A student is writing an essay and wants to vary sentence structure by starting a sentence with a participial phrase. Which sentence correctly uses an introductory participial phrase?
- ARunning quickly, the dog chased the ball.
- BQuickly running, the ball was chased by the dog.
- CRunning quickly and the dog chased the ball.
- DThe dog running quickly chased the ball.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Running quickly, the dog chased the ball.
An introductory participial phrase begins with a participle (a verb form ending in -ing or -ed/-en) and functions as an adjective, modifying the subject of the main clause. It must be followed by a comma, and the noun it modifies must immediately follow the comma to avoid a dangling modifier. Option A correctly uses 'Running quickly' to modify 'the dog,' which immediately follows the comma.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. This option contains a dangling modifier; 'Quickly running' incorrectly modifies 'the ball' rather than the dog, which is the actual runner.
- C. This option incorrectly uses 'and' which creates a run-on or grammatically awkward sentence structure.
- D. This option embeds the participial phrase, not using it as an introductory element.
Introductory Participial Phrase
An introductory participial phrase begins with a participle (a verb form ending in -ing or -ed/-en) and functions as an adjective, modifying the subject of the main clause. It is always followed by a comma, and the subject it modifies must immediately follow the comma.
- Starts with a participle (-ing or -ed/-en verb form).
- Functions as an adjective.
- Must be followed by a comma.
- The subject it modifies must immediately follow the comma (avoid dangling modifiers).
Memory trick: The 'ing' or 'ed' phrase kicks off the sentence, then a comma, then *who* is doing it!