucleus of a participial phrase is a participle. It may be an Active Participle, a Passive Participle, or a Perfect Participle.
- Active Participial Phrases feature verbals ending in -ing.
- eg: “patiently waiting“, “mumbling to herself”, “brimming with excitement”
- Passive Participial Phrases feature -ed/en verbals.
- eg: “haunted by his past”, “forgotten long ago”, “lifted above their heads”
- Perfect Participial Phrases also feature -ed/en verbals, but those are preceded by ‘having’.
- eg: “having left the country”, “having finished eating”, “having already paid“
Modified or Complemented
Participles may be modified by adverbs, prepositional phrases, or infinitive phrases. It’s even possible for them to be modified by other participial phrases or Adverbial Clauses, but such cases are rare. For example:
- “patiently waiting”; “having already paid” — modified by adverbs
- “brimming with excitement“; “lifted above their heads” — modified by prepositional phrases
- “wanting to say more” — modified by a Full Infinitive phrase
Participles may also host complements, which are words or phrases needed to complete the meaning of phrase. Complements include direct objects, indirect objects, verbal complements (as in Verb Patterns), predicative nominals, or predicative modifiers. For example:
- “mumbling to herself“; “having left the country” — complemented by direct objects
- “having finished eating” — complemented by a verbal complement
- “being yourself“; “having become a legend” — complemented by predicative nominals
- “feeling tired“; “emerging victorious” — complemented by predicative adjectives
Keep in mind that it’s possible for participial phrases to have both modifiers and complements.
Applications
as Modifiers
When modifying nouns or other modifiers, participial phrases typically come immediately afterward.
- “The prey, having sensed the predator, runs for shelter.” ← modifying a subject
- “The prey runs for shelter hidden in the thick underbrush.” ← modifying an object
- “The moth’s wings are brown, resembling tree bark.” ← modifying an adjective
When modifying the subject of a sentence, participial phrases can instead come after Linking Verbs and serve as predicative modifiers.
- “Odette got covered in mud while completing the obstacle course.” ← modifying a subject
Finally, participial phrases can modify entire clauses, in which case they come at either the very start or the very end of the clause.
- “Given the circumstances, I understand your hesitation.” ← modifying the whole clause
- “I understand your hesitation, given the circumstances.” ← modifying the whole clause
Notice that in most cases, the participial phrase is set apart by commas (though parentheses and m-dashes can also be used to set them apart).
as Complements
As complements, participial phrases complete the meaning of the the phrases that they’re embedded in, whether those are modifier phrases or verb phrases.
within greater Modifiers
Participial phrases can be the complements of other modifier clauses. In these cases, the participial phrases are preceded by the head of the greater clause, such as a preposition or an infinitive.
- “Odette got covered in mud while completing the obstacle course.” ← within a prepositional phrase
- “Odette appears to be covered in mud.” ← within an infinitive phrase.
These accomplish the same purpose as participial phrases used directly as modifiers, but they allow for more possibilities in grammatical construction.
in Verb Patterns
Participial phrases can follow main verbs as complements, in which case they tend to be more pertinent to the topic of the sentence. Active Participial Phrases can be found in a wide range of Verb Patterns. Perfect Participial Phrase can also be used, but are limited to Causatives, following the verbs ‘get’, ‘have’, ‘see’, ‘want’, ‘need’, ‘would like’, or ‘force’.
as Nominals
Participial phrases can take the role of nouns. Most of the times, these are Active Participial Phrases representing activities, events, hobbies, routines, etc., which are also known as Gerund phrases.
Punctuation
When participial phrases serve as modifiers, they might need commas to set them apart from the rest of the sentence.
- Phrases that modify the entire clause need to be set apart by punctuation. Commas are always appropriate, but sometimes parentheses work well if the phrase is meant as an aside.
- Phrases that come in the middle of a sentence should be set apart by commas, parentheses, or m-dashes if they are non-restrictive.
- Non-restrictive modifiers are not essential to the meaning of the clause and thus are optional. Restrictive modifiers are essential, which means the clause wouldn’t quite make sense without them.
- Restrictive participial phrases in the middle of the sentence should not be set apart by punctuation.
- Phrases that come at the end of a clause but that modify nouns might need a comma depending on which noun they modify.
- If they modify an object just before the participial phrase, they should not be separated by a comma.
- If they instead modify the subject (but not as a predicative modifier), then there should be a comma before the participial phrase.
Advanced Concepts
Reduced Relatives
Participial phrases that modify nouns have a lot in common with Relative Clauses. In fact, there seems to be a lot of overlap (and little distinction) between participial phrases and Relative Clause that feature verbs in participle forms (like Continuous Tenses or the Passive Voice).
Consider this pair of modifiers:
- “Her dog ate the scraps that were left under the table.” — Relative Clause
- “Her dog ate the scraps left under the table.” — participial phrase
… or this pair:
- “The person who was cheering the loudest got the swag.” — Relative Clause
- “The person cheering the loudest got the swag.” — participial phrase
There is no discernable difference in meaning between the two examples of each pair. With the same meaning and almost the same form, participial phrases like these are sometimes called Reduced Relative Clauses, or Reduced Relatives for short. Reduced Relatives are simply Relative Clauses with the Relative Linker and the auxiliary verb BE removed.
Subjects Included
It’s possible for participial phrases to have their own subjects. For modifier phrases, this is rare and tends to be found in only select expressions, as in “weather permitting” or “God willing“. Such expressions usually modify the entire clause.
For verbal complements, this is not as uncommon. Some Verb Patterns have a pronoun or noun phrase between their two verb forms, as in “I felt them watching me,” or “We could overhear the couple arguing about the incident.” In these cases, the nominal between (‘them’ and ‘the couple’) is the subject of the following participial phrase. However, those nominals are also part of the object of the preceding verb, which means they need to maintain their object form (‘them’ and not ‘they’).
Participial Prepositions
Some grammar sources include -ing terms among prepositions, including:
‘according to’ • ‘allowing for’ • ‘barring’ • ‘concerning’ • ‘counting’ • ‘excepting’ • ‘excluding’ • ‘failing’ • ‘following’ • ‘including’ • ‘owing to’ • ‘pending’ • ‘pertaining to’ • ‘regarding’ • ‘wanting’
Notice that each of these are Active Participles. There are also a couple prepositions and a postposition that are Passive Participles: ‘given’, ‘granted’, and ‘gone’.
Whether you regard phrases like “following the show’s cancellation” or “pending approval” as prepositional phrases or participial phrases (or both), they serve the same function either way.
Further Reading
Related Concepts:
Similar Phrase Types:
Infinitives & Participles
Types
Bare Infinitives • Full Infinitives • Active Participles • Perfect/Passive Participles
Full Infinitive topics
Active Participle topics
Active Adjectives • Future Continuous • Gerunds • Participial Phrases • Past Continuous • Present Continuous • Present Perfect Continuous • Verb Patterns
Perfect Participle topics
Future Perfect • Perfect Modals • Participial Phrases • Past Perfect • Present Perfect • Present Perfect Continuous
