Chapter XC: Participial Phrases in the Predicate

=353.= Although the participial phrase is in the sentence for the purpose of telling something about some person or thing, still it does not always go with the noun that names that person or thing. In the sentence, “The children stood watching them out of the town,” the participial phrase _watching them out of the town_ tells something about the _children_, but it is not a direct modifier of the noun _children_, for it belongs in the predicate of the sentence. It does not modify the verb _stood_, for it does not tell how the standing was done. It really takes the place of a second predicate, _watched them out of the town_, but participles are not asserting words, hence we cannot call this phrase a predicate. The best way to tell about it is this: The verb _stood_ is accompanied by the participial phrase _watching them out of the town_, which denotes an action taking place at the same time as the standing.

Tell about the participial phrases in these sentences:—

Fred entered the house _calling as usual for his mother_.

The Indians advanced, _shouting their war cries_.

She gazed forward, _shading her eyes with both hands_.

NOTE.—Sometimes the participle is used adverbially to modify a
verb; as in the sentence, “The children went scampering off to
the woods.” This sentence does not mean that the children went
_and_ scampered. They only scampered, and the scampering was
what made them go. Since the participial phrase tells just how
the children did the going, it must be a modifier of the verb
_went_.

What is the difference between the sentence just given and
the following?—“The children went singing to the woods.” It
is plain that not every verb can be modified by a participle.
Usually only a verb meaning _come_ or _go_ may be so modified.

=354.= In Lesson LV it was shown that the past participle is often used as a subjective complement; as, “This dress is _soiled_,” “My money is _spent_.”

=355.= In a few idiomatic expressions the participle is used adverbially to modify an adjective; as, _freezing_ cold, _steaming_ hot, _hopping_ mad, _dripping_ wet. Here the participle tells how cold, how hot, etc., and thus denotes degree.

=356.= Sometimes the noun that a participle modifies is omitted, and the participle is said to be used as a noun; as, “The loving are the daring,” which means that loving persons are daring persons. We also speak of the _killed_ and _wounded_.

=Summary.=—The participle or the participial phrase may be a part of the predicate in three ways.

(1) It may be an accompaniment of the verb.

(2) It may be a subjective complement of the verb.

(3) It may be a modifier of a few verbs, denoting the way in which an action was performed.

The participle may be used adverbially to modify an adjective and thus denote the degree of some quality.

The participle may be used as a noun.

=Exercise.=—Explain the use of all participles and participial phrases. Classify the participles.

1. The little mare gave me all the sympathy I could ask,
repeatedly rubbing her soft nose over my face, and lapping up
my salt tears with evident relish.

2.

Three fishers went sailing out into the west,
Out into the west as the sun went down.

3. The warriors of the king were little pleased to hear such
talk from his lips.

4. After her conference with the superintendent, this
undignified young schoolmistress went dancing and skipping home
to tell her mother of her promotion.

5. The sun shining on the rippling water made it so dazzling
bright that we were almost blinded.

6.

Little white Lily sat by a stone,
Drooping and waiting till the sun shone.

7. On my first day in Tangiers the spectacle was bewildering,
and only by concentrating my attention on detached groups could
I form any distinct impression of it.

8. Then Rustum made his way to the bazaar, taking his camel
drivers with him.

9. After licking his lips and polishing his whiskers, the lynx
went loping off through the woods with the limp body of the
mink in his jaws, to eat it at leisure in his lair.

10. In October the woods were a blaze of color,—clear gold,
flaming scarlet, crimson, amber, and coppery brown.

11.

I watch him as he skims along,
Uttering his sweet and mournful cry.

12. Society may be divided into two classes—the bores and the
bored.

13.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rock, the prize we sought is won.

14. Three kings came riding from far away.

15. One day as the king sat drinking in one of the chambers of
his palace, and boasting after his custom, a genius, disguised
as a minstrel, desired to be admitted to the royal presence.

16. The underfed dogs snapped and growled in the passages,
glaring at the cold stars, and snuffing into the bitter wind,
night after night.

17. Drops of nightly dews trickle down to the seeds, moistening
the dryness, closing up the little hollows of the ground,
drawing the particles of maternal earth more closely.

18. The barley and the rye are garnered and gone, the landscape
is bare and deserted.

19. The air was stinging cold and felt like ice upon the boy’s
bare, hot throat.

20. Her heart overflowed with sympathy for all the weary, the
beaten, the oppressed.

Explain the use of the infinitive phrases in sentences 3, 4, 7, 9, 15.