The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

The use of the participle

The present participle used to form the continuous aspect

The past participle used to form the perfect aspect

The past participle used to form the passive voice

The present and past participles used as adjectives

SEE, WATCH, HEAR, LISTEN, FEEL, SMELL, NOTICE, OBSERVE + object + present participle

CATCH, FIND, LEAVE, HAVE, GET + object + present participle

COME, GO + present participle

SPEND, WASTE + object + present participle

HAVE, GET + object + past participle

Participle clauses

The present participle used to form the continuous aspect

The present participle is used to form the continuous aspect (be + present participle) in continuous and perfect continuous tenses and infinitives:

Sorry, can you repeat that? I

wasn't listening

.

(past continuous tense)

Your clothes are filthy! What

have

you

been doing

?

(present perfect continuous tense)

You

must be joking

.

(modal continuous)

If the kids

weren't shouting

all the time, perhaps I wouldn't feel so stressed.

(past continuous subjunctive)

I happened

to be passing

your house, and I saw that the door was open.

(continuous infinitive)

She

is known to have been writing

songs for years.

(perfect continuous infinitive)

Related topics:

The continuous aspect

The perfect continuous aspect

The past participle used to form the perfect aspect

The past participle is used to form the perfect aspect (have + past participle) in perfect tenses, infinitives, gerunds and the perfect participle:

He didn't leave until he

had talked

with the boss.

(past perfect tense)

I

haven't smoked

today.

(present perfect tense)

He

may have caught

the train.

(modal perfect)

You

needn't have been

so rude.

(modal perfect)

If we

had booked

our flight earlier, it

would have been

cheaper.

(past perfect subjunctive, modal perfect)

Lucy was assumed

to have left

the day before.

(perfect infinitive)

I am glad

to have helped

you.

(perfect infinitive)

After being stopped by the police, George admitted

having drunk

two pints of beer.

(perfect gerund)

Having taken

the wrong turn, he ended up in a dangerous neighbourhood.

(perfect participle)

Related topics:

The perfect aspect

The past participle used to form the passive voice

The past participle is used to form the passive voice (be + past participle) as well as the passive forms of infinitives, gerunds and the present and perfect participles. When used in this way, it is sometimes called the passive participle:

Penicillin

was discovered

by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

(past simple passive)

I have the feeling I

've been misunderstood

.

(present perfect passive)

Josh always needs

to be told

what to do.

(passive simple infinitive)

I hate

being lied to

.

(passive simple gerund)

Authorities refused to reveal any information about the case

being investigated

.

(passive present participle)

Having been nominated

three times for an Oscar, he is one of today's most acclaimed film directors.

(passive perfect participle)

The past participle can in itself have a passive meaning:

There was a

handwritten

note on the table.

Damaged

badly by the flood, the school had to be rebuilt.

Related topics:

Form: passive voice

The present and past participles used as adjectives

The present and past participles can be used as adjectives. When used in this way, they are sometimes called participial adjectives and the present participle has an active meaning, while the past participle usually has a passive meaning. They can occur:

in an attributive position before nouns: The survey revealed some worrying results. (present participle)

The wind was blowing through the broken living room window. (past participle)

in a predicative position after a linking verb: The results of the survey were/seemed worrying.

The living room window was/looked broken.

In the second case above the present and past participles function as adjectives that express states and describe the subject of the sentence. But if they come after be and are followed by an object or an adjunct, they function as part of a verb phrase and express actions:

The results of the survey

were worrying

the authorities.

(past continuous active)

The living room window

was broken

by the burglar.

(past simple passive)

When used as adjectives, some past participles have an active meaning:

The

fallen

leaves covered the path.

(The leaves that had fallen covered the path.)

My parents are

retired

now.

(My parents have retired.)

Quotes:

Lost time is never found again. - Benjamin Franklin

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. - Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

Friendship is a sheltering tree. - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion. - Washington Irving

SEE, WATCH, HEAR, LISTEN, FEEL, SMELL, NOTICE, OBSERVE + object + present participle

After verbs of perception (see, watch, hear, listen, feel, smell, notice, observe etc.), the present participle expresses an action that continues over a period of time, regardless of whether we perceive the whole action or only part of it:

I felt the ground

shaking

for about half a minute.

(I felt that the ground was shaking.)

I saw the burglar

climbing

over the fence.

(I saw it as the burglar was climbing over the fence.)

I heard my brother

singing

in the bathroom.

(I heard my brother as he was singing in the bathroom.)

