Which word does the participle modify? The man's stacked newspapers tumbled to the floor.

Question

Which word does the participle modify?   The man's stacked newspapers tumbled to the floor.

jagatuba · Answer

This is a very basic grammar question that is not hard to understand if you have been paying attention in class. You need to read your text book. I'm sure it tells you what a participle is and probably gives you several examples. That said ...

A participle is a verb that modifies a noun. It's as simple as that. A verb that acts like an adjective. Now there are several kinds of participles, active, passive, past, present, but I'm not going to explain those. They are in your text book. By the simple definition I have given you you should be able to answer this question.

Just in case, here is an example:

The crazy man stuck his hand in the BOILING water.