Question

Which choice begins with a gerund phrase and ends with a participle phrase?

A) I wept in bed for hours after a long, sad week.

B) I was broken after a long, sad week and could only weep in bed for hours.

C) Weeping for hours in bed is how I spent my day; it had been a long, sad week.

D) Weeping for hours in bed is how I spent my day, broken after a long, sad week.

Answer 1

The answer is option D (Weeping for hours in bed is how I spent my day, broken after a long, sad week).

In a gerund phrase, the head is a verb that ends in ING. This type of phrase can fulfill all the functions of a noun. For example, in this particular case, "weeping" is the head of the subject.

A participial phrase looks like a verb but it is an adjective since it modifies a noun. In this case, the participial phrase is "broken after..."