Participles sometimes partake of the nature of the noun, while they retain the nature of the verb.

Build each of the following phrases into a sentence, and explain the nature of the participle.

+Model+.— ——in building a snow fort. They were engaged in building a snow fort. The participle building, like a noun, follows the preposition in, as the principal word in the phrase; and, like a verb, it takes the object complement fort.

—— by foretelling storms. —— by helping others. —— on approaching the house. ——- in catching fish.

Use the following phrases as subjects.

Walking in the garden ——. His writing that letter ——. Breaking a
promise ——.

Use each of the following phrases in a complex sentence. Let some of the dependent clauses be used as adjectives, and some, as adverbs.

—— in sledges. —— up the Hudson. —— down the Rhine. —— through the Alps. —— with snow and ice. —— into New York Bay. —— on the prairie. —— at Saratoga.

Build a short sentence containing all the parts of speech.

Expand the following simple sentence into twelve sentences.

Astronomy teaches the size, form, nature, and motions of the sun, moon,
and stars.

Contract the following awkward compound sentence into a neat simple sentence,

Hannibal passed through Gaul, and then he crossed the Alps, and then came
down into Italy, and then he defeated several Roman generals.

Change the following complex sentences to compound sentences.

When he asked me the question, I answered him courteously.
Morse, the man who invented the telegraph, was a public benefactor.
When spring comes, the birds will return.

Contract the following complex sentences into simple sentences by changing the verb in the dependent clause to a participle. Notice all the other changes.

A ship which was gliding along the horizon attracted our attention.
I saw a man who was plowing a field.
When the shower had passed, we went on our way.
I heard that he wrote that article.
That he was a foreigner was well known.
I am not sure that he did it.
Every pupil who has an interest in this work will prepare for it.

Change the following compound sentences to complex sentences.

+Model+.—Morning dawns, and the clouds disperse. When morning dawns, the clouds disperse.

Avoid swearing; it is a wicked habit.
Pearls are valuable, and they are found in oyster shells.
Dickens wrote David Copperfield, and he died in 1870.
Some animals are vertebrates, and they have a backbone.

Expand each of the following sentences as much as you can.

Indians dance. The clock struck. The world moves.