Participles
Onions are among the largest vegetable crops produced in the United States.
Would the participle be produced?
The truck, burdened with its load, traveled slowly over the rough road.
Would the participle be burdened?
Right.
Yes, in both sentences, "produced" and "burdened" are participles.
A participle is a verb form that is used as an adjective. It can be formed by adding -ed or -ing to the base form of a verb. In the sentence "Onions are among the largest vegetable crops produced in the United States," "produced" is a past participle modifying the noun "crops."
Similarly, in the sentence "The truck, burdened with its load, traveled slowly over the rough road," "burdened" is a past participle modifying the noun "truck." It tells us the state or condition of the truck as it traveled.
To identify participles, look for verbs that function as adjectives, modifying nouns or pronouns in a sentence. They often end in -ed or -ing but can also be irregular, such as "written," "gone," or "seen."