Participles
The simple sentences below may be combined, with no change in their
meaning, into a more concise sentence simply by dropping the repeated words HE
WAS:
The janitor staggered down the stairway.
He was stunned.
He was gasping
The janitor staggered down the stairway, stunned and gasping.
Here we achieved compactness by reducing the full sentences HE WAS
STUNNED and HE WAS GASPING to the participles STUNNED and GASPING.
STUNNED, like KICKED, BLOWN UP, SUNG, or HIT is a PAST PARTICIPLE verb
form that you can use in the construction “Somebody (or something) was
__________” or “I have __________it.”
GASPING, like RUNNING , DANCING, DRIVING, or ANTICIPATING, is a PRESENT
PARTICIPLE, always made by adding ING to the basic verb form.
A participle is often supported by additional words built around it and
adding detail to it. These together
form a PARTICIPIAL PHRASE, such as EQUIPPED WITH A CAN OF THROAT SPRAY AND A
BIBLE or SINGING SONGS THE BEATLES HAD MADE FAMOUS.
Usually, as in these examples, the modifying words directly follow the
participle, but they may also precede it, such as in MADLY DANCING or SLOWLY AND
RELUCTANTLY SURRENDERING.
Although more concise than a sequence of three simple sentences, the
sentence
The janitor staggered down the stairway, STUNNED AND GASPING.
still gives you only the bare skeleton of an idea.
But participial phrases also enable you to work concrete ideas into your
sentences without actually increasing the number of sentences needed. Compare this:
The janitor staggered down the stairway, STUNNED BY THE BIZARRE NOISES HE
HAD
JUST HEARD UPSTAIRS AND GASPING FOR AIR AS HE HESITANTLY HELD ON TO
THE BANISTER.
Here the result is a more substantial and informative sentence with vivid
details about where and why the janitor was stunned, and about the circumstances
of his gasping. We can almost see
the poor man stepping down the staircase, shocked, dazed, disbelieving.
It is details that make writing interesting, and participial phrases invite detail.
Where should you add participial phrases
in a sentence? In general, add them as close as possible to the word they
refer to and modify. As a rule of
thumb, the participle(s) in a combined sentence such as the last example should
have the same understood subject as the main clause to which the participle (or
participial phrase) is added. Both
STUNNED and GASPING meet this condition, since they both refer to the janitor.
Similarly, the following are properly combined:
She was driving without a license.
She was arrested and jailed by the sheriff.
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Driving without a license, she was arrested and jailed by the sheriff.
If
you ignore this rule, you may end up with either an awkward or an obscure
sentence:
Driving without a license, the sheriff arrested and jailed her.
Participial phrases can often be moved from one position to another
within a sentence. Just when
such movement is possible or effective is sometimes difficult to decide.
Read your versions aloud and try to hear the differences among them.
For example, look again at the sentence about the janitor:
The janitor staggered down the stairway, STUNNED BY THE BIZARRE NOISES HE
HAD
JUST HEARD UPSTAIRS AND GASPING FOR AIR AS HE HESITANTLY HELD ON TO
THE BANISTER.
Here the main clause is followed by the STUNNED -phrase and then by the
GASPING -phrase. Is this the most effective order? Examine the logic of the sentence: the janitor is stunned; therefore, he staggered downstairs
WHILE he is gasping. In other
words, STUNNED describes the cause of his staggering, whereas GASPING refers to
an action simultaneous to the staggering. Often
the ordering of phrases and clauses according to the logical sequencing of
events described in the sentence is stylistically the most satisfying option:
STUNNED BY THE BIZARRE NOISES HE HAD JUST HEARD UPSTAIRS, the janitor
staggered down the stairway, GASPING FOR AIR AS HE HESITANTLY HELD ON TO
THE
BANISTER.
One further use of the participle
lies in its ability to create coherence by joining sentences which, if left
separate, might seen disjointed. Using
the participial construction, you can combine two full sentences into a single
sentence which more clearly reflects the relationship between them:
I carried the cumbersome bass drum in front of me.
I burrowed and jostled my way through the
stubborn crowd to the bandstand.
OR
Carrying the cumbersome bass drum in front of me, I burrowed and jostled
my way through the
stubborn crowd to the bandstand.
HINT: Use
the cross over method in forming participles.
For example:
The solution deteriorated after an hour.
Deteriorating after an hour, the solution exploded.
In the second
sentence, the verb “deteriorated” is now changed to the -ING form
“deteriorating,” and this -ING form has crossed over to the beginning of a
new sentence, where it is set off by a comma and acts as a free modifier to a
new independent thought. Meanwhile
the noun “solution” in the original base
clause has crossed over to become the noun in the new base clause.
Exercise:
Basic Pattern Exercise:
Combine
each sequence of sentences below into a single sentence with at least one
participial phrase.
Example:
1. The new storm swept from
North Dakota through Ohio.
2. It sent temperatures
plummeting.
3. It piled drifts high
across the road.
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The new storm swept from North Dakota through Ohio, sending temperatures
plummeting and
piling
drifts high across the roads.
OR
Sweeping from North Dakota through Ohio, the new storm sent temperatures
plummeting and
piled
drifts high across roads.
A.
1. Prosecutor, judge, and
jury were convinced of the defendant’s guilt.
2. They twisted the facts to
support their prejudgment.
B.
1. She was born in Atlanta,
Georgia.
2. She
now serves as the corporation’s chief legal officer.
3. She was educated at Duke
University.
C.
1. Mandy was mud covered.
2. Mandy was shivering.
3. Mandy sat hunched over a
bowl of hot broth.
4. Her father had prepared
the broth to drive off the chill.
D.
1. Police officers and fire
fighters combed the smoking rubble.
2. They found guns.
3. They found spent
cartridges.
4. They found a charred
corpse.
E.
1. Joey was depressed.
2. He was depressed by his
betting losses.
3. He sat alone on the
beach.
4. He drank a pint of good
bourbon.
F.
1. An IQ score is stamped on
a permanent school record.
2. An IQ score can literally
determine a child’s future.
3. An IQ score influences
teacher expectations.
4. An IQ score affects many
educational and job options.
G.
1. The locomotive lumbered
into Grand Central Station.
2. It skidded along the
tracks.
3. It splashed sparks onto
the passenger platform.
4. It
discharged gray puffs of steam.
5. It finally screeched to a
halt.
SENTENCE
COMBINING EXERCISE: Combine the
following sentences into an effective whole that includes several participial
phrases.
THE
COLONEL
1.
Shells boomed.
2.
The shells were artillery.
3.
The booming was in the distance.
4.
The shells shook the ground.
5.
The shaking was slight.
6.
The shell made bursts of light.
7.
The bursts were on the horizon.
8.
The horizon was dark.
9.
The colonel walked away from headquarters.
10.
The colonel was tired of looking at maps.
11.
The colonel was exhausted from planning the attack.
12.
The attack would be on the next day.
13.
The colonel passed a group of soldiers.
14.
The soldiers were lying under a tree.
15.
The soldiers were lying in the dark.
16.
The soldiers were young.
17.
One of the soldiers was playing a harmonica.
18.
Its sounds were a counterpoint to the boom.
19.
The boom was in the distance.
20.
The counterpoint was strangely cheerful.
21.
The boom was ugly.
22.
The boom was menacing.
23.
The other soldiers lay around him.
24.
They were like the spokes on a wheel.
25.
They were silent.
26.
They were half asleep.