Participles and Participle Phrases

Participle is a verbal which is formed by adding -ing or -ed to the verb. Participle is used as adjectives in sentences. Present participle is formed by adding –ing to the verb; past participle is formed by adding -ed to the verb. Look at the examples,

  •  The film was boring.
  •  I am reading an interesting book.
  •  The audience was bored.
  •  The teacher was talking to a frustrated student.

If you need to details of when to use -ing or -ed adjectives, click here.


Participle phrase is a group of related words that begins with a participle and ends with its modifiers.

Participle phrase = Participle + Modifiers

Participle is used as adjective in sentences. It doesn’t tell the action, but modifies noun or pronoun (same as adjective). Look at the examples,

  •  The newspaper publishing the tycoon's story has been sued.
  •  Do you know the man running this shop? 
  •  The students coming from countryside find it hard to live in city.
  •  He was disappointed with the news.
  •  I've finally found the key lost yesterday.
  •  She bought the book written by Robert Kiyosaki.