Present and Past Participial Phrases

Teach gerunds, infinitives and participles one at a time with their own sheets, then use Sort Verbals by Type and Function as a review. Use the article sheets to show verbals in real prose.

Label present and past participial phrases in marathon sentences and arrow each to its noun. A present participle ends in -ing (running), and a past participle usually ends in -ed or -en (tired, broken), and both can begin a phrase that describes a noun. The directions on the page read: Underline the participial phrase. Write PRES if it begins with a present participle or PAST if it begins with a past participle. Then draw an arrow from the phrase to the noun it describes. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade parts of speech, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

A gerund phrase acts as a noun, so it can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, subject complement or appositive. Students underline gerund phrases and label each job with a code.

A perfect participle is having plus a past participle, as in having eaten lunch. It shows an action finished before the main verb. Students combine sentence pairs into one sentence that opens with Having.

Use to have plus a past participle for an action that happened before the main verb, as in Marie Curie is known to have won two Nobel Prizes. Use a simple infinitive for the same time or later.

To plus a verb is an infinitive, as in to swim. To plus a noun or pronoun is a prepositional phrase, as in to the lake. Students label each to phrase in sentences about a road trip.