What is a particpial adjective?

Answer 1

A PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE is an adjective derived from two of the principal parts of a verb - the present and past participle. Generally, these two are called verbal adjectives since they are derived from verbs but do not act as verbs or predicates in sentences. They serve as adjectives when used in sentences.

Illustrative Examples

A. Present Participle:

1. Twilight fanatics can't wait to watch its fourth saga, Breaking Dawn.

Note: The word "breaking" is the participial adjective in the sentence. It is an adjective in the sense that it tells something about the the noun "dawn". It describes the dawn and answers the basic question that most adjectives answer: What kind of or Which one.

B. Past Participle:

1. Broken Sonnet is a song popularized by Secondhand Serenade.

Note: This time, the past participle of the verb break, "broken" acts as the adjective in the sentence. It tells us what kind of sonnet there is in the sentence.

Generalization: In both examples you found out that the participial adjectives do not function as predicates (or simply the verbs) in the sentences. The predicates are can wait and is popularized (verb phrases particularly). Why am I explaining this? It's because most students mistake participial adjectives for predicates. Well, they are not. They only look like verbs since they are derived from verbs, hence the reason why they are called verbals - verbs that do not function as predicates in the sentence but as a noun, an ADJECTIVE or an ADVERB.