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Participles of verbs in the English language can take one of two forms: past participle or present participle.

Past participles of regular verbs are formed by adding -dor -ed to the main verb. e.g. jump-jumped.

Present participles are formed by adding -ing to the main verb. e.g. jump-jumping.

Passive verb forms are normally formed by using tenses of 'be' followed by the past participle (= pp). e.g. Active, using the past simple:- The fox ate the chicken. Passive, using the past simple of 'be' + pp :- The chicken was eaten by the fox.

Participles are used in different ways:

  • in compound verb forms, to make perfect, progressive and passive verb forms: He had forgotten to post the letter. - The phone was ringing when I arrived home. - She'll be advised as soon as possible.
  • as adjectives: I love the smell of melting butter. - Too many broken promises, too many shattereddreams.
  • to form verbal nouns: That new office block is a massive building.
  • to help combine other words into clause-like phrases: Encouraged by his luck, he decided to place another bet.

When used in compound verb forms they still act as verbs, but help to modify the meaning of the clause or sentence.

When used as adjectives they give extra information about a noun. We could hear running water.

When used to form verbal nouns they are nouns and act like nouns. e.g. I like skiing. (skiing: noun, the sport of moving over snow on skis)

Some past participles tell us how people feel: bored, interested, excited.

The corresponding present participles tell us what caused the feelings: a boring lesson, an interesting program, the excitingpresentation.

SUMMARY

Participles are used in many ways. In the brief over-view above we have shown some of the more common and more easily understood forms and constructions. Other names are also used for the various uses of participles.

For more information, see Related links below.

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