Read the following sentence. Hearing the footsteps of its owner, the cat jumped down from the kitchen countertop. Which word does the participial phrase modify? (1 point)
cat
owner
footsteps
countertop
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer: cat
Explanation:
The sentence provided is:
Hearing the footsteps of its owner, the cat jumped down from the kitchen countertop.
To determine which word the participial phrase modifies, we must understand what a participial phrase is and how it functions.
What is a Participial Phrase?
A participial phrase is a group of words that begins with a present participle (verb ending in -ing) or a past participle (often ending in -ed, -en, etc.) and acts as an adjective, describing or modifying a noun or pronoun in the sentence.
In this case, the participial phrase is:
Hearing the footsteps of its owner
- The participle is “Hearing”.
- The phrase describes who was hearing the footsteps.
Step-by-Step Analysis:
Let’s look at the full sentence again:
Hearing the footsteps of its owner, the cat jumped down from the kitchen countertop.
To find out what noun is being modified by “Hearing the footsteps of its owner,” ask:
Who was hearing the footsteps?
Was it:
- the cat?
- the owner?
- the footsteps?
- the countertop?
Clearly, the cat was the one who heard the footsteps. The cat was reacting to that sound by jumping down.
So, the participial phrase “Hearing the footsteps of its owner” modifies the noun “cat.”
Why Not the Other Options?
- Owner: The owner is part of the prepositional phrase “of its owner” and is not performing the action.
- Footsteps: Footsteps don’t hear things; they are heard.
- Countertop: An inanimate object, the countertop cannot hear footsteps.
Conclusion:
The participial phrase “Hearing the footsteps of its owner” functions as an adjective that modifies “cat,” because the cat is the one performing the action described in the phrase.