Participle

A participle is a form of a verb that typically functions as an adjective, describing or modifying a noun or pronoun. It can also form parts of verb tenses in conjunction with auxiliary verbs.

Definition of Participle (from different sources):

Cambridge Dictionary: A participle is a word formed from a verb that can act as an adjective or be used to form compound tenses.

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries: A participle is a verb form that can be used as an adjective or to form part of a compound verb tense. It is often combined with auxiliary verbs to create different tenses (e.g., "She is eating," or "He has eaten").

Merriam-Webster Dictionary: A participle is a verbal form that typically functions as an adjective or a noun, often in combination with auxiliary verbs to form compound tenses.

Participles are verb forms that function as adjectives or form part of verb tenses. There are two main types of participles:

1. Present Participle

The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb (e.g., run → running, eat → eating). It describes an ongoing action or a state. It can be used in continuous tenses or as an adjective.

Example as a verb:

• She is running in the park.

Example as an adjective:

• The running water is cold.

2. Past Participle

The past participle is typically formed by adding -ed to regular verbs (e.g., walk → walked), but many irregular verbs have unique forms (e.g., go → gone, eat → eaten). It is used in perfect tenses or passive voice, and it can also act as an adjective.

Example as a verb:

• She has eaten her dinner.

Example as an adjective:

• The broken window needs fixing.

Participles are verb forms that can function as adjectives or be used to form various verb tenses in English. There are two types of participles: present participles and past participles.

1. Present Participle (ending in -ing)

As an adjective:

• The crying baby needs attention.
• The barking dog woke up the neighborhood.

In continuous tenses:

• She is reading a book right now.
• They were playing soccer when it started raining.

In participial phrases (modifies the subject or another noun):

• Walking down the street, I saw a beautiful flower.
• Hoping for the best, he entered the room.

2. Past Participle (usually ending in -ed, -en, or other irregular forms)

As an adjective:

• The broken window needs to be fixed.
• The burnt toast smells awful.

In perfect tenses:

• She has finished her homework.
• They had left before we arrived.

In passive voice:

• The book was read by the teacher.
• The cake is baked every morning.

3. Participles in Participial Phrases

A participial phrase includes a participle and its objects or modifiers. This phrase can provide extra details about the subject or action in a sentence.

• Having finished his work, he went home.
• Tired from the long journey, they rested at a nearby hotel.

4. Using Participles for Time Relationships

• Present participle (to indicate simultaneous actions):
  • Running late, she caught a taxi to the meeting.
• Past participle (to indicate an action completed before another):
  • Having completed her project, she went to bed.

Summary:

Participles can function as adjectives, form continuous and perfect tenses, express passive voice, and form participial phrases, adding richness and variety to sentences.

Both past and present participles can function as adjectives, but they are used in different ways and convey different meanings. Here's a breakdown of the differences:

1. Past Participle as an Adjective

The past participle is used to describe a noun or pronoun by indicating that something has been completed or affected by an action. It often conveys a sense of being in a state due to a past action.

Form: Past participles typically end in -ed, though there are irregular forms (e.g., broken, written, done).

Examples:

• The broken window needs to be fixed.
  (The window has been broken.)
• She looked tired after the long journey.
  (She is in the state of being tired.)
• The cooked meal smelled delicious.
  (The meal has been cooked.)

2. Present Participle as an Adjective

The present participle is used to describe a noun or pronoun in a way that indicates an ongoing action or state. It often conveys an active or continuous quality.

Form: Present participles end in -ing.

Examples:

• The exciting movie kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
  (The movie is actively causing excitement.)
• The interesting book caught my attention.
  (The book is causing interest.)
• She has a charming personality.
  (Her personality is actively charming.)

Key Differences:

• Past Participle: Often describes a state resulting from a completed action (e.g., bored, tired, excited).
• Present Participle: Often describes something that is actively causing the feeling or condition (e.g., boring, tiring, exciting).

Summary:

• Past participles describe the result or state of an action.
• Present participles describe the ongoing or active quality of the noun.

The perfect participle is a grammatical form used to indicate that an action was completed before the action of the main verb. It is often formed by using having + the past participle of a verb.

Structure: Having + past participle

Example:

Having completed the task, she left the office.

In this example, "Having completed" indicates that the action of completing the task was finished before she left the office.

Usage:

• To show the order of actions: It expresses that one action occurred before another.
  • Having finished his homework, he went to bed.
• To show cause or reason: It can explain the reason for the action in the main clause.
  • Having studied hard, she passed the exam.

Example sentences:

• Having read the book, I was able to discuss it with my friends.
• Having seen the movie, they talked about the plot.
• Having prepared all day, she was ready for the presentation.

Dangling Participles and Misplaced Participles are both common errors in English grammar that occur when participles (verb forms used as adjectives) are not properly placed in relation to the noun they modify. Here's an explanation of each:

1. Dangling Participles:

A dangling participle occurs when the participle or participial phrase doesn't clearly modify the intended noun or subject of the sentence. In other words, the noun or subject the participle is meant to describe is either missing or unclear.

Example of a Dangling Participle: Running late, the car wouldn't start.

