The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The forms of the participle

Active

Passive

Present participle

writing

being written

Perfect participle

having written

having been written

Past participle

written

written

Present participle

The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb. Note the changes in spelling:

read

»

read

ing

study

»

study

ing

grow

»

grow

ing

relax

»

relax

ing

answer

»

answer

ing

writ

e

»

writ

ing

; arg

ue

»

arg

uing

(a final

-e

is omitted)

agr

ee

»

agr

eeing

(a final

-ee

does not change)

l

ie

»

l

ying

(a final

-ie

changes to

-y-

)

pu

t

»

pu

tting

; regre

t

»

regre

tting

; readmi

t

»

readmi

tting

(we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant, with the exception of

w

,

x

and

y,

and only has one syllable or has the stress on the last syllable)

The present participle does not in itself indicate the time of the action that it refers to. However, it does show that this time is the same as the time of the preceding verb or the verb in the main clause:

I

watched

the storm

approaching

.

(

approaching

refers to the same time as

watched

: I watched as the storm was approaching.)

Having

nowhere to sit, she

stood

in the back of the lecture hall.

(

having

refers to the same time as

stood

: As she had nowhere to sit, she stood in the back of the lecture hall.)

Are

you

waiting

for the bus?

(

waiting

refers to the same time as

are

: present)

We

will be

arriving

in Prague soon.

(

arriving

refers to the same time as

will be

: future)

Perfect participle

The perfect participle indicates that the time of the action that it refers to is before that of the verb in the main clause:

Having taken

the wrong turn, he

ended up

in a dangerous neighbourhood.

(

having taken

refers to a time before

ended up

: After he had taken the wrong turn, he ended up in a dangerous neighbourhood.)

Past participle

The past participle is also called the third form of the verb. With regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding -ed to the base form. Note the changes in spelling:

look » looked

stay » stayed

arrive » arrived (we only add -d if the verb ends in -e)

try » tried (a final -y changes to -i- after a consonant)

stop » stopped (we double the final consonant if the verb ends in consonant-vowel-consonant)

A number of verbs have irregular past participle forms. A few examples are:

bite » bitten

fly » flown

hit » hit

leave » left

swim » swum

See the Appendix for a list of the most common irregular verbs in English.

The past participle can refer to the same time as the verb in the main clause or to a time before that:

Sue

has

all the qualifications

required

for the job.

(

required

refers to the same time as

has

: Sue has all the qualifications that are required for the job.)

Damaged

badly by the flood, the school

had to

be rebuilt.

(

damaged

refers to a time before

had to

: As the school had been badly damaged by the flood, it had to be rebuilt.)

If we want to emphasise an earlier time, we use the passive perfect participle:

Having been nominated

three times for an Oscar, he

is

one of today's most acclaimed film directors.

(He has been nominated three times for an Oscar, and he is one of today's most acclaimed film directors.)

The past participle can have an active or a passive meaning. When used with a passive meaning, it is sometimes called the passive participle:

The

fallen

leaves covered the garden path.

(the leaves that had fallen, active meaning)

This is the first time I've

been

here.

(present perfect tense in active voice, active meaning)

There was a

handwritten

note on the table.

(a note that had been written by hand, passive meaning)

When was the last time the lawn was

mowed

?

(past simple tense in passive voice, passive meaning)

Related topics:

The perfect aspect

Form: passive voice

Appendix: irregular verb forms