sorry for cluttering up the threads with frequent posts....Infact just went through OG
Q19, 30 ---> OG has talked about the usage of 'participle'
Q55, 66 ---> usage of 'participial'

Seriously wondering, am i missing something here? Are they not the same?

Request Ron and other experts to throw some light on this...

Edit: Participial is a participle phrase

OA is C..Thanks for the discussion guys.

a lot of discussion here but not clear about the uses of 'gerund' and 'present participle'

ranjeet75 wrote:a lot of discussion here but not clear about the uses of 'gerund' and 'present participle'

It is a present participle phrase. (rockey and i had an agreement on this through PM). 'Gerund phrase' neither can act as an adjective nor can extend / express the outcome of the sentence.

In most cases 'Gerund phrase' acts as - (i) subject of the sentence (ii) object of a preposition. It cannot describe / qualify a noun just as adjective does.

Please refer to OG12 - Q55, 66, 19, 30 for usage clarifications.. Participial is a participle phrase!

PS: We can argue that a noun / noun phrase can talk more about a noun, but it is called as 'appositive'

samarpan_bschool wrote:
My understanding is ING + verb can take three forms - Gerund, Participial, present continuous (Different forms depend on the usage in a sentence)

Talking about our example, i would say 'making' is ambiguous because it can refer either to 'Medicare' or 'non hospital services'.

Let me know if we have a disagreement here. At the end of the day a healthy discussion will help us both.

Here is my analysis :

Present Progressive (Present continuous) : Is a TENSE and not a form of the verb , its shows the state of being . Often the TO BE form of the verb is used with the Present Participle to express the continuous tense .

Ex :Present progressive: The baby is crying.
Past progressive: The baby was crying.
Future progressive: The baby will be crying.

Gerund or Participle : Are the forms of the verb . The Gerund acts as a NOUN where as the Participle acts an Adjective. But the point to note here is they are complete Nouns or Adjectives but in fact VERBS that are acting as Nouns and Adjectives .

Ex : We were annoyed by a crying baby.

Crying here is qualifying the baby and hence acts a Adjective.

Ex : Crying indicates that the baby is hungry .

Crying here is a gerund and acts as a noun.

I think the trick to differentiate between a Gerund and Participle is to see if the Verb + ING is modifying a noun or not .

Some rules about punctuations of Participle Phrase :

(1) When a participial phrase begins a sentence, a comma should be placed after the phrase.

Ex : Tracking satellites accurately , NASA collects valuable data.

(2)If the participle or participial phrase comes in the middle of a sentence, it should be set off with commas only if the information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Ex : NASA , tracking satellites accurately , collects valuable data .

Note that if the participial phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence, no commas should be used.

Ex : The accurate tracking of satellites is an important job .

(3) If a participial phrase comes at the end of a sentence, a comma usually precedes the phrase if it modifies an earlier word in the sentence, but not if the phrase directly follows the word it modifies.

Ex : NASA dose a good job , tracking satellites accurately .

Here tracking satellites accurately qualifies NASA .


Ex : The students saw scientist at NASA tracking satellites accurately.

Here also tracking satellites accurately modifies noun NASA but note the difference in punctuation .

With this knowledge if we see OG 12 Q 66 SC .

The 32 species that make up the dolphin family are closely related to whales and in fact include the animal known as the killer whale, which can grow to be 30 feet long and is famous for its aggressive hunting pods.

Option B: include the animal known as the killer whale, growing as big as 30 feet long and

Since we have a comma (,) before the participle phrase growing as big as 30 feet long it should modify a word in the preceding clause and not not the NOUN just before the phrase .
If this is the case then growing as big as 30 feet long is not modifying WHALES but is modifying the subject 32 species and thus changes the intended meaning of the sentence .


Applying the same logic to the current question we have

B. but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.

making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs is a Participle Phrase at the end of the sentence and its preceded by comma so it must modify a word preferably the subject in preceding clause that is MEDICARE . But can medicare make some one do some thing NO . So the intended meaning is changed .

Hi rockeyb,

nice to see your detailed post. I have given my thoughts in bold red font. Let me know if i make sense.

Some rules about punctuations of Partic ... ][/color]

The examples given may be wrong and I have corrected them have a look now .

Ex : The accurate tracking of satellites is an important job .

My take: 'The accurate tracking of satellites' is a GERUND acting as a noun. It is infact complex gerund with the adjective accurate before it.

The student earning the highest grade point average will receive a special award.
The guy wearing the chicken costume is my cousin.

Ex : NASA dose a good job , tracking satellites accurately .

Here tracking satellites accurately qualifies NASA .

My take: Here 'tracking satellites accurately' answers the question 'HOW'. How does NASA does a good job ? By 'tracking satellites accurately'. Not to complicate things - 'tracking satellites accurately', as a present participial, describes / extends the meaning of the previous clause. In strict grammatical sense, it will be an adverbial modifier

If a participial phrase comes at the end of a sentence, a comma usually precedes the phrase if it modifies an earlier word in the sentence but not if the phrase directly follows the word it modifies.
The local residents often saw Ken wandering through the streets.
(The phrase modifies Ken, not residents.)
Tom nervously watched the woman, alarmed by her silence.
(The phrase modifies Tom, not woman.)

Shawshank wrote:

rockeyb wrote:I will go for C below are the reasons why .

A. but not with other nonhospital services where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
[Where - needs to refer to an actual place , eliminate]
B. but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.
[making beneficiaries pay - is modifying nonhospital services instead should modify Medicare OR US government ]
C . but not of other nonhospital services, for which beneficiaries must pay 20 percent of the costs.
[Correct ]
D. which is unlike other nonhospital services in that 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.
[WHICH refers to "home health care" and thus changes the meaning ]
E. which is unlike other nonhospital services that make beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs.
[WHICH refers to "home health care" and thus changes the meaning ]

Confused between C and E...

How does E change the meaning by the way ????

@shawshank bhai
The answer would be C.

E changes the intended meaning

Intended meaning is Medicare covers only costs of homecare and not the costs of nonhospital services.

E intends to compare the homecare vs nonhospital services withyout bringing the costs as it prime comparison.

CrazyGmatter wrote:Medicare, the United States government's health insurance
program for the elderly and disabled, covers the full cost of
home health care, but not with other nonhospital services
where 20 percent of the costs must be paid by beneficiaries.

B. but not of other nonhospital services, making beneficiaries
pay 20 percent of the costs.

In answer choice B, the verb making is functioning as an adjective. Who or what is making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs? Medicare. So making is an adjective modifying the noun Medicare.

The sentence could read as follows:

Making beneficiaries pay 20 percent of the costs of most nonhospital services, Medicare, the United States government's health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, covers the full cost of home health care.

In the example above it's easier to see that the verb making is an adjective modifying the noun Medicare.

One reason to pick C over B:

Avoid words that end in -ing. If you're stuck between two answers, and one uses a word that ends in -ing, pick the other answer choice.

Lot of learning and lot of takeaways indeed....i am excited !!!

I have read that participle phrase always modify the subject......actually that is why they can be moved around and put at beginning, middle or end


I never found ambiguity to this rule.......
If anyone found an ambiguity to the rule...please post