Gerunds

 Grammar-Quizzes
Participial Adjectives Framed | Unframed

 

 

Read and Compare

 

A participial adjective modifies a noun and may indicate:  

  • ongoing or completed
  • cause or receiver

 

Participial Adjectives  - Ongoing vs. Completed

PRESENT PARTICIPLE — ADJECTIVE PAST PARTICIPLE — ADJECTIVE

roasting checken   a  roasting chicken — still cooking!
roasted chicken  a   roasted chicken — done!
Growing children need a lot of food.
(Ongoing: they are still growing.)		 Grown children often move out of the house.
(Completed: they are finished growing.)
Breaking dishes and shouts could be heard in the kitchen.
(Ongoing:  they are still breaking.)		 Broken dishes were all over the floor.
(Completed: they are finished growing.)
Falling trees are a danger to hikers.
(Ongoing: they are coming down.)		 Fallen trees littered the forest floor.
(Completed: they are down.)
Frying potatoes smell delicious.
(Ongoing: they are still frying.)		 Fried potatoes would taste good right now.
(Completed: they are ready to eat.)

 

Present Participle Adjectives: more examplesparrot

We have a talking parrot (a parrot that talks.)
It is a trading company (a company that does trading.)
The crash is a breaking story (a story that is breaking.)
Watch out for falling rocks along the road (rocks that are falling.)
He has a parting word for us, "Stay out of trouble!" (a word to us while we are leaving.)
Mr Hanson was wearing his hiking shoes (shoes that are for hiking.)
Look! It's a shooting star (a star that is shooting across the sky.)

 

 Past Participles as Adjectives: more examplesdog


We found a lost dog (a dog that has been lost.)
A broken promise is hard to forget (a heart that has been broken.)
Would you like some frozen yogurt (yogurt that has been frozen.)
Don't take any half-baked advice (advice that is "half-baked" or unwise.)
On the beach we saw some rotten fish (fish that has rotted.)
He would like some fried potatoes (potatoes that have been fried.)
He was an abused dog (a dog that has been abused.)

 

 

Participial Adjectives  - Cause vs. Receiver

PRESENT PARTICIPLE ADJECTIVE PAST PARTICIPLE ADJECTIVE
monkey child on an amusement ride     an amusing ride

The ride causes the amusement.		 parent (monkeys) walking with monkey child    an amused child

The child receives the feeling of amusement.
Interesting people will will speak during the 2-day class.
(People cause others to feel interest.)		 Interested people can sign up for the 2-day class.
(The people feel interest in the subject.)
Boring speakers put their attendees to sleep.
(The speaker causes others to be bored.)		 Bored speakers should find something exciting to say.
(The speaker feels boredom while speaking!)
Amusing short films are shown at the animated film festival.
(The films cause the amusement.)		 Amused viewers enjoy the short films.
(The viewers feel the amusement.)
Overwhelming amounts of work are given to University students.
(The amount of work causes the overwhelming.)		 Overwhelmed students end up dropping a course or two .
(The students feel overwhelmed.)

 

 

 
 

Practice

 

  1. Choose the correct participial adjective for the context of the sentence.
  2. * indicates an incorrect answer.
  3. Read the response in the box below it.  
 
# YOUR RESPONSE & EXPLANATION IMAGE

1.
   

 
fireworks
2.

   

 

 

 heart
3.
       

 

 

 stuggle
4.
        

 

 

 President Bush
5.
   

 

 

 snow
6.
   

 

 

 icecream
7.
   

 

 

Road
8.    wind up = stress (for animate beings)
   

 

 

 executive
9.
   

 

 

 babe on car
10.
   

 

 

 driver distraction
11.
   

 

 

 faucet
12.
   

 

 

 paint
13.
   

 

 

 ice caps
14.
   

 

 

 water
15.
   

 

 

 accountant
 

 

Related Pages: Participles Used as Adjectives (Gerund Review Lesson)

 

 

 

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Julie Sevastopoulos — ESL Department : College of San Mateo — San Mateo, CA 94402 USA