This sentence suggests that "the car" was running late, which doesn't make sense. The participial phrase "Running late" should describe the person, not the car.

Corrected version: Running late, I found that the car wouldn't start.

Now, it's clear that the person is running late, not the car.

2. Misplaced Participles:

A misplaced participle occurs when the participle is too far from the noun it is supposed to modify, leading to confusion or a humorous interpretation.

Example of a Misplaced Participle: She almost drove the car for two hours, singing loudly.

This sentence implies that "the car" was singing loudly, which is not the intended meaning.

Corrected version: Singing loudly, she drove the car for almost two hours.

Now, it's clear that she was singing loudly while driving, not the car.

Key Points:

• Dangling participles usually happen when the subject of the participle is missing or unclear.
• Misplaced participles occur when the participle is placed too far from the noun it modifies, creating confusion.

Irregular past participles in English do not follow the standard pattern of adding -ed to the base verb. Instead, they change in different ways, and each verb must be learned individually.

Here are some examples of irregular past participles:

• Begin → Begun
  • She has begun the project.
• Go → Gone
  • He has already gone to the store.
• Eat → Eaten
  • I have eaten lunch already.
• See → Seen
  • They have seen the movie.
• Take → Taken
  • She has taken her medicine.
• Write → Written
  • I have written a letter.
• Give → Given
  • He has given a gift to his friend.
• Do → Done
  • I have done my homework.
• Come → Come
  • They have just come back from their trip.
• Find → Found
  • I have found the keys.

Note that the past participle is often used in perfect tenses (e.g., have, has, or had + past participle), passive voice, and other constructions that require it.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid with participles:

1. Misplacing the Participial Phrase: Incorrect placement of the participial phrase can create confusion or a dangling participle.

• ✘ Walking down the street, the car broke down.
• ✓ Walking down the street, I saw the car break down.

Explanation: The participle "walking" should logically modify the subject "I," not "the car."

2. Dangling Participles: A participle phrase that doesn’t clearly modify a noun or pronoun in the sentence can create confusion.

• ✘ After reading the book, the movie was disappointing.
• ✓ After reading the book, I found the movie disappointing.

Explanation: The participle phrase "After reading the book" should logically refer to the subject "I."

3. Using Present Participle Instead of Past Participle: Using the present participle form incorrectly in passive constructions or with verbs that require a past participle.

• ✘ The cake is baking in the oven.
• ✓ The cake is baked in the oven.

Explanation: "Baking" is a present participle that incorrectly implies the cake is still baking, while "baked" is the correct past participle to describe the state of the cake.

4. Confusing Participles and Gerunds: Confusing participles with gerunds, as both can end in -ing, but they serve different functions.

• ✘ Running is good exercise.
• ✓ He was running when I saw him.

Explanation: "Running" is a gerund in the first sentence (acting as a noun) and a present participle in the second (modifying the subject "he").

5. Overusing Participles: Overusing participial phrases can make a sentence sound awkward or too complex.

• ✘ Running down the street, feeling the wind in my hair, I stumbled over a rock.
• ✓ I stumbled over a rock while running down the street and feeling the wind in my hair.

Explanation: A simpler sentence can help make the meaning clearer without unnecessary complexity.

6. Inconsistent Tense Usage: Using participles in a way that conflicts with the tense of the main clause.

• ✘ Having finished my homework, I will watch TV.
• ✓ Having finished my homework, I watched TV.

Explanation: "Having finished" implies an action completed before the main action, so the past tense should follow.

7. Unnecessary Use of Participles in Simple Sentences: Adding participles to a sentence where a simple form would suffice.

• ✘ He arrived, bringing with him a gift.
• ✓ He arrived with a gift.

Explanation: The participle "bringing" adds unnecessary complexity; "with a gift" makes the sentence simpler.

Here are some practice exercises using participles. Participles can act as adjectives, describe actions, or form part of verb phrases (such as in perfect tenses or continuous tenses).

Exercise 1: Identify the participles in the following sentences.

• 1. The running water was cold.
• 2. The broken vase lay on the floor.
• 3. We saw the sleeping cat on the couch.
• 4. Having finished my homework, I went to bed.
• 5. The singing birds were heard in the early morning.

Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with the appropriate participle form of the verbs provided in parentheses.

• 1. The ______________ (fall) leaves covered the ground.
• 2. The ______________ (write) letter was left on the desk.
• 3. We were amazed by the ______________ (swim) dolphin.
• 4. ______________ (read) the book, I learned a lot about history.
• 5. The ______________ (cry) baby was finally calmed down.

Exercise 3: Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the underlined phrases with participles.

• 1. She was tired because she worked all day.
  Rewrite: ___________________
• 2. I was surprised when I saw the results of the test.
  Rewrite: ___________________
• 3. He felt proud because he had completed the task.
  Rewrite: ___________________
• 4. The dog was barking loudly while it was running in the yard.
  Rewrite: ___________________

Exercise 4: Create sentences using the following participles.

• 1. Excited
• 2. Exhausted
• 3. Bored
• 4. Interested
• 5. Frightened