I really need to get a WORKING charger for my phone.

Participle or verb?

I think it's a verb, but I'm really not sure.

No.

It's a participle, used as an adjective to modify "charger."

Thanks, they're all right!

You're welcome. :-)

To determine whether "working" in the sentence "I really need to get a WORKING charger for my phone" is a participle or a verb, let's first understand what each of these terms means.

A participle is a form of a verb that can be used as an adjective or to form verb tenses. It typically ends in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle).

A verb, on the other hand, is an action word that expresses an action or a state of being.

In this sentence, "working" is used to describe the charger. It is used as an adjective, indicating that the charger is in a functioning or operational state. For example, a working charger implies that it charges the phone properly. Therefore, in this sentence, "working" is being used as a participle.

To further verify this, you can try substituting "working" with other adjectives, such as "new" or "broken." For instance, "I need to get a new charger for my phone" or "I need to get a broken charger for my phone." The same sentence structure works well with these substitutions, confirming that "working" is indeed being used as an adjective (participle) in the original sentence.