So, you’ve already explained participial adjectives to your adult ESL students who kept saying “I’m boring” when they meant “I’m bored.” The problem? They want to know how they can tell when the words are verbs and when they are participial adjectives. You can quickly identify them in sentences, but you’re not sure how to explain to your students how to tell the difference. You’re in luck! I’m going to tell you about three tests they can conduct on sentences, but first, let’s do a quick review.
What are participial adjectives?
Participial adjectives are adjectives wearing a participle disguise. There are two kinds, present participles and past participles. Just like regular adjectives, they can modify nouns and pronouns.
What are some examples of participial adjectives?
Amazed, annoying, confused, depressing, embarrassed, exciting, insulted, moving, and pleased are all examples of participles that can be used as adjectives or verbs. Depending on how they are used in a sentence, they can be participial adjectives or verbs.
Now, let’s get to those tests.
Three Tests for Participial Adjectives
Test #1: The Gradeability Test
Is it a verb? Is it a participial adjective? Let’s check. Try adding very in front of a present participle and see if the sentence still makes sense and has the same meaning. If it can, you probably have a participial adjective. (Like life, there are no guarantees with this test.)
For example:
- They gave shocking news.
- They gave very shocking news. It makes sense with very and hasn’t changed the meaning. PASS! It passed the test. It IS a participial adjective.
Okay, but does it work with the past participle form?
Yes, and no. The gradeability test is not reliable with the past participle because very can sometimes be used in both constructions. Consider the following:
- She laughed at his (very) shocked expression. PASS! We can use very to increase the degree of how shocked his expression was.
- The events (very) inspired the citizens. FAIL! Very cannot be used to modify a verb.
- I was (very) astonished. PASS! Here we have increased the degree of astonishment.
- I was (very) astonished by the results. FALSE PASS! We have increased the degree of astonishment, but notice the voice of the sentence.
In the sentence I was astonished, we have no by-phrase. That leaves the be verb as a linking verb. However, in I was astonished by the results, the by-phrase indicates that this is a passive voice sentence. When we switch it to active, The results astonished me, we can no longer add very. So, instruct your students to use this test on active voice sentences only to avoid this false pass. (They can also change the voice from passive to active and then conduct the test.)
Test #2: The Changing Form Test
Another test you can do if you are working with the –ing form is to drop that –ing to see if you can make it past, present, or future and see if you have a full sentence. When there is no context, this test can be useful. With this test, you are looking for verbs, so when the results are FAIL, you have participial adjectives.
Take a look at the sentence “The job is demanding.” Change demanding to a form that isn’t progressive, and you are left with “The job demands/demanded/will demand.” This is not a full sentence; it’s not a complete thought. It requires a direct object. This shows that the word demanding is functioning as a participial adjective.
Now look at The job is ending. Change ending to a form that is not progressive. You still have a full sentence, so the word ending functions as a verb. It is NOT a participial adjective.
Test #3: The Predicate Test
With this test, the words do a little dance and switch places. If the sentence still makes sense and has the same meaning, you’ve got yourself a participial adjective!
- They gave shocking news.
- The news is shocking. PASS Both sentences have essentially the same meaning. It’s a participial adjective.
- They arrested the frightened protestors.
- The protestors are frightened. PASS Both sentences have essentially the same meaning. It’s a participial adjective.
- The events inspired the citizens.
- The citizens are inspired by the events. PASS! …?
Uh, oh. Remember how the gradeability test is not a full-proof method to determine if you have participial adjectives? Neither is the predicate test. This is a FALSE PASS. You see, if you have an active voice sentence, false passes are possible if you don’t notice that the participle isn’t followed by a noun. Of course, when running this test on a passive voice sentence, a true fail is more obvious. Look:
- The citizens are inspired by the events.
- By the events are inspired. OBVIOUS FAIL!
So, we just have to be more careful with active voice sentences? Well, there’s more. Take a look at this one.
- We are exhausted right now.
- Right now is exhausted. FAIL! …?
This looks like a FAIL, but it’s a FALSE FAIL. The sentence has no object of the verb and uses a linking verb. That means that exhausted describes the subject, so it is a participial adjective.
Are these tests useful?
When determining whether words are participial adjectives or not, the gradeability test and the predicate test can often help. I always advise my students to run all three tests and not rely on the results of just one of them. As to whether or not these tests are useful, I’ll quote the conclusion one of my students made. “They’re better than nothing.” That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but my students have also later reported that the tests have helped.
Great. Now how can I print this?
Go ahead and use CTRL-P to print this page, but if you are looking for a participial adjectives grammar guide with worksheets (that explains all that above & more), I’ve got that available in my TpT store! Prefer to have just some task cards? You’ll want to check out Participial Adjectives Review Task Cards for Adult ESL Grammar.
You may be interested in reading Linguistic Investigations: an Amazing Way to Build Student Self-Reliance.
More on grammar in adult ESL
- Conditionals Worksheets: 6 Quick Ways to Make Them FUN!
- 3 Fun Comparative Adjective Speaking Activities
- Time Clauses: This is How to Make Them Fun
- Why Your Grammar Lessons are Missing the Mark (and how you can fix them)
Participial Adjectives: Resources Made for Adult Learners
