Participial adjective
A participial adjective is a word which is identical in form to the present or past participle of a verb. A participial adjective functions as an adjective.
Examples (in brackets)
- (Stolen) watch
- (Broken) wings
- (Fallen) heroes
- (Missing) child
- (Smiling) face
- An (unexpected) visitor
- A (surprising) visit
- Barking dogs seldom bite. (Here the participle barking functions as an adjective and modifies the noun dogs.)
- A rolling stone gathers no moss. (Here the participle rolling functions as an adjective and modifies the noun stone.)
- Just then an unexpected visitor turned up.
Participial relative clause
A participial relative clause is a clause which resembles a relative clause but which contains a participle instead of a finite verb. In the following examples, the first member of the pair contains a participial relative clause while the second contains an equivalent full relative clause.
- The passengers injured in the accident were taken to hospital.
- The passengers who were injured in the accident were taken to hospital.
- The boy standing at the gate is my son.
- The boy who is standing at the gate is my son.
- The man arrested for stealing the watch has been released.
- The man who was arrested for stealing the watch has been released.