Difference between a Participle Clause and a Participle Phrase

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This wonderful grammar knowledge is posted on Quora by Robert Charles Lee.

Start off by realising the difference between a phrase and a clause, and then go on to the difference between a participle phrase and a participle clause.

PHRASE vs. CLAUSE

phrase is a single part of speech. That means it's a bunch of words that have nouns or verbals (verb-like items) but NO SUBJECT. In short, a phrase doesn't have a subject-verb component.

  • after the devastation

  • because of her glittering smile

  • before the first test

  • between ignorance and intelligence

  • broken into a thousand pieces

  • leaving behind the dogs

  • smashing into a fence

clause is a group of words that do contain a verb and its SUBJECT.

  • I despise individuals of low honesty (verb despise, subject individuals)

  • because he smiled at her

  • John Smith is uglier than a rabid dog

  • since she laughs at different men

  • when the saints go marching in

In short, a phrase has no subject but a clause has a subject.

PARTICIPLE

participle is a verbal functioning as an ADJECTIVE -- to modify a noun or pronoun.

  • A present participle always ends in -ing

  • A past participle always ends in -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n or -ne

  • A perfect participle uses having [been] + past participle (for emphasising one action was before another action)

Example:- To shout (verb)

  • Shouting loudly, John walked home. (Present participle)

  • Shouted at loudly, John walked home. (Past participle)

  • Having been shouted at, John walked home. (Perfect participle)

PARTICIPLE CLAUSE

A participle clause is a form of ADVERBIAL clause (even though the participle itself is functioning as an adjective).

It allows us to say information in a shorter, more economical way. We use a participle clause when the participle and the verb in the main clause have the SAME subject.

  • Shouting loudly, John walked home. (John was shouting)

  • Shouted at loudly, John walked home. (Someone shouted at John)

  • Having been shouted at, John walked home. (After someone shouted at John)

PARTICIPLE PHRASE

A participle phrase functions as an ADJECTIVE to modify a noun, pronoun or noun phrase.

A participle phrase contains a participle + modifier/object/complement (or all three). Those other things are nouns, pronouns and/or noun phrases.

The participle expresses the action. The modifier/object/complement is the direct object or indirect object or complement of that action.

  • Removing his coat, John rushed to the river.

"Removing his coat" is the participle phrase. "Removing" is the participle. "His coat" is the direct object of the participle (removing). The whole thing is functioning as an adjective to modify "John."

  • Diana noticed her brother walking along the shoreline.

Same situation. "Walking along the shoreline" is the participle phrase. "Walking" is the participle. "Along the shoreline" is the prepositional adverbial phrase. The whole participle phrase is functioning as an adjective to modify "brother."

To be honest, if you can understand all of the above, then you ought not to have too many problems with participle phrases vs. participle clauses. Having said that, the typical native English speaker is probably less knowledgeable about this stuff than the average ESL/EFL student.

Thanks for the A2A. Get a simpler grammarbook.