Is the underlined word a participle or verb? My cousin (told) me to hold my nose and puff my cheeks to get rid of the hiccups.

a. verb

b. participle

The correct answer is A. Verb. This is because even though both the regular verb Told and the participle Told are of the same form, for it to be a participle requires some of the tenses in which there are participles, such as the present perfect or the past perfect.