MODULE 3: THE PHRASE

PARTICIPIAL PHRASES

3f A participial phrase is a phrase containing a participle and any complements

or modifiers it may have.
A participial phrase should be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies.
Otherwise the sentence may not make sense.
EXAMPLES Hiking in the Sierra Nevada, Paulo encountered a mountain lion. [The
participle is modified by the prepositional phrase in the Sierra Nevada.]
Did you see that lioness carrying her cubs? [The participle has an
object, cubs. The possesive pronoun her modifies cubs.]
The hiker, acting quickly, snapped a picture of the lion. [The participle
is modified by the adverb quickly.]

EXERCISE 7 Identifying Participial Phrases

Underline the participial phrase in each of the following sentences. Draw an arrow from
the participial phrase to the word or words the phrase modifies.
EX. 1. Listening to the story of the princess and the frog, the children are enchanted.
1. Every Saturday morning, Shanti spends time at the library, telling stories to
children.
2. Leaving their children at story hour, the parents run their errands.
3. Shanti reads with the children gathered in a circle around her.
4. The stories, chosen from among Shanti’s own childhood favorites, are usually
fairy tales and folk tales.
5. Enhanced by Shanti’s unique style, each story delights the children.
6. Once, as I passed by the story-hour room, I overheard Shanti speaking gruffly.
7. Speaking in the voices of different characters, she was telling the story of the
three little pigs.

8. The children held their breath when the wolf, huffing and puffing with all its
might, tried to blow down the house of the third little pig.
9. The house built of bricks did not fall down, of course, and the pig survived.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Module 3 1

 10. Clapping and cheering at the end, the children showed how much they loved that
folk tale.

EXERCISE 8 Identifying Participles and Participial Phrases

Underline each participle or participial phrase in the paragraph below. Draw an arrow
from the participial phrase to the word or words that it modifies.
EX. [1] Using an old tale, a poet provides a different view of a familiar character.

[1] Thinking about tomorrow’s assignment, I decided to talk about a poem.

[2] Skimming through my literature book, I came across an interesting poem titled “The

Builders.” [3] The poem, written by Sara Henderson Hay, does not actually identify its

topic—“The Three Little Pigs.” [4] The speaker of the poem is the pig who built his

house of bricks, protecting himself from the starving wolf. [5] The pig, recalling recent

events, tells the story in a scolding tone. [6] He points out that he told his brothers to

build with bricks, but, being stubborn, they wouldn’t listen to him. [7] The pig seems to

be sorry that his brothers are gone, having been eaten by the wolf. [8] Having heard “The

Three Little Pigs” so many times as a child, I found much to say about Hay’s poem.

[9] Looking for something to use as my first prop, I found a shoebox in my closet.

[10] The shoebox, painted with a pattern of small bricks, would represent the pig’s house.

© Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Module 3 2