Definition:
A word group consisting of a present or past participle and any modifiers, objects, and complements. A participial phrase commonly functions as an adjective. See also:
- Participial Phrases in Momaday's House Made of Dawn
- Creating and Arranging Participial Phrases
- Building Sentences with Participial Phrases
Examples and Observations:
- Invented by an Indiana housewife in 1889, the first dishwasher was driven by a steam engine.
- A referee, always working before unfriendly crowds, has orders to exude poise under the most trying circumstances.
- "The Angelus Building looms on the corner of its block, seven stories, thick with dark windows, caged in a dingy mesh of fire escapes."
(Edmund Wilson, Travels in Two Democracies) - "Goldsmith smiled, bunching his fat cheeks like twin rolls of smooth pink toilet paper."
(Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts) - "We find participial phrases in three positions. Participial phrases can come before a main clause (initial position), after a noun phrase they are modifying (middle position), or after a main clause (final position). . . .
What kind of punctuation do we need to use when participial phrases occur in different positions?
- When the participial phrase comes before a main clause, it is followed by a comma.
- When the participial phrase follows a main clause, a comma must come before the participial phrase.
- When the participial phrase occurs in mid-sentence position, we use two commas. One comma comes before the participial phrase and the other comes after it.
- "Then he saw the eagles across the distance, two of them, riding low in the depths and rising diagonally toward him."
(N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn, 1969)
Also Known As: participle clause, participial clause
