participial
/,pɑ:ti'sipiəl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Relating to or functioning as a participle: Describes something that is of, relating to, or consists of a participle. A participle is a verb form used as an adjective or to form certain verb tenses.
Noun:
- A participle: A non-finite verb form that can function as an adjective or be used to form compound verb tenses (e.g., present perfect, past perfect).
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- The phrase "the running water" contains a participial adjective.
- In the sentence "I saw a broken window," the word "broken" is in a participial form.
Noun:
- "Walking" in "a walking tour" is a participial.
- The past participial "eaten" is used in the perfect tense "has eaten."
Advanced Usage
Participial phrase: A phrase that begins with a participle and functions as an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun.
- "Hoping for the best," she opened the letter. (The participial phrase "Hoping for the best" modifies "she".)
Dangling participle: A grammatical error where a participial phrase does not logically modify any noun or pronoun in the sentence.
- "Running down the street, the bus was missed." (This is incorrect; it sounds like the bus was running.)
Variants and Related Words
- Participle (n): The base form from which "participial" is derived. It refers to the specific verb form (e.g., present participle: ; past participle: ).
- Participially (adv): In a participial manner.
- The verb was used participially to describe the noun.
Synonyms
- Verbal adjective: A term sometimes used to describe a participle functioning as an adjective.
Related Grammatical Concepts
- Gerund: A verb form ending in that functions as a noun (e.g., ). This is distinct from a present participle, which functions as an adjective (e.g., ).
- Infinitive: The base form of a verb, usually preceded by "to" (e.g., ), which is another type of non-finite verb form.
Adjective
- of or relating to or consisting of participles
- participial inflections
Noun
- a non-finite form of the verb; in English it is used adjectivally and to form compound tenses