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.