indentifying participles vs verbs

This can be very tricky, especially since the GMAT loves to use past and present participles as modifiers. I'll explain the 2 participles separately.

Present participle - It's relatively simple to distinguish between the verb form and modifier (or noun) forms on present participles. To be a verb form the participle needs a helping verb (to be). Without the helping verb, the participle is a modifier or noun.
Examples of verb form:
I am driving to school.
I am eating a PBJ sandwich.
Examples of noun/modifier form:
Driving to school is fun. [Noun]
Eating a PBJ sandwich, I made a mess on my shirt. [Modifier]

Past participle - This is a bit more difficult because the participle can be a regular verb, complex tense verb (needs helping verb), passive verb (needs helping verb) or modifier.
Examples of verb forms:
I worked all night long. [regular past tense verb]
I had purchased a car before the dealer dropped the price. [1st verb is complex with had helping verb, 2nd verb is regular past tense]
The unfortunate man was misdiagnosed by the sloppy doctor. [passive voice verb]
Examples of modifier form:
Planned for weeks in advance, the party was an enormous success. [participle starts a modifying phrase]
The rusted car was worthless. [participle modifies the noun]

This is tricky stuff. Spend some time getting comfortable with the different forms and pay attention to when the GMAT uses participles as modifiers. Modifiers are tested as a grammatical and meaning issue on the GMAT, so improving your ability to spot and understand modifiers will improve your score.

KW
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Hi Kyle, I believe this is not correct. the 2nd verb is a Past Participle and not a regular past tense.

That is precisely why these '-ed' verbs are so tricky. The same word can be either verb or modifier depending on the usage in the sentence. "I dropped the ball." Here 'dropped' is a simple past tense verb. "The dropped ball was heavy." Here 'dropped' is a modifier for ball, not a verb.

I my example above, "the dealer dropped the price" is an independent clause with 'dealer' as the subject, 'dropped' as the simple past tense verb, and 'the price' as the object.

KW
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Hi there,
I'm replying prettey late on this. But they say "better late than never".
Please read the following article to have some clarity as to how to know if a verb-ed is averb or a modifier:
ed-forms-verbs-or-modifiers-134691.html

Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Shraddha
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Hello egmat - I read through your explanation still did not understand. You mentioned - "If the Subject of the sentence us the "doer" of the verb-ed form, then the verb-ed form is used as a verb in the simple past tense."

What about the following example -

The local team, supported by the crowd, but plagued by injuries

I thought it is the subject "local team" that is plagued by injuries, so plagued here in verb no?

Please explain, thanks!

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