SAT Writing - Participle
A participle is a verb that isn't used as a verb, in the traditional sense as the action of the sentence. It is a verb used as an adjective. - A verb used as a "verb" is normally an action word.
- For example, in the sentence "Mary is singing," "singing" is the action of the sentence- it is the thing that Mary (the subject) is doing
Adjectives are descriptive words (used to describe nouns). When a verb is used as an adjective, then that verb is being used not to show action, but to describe a person/place/thing. - A verb used as an adjective is a descriptive word.
- For example, in the sentence "The teacher yelled at the singing lady," "singing" is not the action of the sentence. Yelled is the action going on in the sentence- the thing that the teacher does. Singing is used as an adjective to describe the lady.
- The sentence could have just as easily have used as different adjective to describe the lady- the "pretty lady" or the "happy lady," but instead it chose to describe her as a "singing" lady. The verb, thus, became an adjective.
There are 2 different types of participles: - Past participles, which use a past tense verb (usually, a verb ending in "ed") to describe a noun
- The tired doctor went home
- Tired (the past participle of the verb "tire") is used as an adjective to describe the doctor
- Present participles, which use the present progressive (a verb with an"ing" ending) to describe a noun
- The doctor was fed up with the patients tiring antics.
- Tiring (the present participle of the verb "tire") is used to describe the antics
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