Basic Details
Word: Participial
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: To do with a participle, or formed from one. A participial phrase, such as Smiling broadly, begins with a participle and describes a noun.
How to Spell Participial
Syllables: par - ti - cip - i - al
Tricky part: The ending is ial: partici-p-ial. Students often drop the i after p and write participal.
Watch out for: participal, participual, partisipial
Memory tip: Take participle, cut off the le, and put ial in its place: particip + ial.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Waving goodbye is a participial phrase in 'Waving goodbye, she boarded the train.'
Example 2: Our grammar test had five questions on participial adjectives.
Example 3: A participial phrase should sit next to the noun it describes.
Fun Fact
A dangling participle is a participial phrase stuck to the wrong noun, as in 'Walking to school, the rain soaked me' - which makes it sound as if the rain was walking.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. preposisional 2. adverbal 3. conjuntive 4. participial
a) beginning with or related to a preposition
b) joining, or acting as a conjunction
c) formed from or related to a participle
d) used like an adverb
Show answer
c) formed from or related to a participle. Adverbial needs an i before al, prepositional has t not s, and conjunctive has lost its c; only participial is right.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
partic_p_al
a) a, i
b) i, e
c) e, i
d) i, i
Show answer
d) i, i. Both gaps take i: partic-i-p-i-al.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters to find the word that fits the sentence:
In 'Shouting loudly, the boy ran out', shouting loudly is a ppaailicrti phrase.
a) participial
b) particular
c) participle
d) partial
Show answer
a) participial. Participle has an e and only ten letters; the eleven letters given spell participial.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which sentence begins with a participial phrase?
a) Meera dropped her pen on the floor.
b) The pen fell under Meera's chair.
c) Laughing at the joke, Meera dropped her pen.
d) Meera laughed at the joke loudly.
Show answer
c) Laughing at the joke, Meera dropped her pen.
2. In 'the broken window', broken is a ____.
a) common noun
b) past participle
c) present participle
d) preposition
Show answer
b) past participle
