分詞在句中既具有動詞的特征，也有形容詞的功能。分詞可以幫助說話者用動詞的不同形式傳達額外的信息，或用簡短的幾個詞語造出結構復雜的句子。做下面的測驗，看看你對分詞基本用法的掌握。

1. Which of the following verb forms is NOT a participle?

a) He’s always playing on his guitar.

b) The car was found by the side of the road. 

c) Who’s the man talking to Jane?

d) Smoking is a dangerous habit to have.

2. Which of these participle clauses explains that one action happened before the action of the main verb?

a) Dissolved in water, the aspirin can not be tasted.

b) He sat on the couch eating pizza.

c) Having eaten, he was ready to leave.

d) She ran screaming from the room.

3. Which of these is a past participle but has an active meaning?

a) The book sat on the shelf, forgotten by everyone.

b) I prefer teaching advanced students to remedial ones.

c) Marinated in oil, the meat cooked very well.

d) I’ll never mend this broken heart.

4.  Which of these participles would NOT work as a relative clause?

a) Who is the person walking with your friend?

b) Do you know anyone having lost a cat?

c) Many of the people invited to the party didn’t arrive.

d) All of the houses burning so fiercely were unsaveable.

5. In which of these sentences does the participle clause NOT relate to the subject of the main clause? 

a) Sitting by the door, the dog waited patiently.

b) Having known John for years, she was confident he would come.

c) All the sailors living on the bottom floor were dismissed.

d) Looking out of the window, the landscape was very picturesque.

6. In which of these sentences should we use 'much' or 'very much' with the participle?

a) The teacher was admired by his students.

b) He sat there with a shocked expression.

c) Terrifying though it looked, the monster had a good heart.

d) He’s well-known in many social circles.

1) d, 2) c, 3) b, 4) b, 5) d, 6) a.