Verbal: Participle or Participial Phrase

Another verbal that functions as a modifier is the participle or participial phrase. Its main function as a modifier is as an adjective. The participle has the following forms:

Present	Simple Past Form		Past Participle Form
-ing	d/ed	change in spelling	d/ed	change in spelling
praying	prayed		prayed
speaking		spoke		spoken
listening	listened		listened
freezing		froze		frozen

A participle or participial phrase may be placed before or after the noun or pronoun that it modifies.

participial phrase | noun or pronoun

Examples:

1. Married (only for two years), we were beginning to settle down.
2. Lost (in the great maze of wartime life), our dreams of a bright and happy future were shattered.

noun or pronoun | participial phrase

Examples:

1. We, losing (some of our few belongings with every move), shifted from place to place.
2. I hated that abominable grease floating on my curries.