The people were frightened by the growling dog. The squeaking wheel needs some grease. A participle is used as an adjective and ends in various ways. A present participle always ends with ing as does the gerund, but remember that it is an adjective. A past participle ends with ed, n, or irregularly.
Participles modify nouns and pronouns and can precede or follow the word modified.
A participial phrase that comes at the beginning of the sentence is always followed by a comma and modifies the subject of the sentence. Find the participial phrases in these sentences and tell what word they modify. Taking my time, I hit the basket. Shouting angrily, the man chased the thief. Exhausted from the hike, Jim dropped to the ground.