If we want to emphasise that the action is completed, we use the bare infinitive:

I felt the ground

shake

once.

(I felt it as the ground shook once.)

Related topics:

SEE, WATCH, HEAR, LISTEN, FEEL, SMELL, NOTICE, OBSERVE + object + bare infinitive

CATCH, FIND, LEAVE, HAVE, GET + object + present participle

After these verbs, the present participle refers to an action that happens over a period of time:

He

caught some students playing

truant at the mall.

(He caught some students who were playing truant at the mall.)

I

found him sitting

on a park bench reading a book.

(When I arrived, he was sitting on a park bench reading a book.)

We

left the others smoking

outside the bar.

(When we left, the others were smoking outside the bar.)

The teacher

had the whole class singing

Mary Had a Little Lamb.

(The teacher persuaded the whole class to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb.)

His problems

got him going

to hospital for years.

(As a result of his problems, he had to go to hospital for years.)

Related topics:

HAVE, GET + object + present participle

COME, GO + present participle

The verbs come and go are often used with the present participle to talk about sports or other physical activities:

How often do you

go fishing

?

Do you want to

come dancing

with us?

I

went swimming

this morning.

We like to

go walking

a lot.

Let's

go shopping

.

SPEND, WASTE + object + present participle

The verbs spend and waste can be followed by an expression of time or money and the present participle:

I've

spent the whole weekend revising

for my exam.

Did you

spend a lot of money redecorating

your apartment?

We

wasted two hours waiting

for the pizza, which never arrived.

Carol shouldn't have

wasted all that money trying

to keep her business alive.

Quotes:

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. - Ruth E. Renkl

HAVE, GET + object + past participle

Have/get + object + past participle means "cause something to be done". We use this structure when we arrange for a professional to do something for us. Get is more informal:

Did you

have your computer fixed

?

I need to

get my suit cleaned

.

This structure can also mean "experience something unpleasant":

They

had their house destroyed

by a hurricane.

He

got his arm bruised

in the accident.

Related topics:

HAVE + object + past participle

GET + object + past participle

Participle clauses

Present participle clauses

A present participle clause can express:

an action that happens at the same time as the action in the main clause: Tom lost his keys (while) walking through the park. (Tom lost his keys while he was walking through the park.)

She left the room singing happily. (She left the room as she was singing happily.)

The participle clause can come first in literary styles: (While) walking through the park, Tom lost his keys.

an action that happens just before another action: Opening the envelope, I found two concert tickets. (I opened the envelope and I found two concert tickets.)

an action that is the result of another action: Moments later a bomb exploded, leaving three people dead and twelve others injured.

When I entered they all looked at me, making me feel uncomfortable.

a reason for the action in the main clause: Having nothing left to do, Paula went home. (Since Paula had nothing left to do, she went home.)

Knowing a little Russian, I had no difficulty making myself understood. (As I knew a little Russian, I had no difficulty making myself understood.)

Working as a sales rep, I get to travel a lot. (I travel a lot because I work as a sales rep.)

Here the subjects of the two actions can be different:The weather being nice, we decided to go for a picnic. (As the weather was nice, we decided to go for a picnic.)

Perfect participle clauses

If we want to make it clear that an action happens before another one, we use a perfect participle for the earlier action:

Having washed the car

, I noticed a small scratch on the front right fender.

(After I washed the car, I noticed a small scratch on the front right fender.)

Here the present participle (washing the car) would mean "while I was washing the car".

If the two actions do not follow each other immediately or if the first action happens over a period of time, we use a perfect participle instead of a present participle for the earlier action:

Having seen the film before

, I didn't want to go to the cinema.

Mark knew the town well,

having lived there all his life

.

Past participle clauses

Past participle clauses replace passive voice finite clauses:

Shocked by the explosion

, the people ran for shelter.

(The people were shocked by the explosion and ran for shelter.)

The musicians stood up,

surrounded by thunderous applause

.

(The musicians stood up while they were surrounded by thunderous applause.)

If we want to emphasise that an action happens before another one, we use a passive perfect participle:

Having been nominated three times for an Oscar

, he is one of today's most acclaimed film directors.

Participle clauses replacing a relative clause

A present participle clause can replace an active voice finite relative clause. The noun before the participle is the doer of the action:

The man

driving the car

was not injured.

(The man

who was driving the car

was not injured.)

Present participle clauses are possible even with verbs which are not normally used in the continuous form (state verbs):

If you think you have received an e-mail

containing

a virus, you should delete it immediately.

(If you think you have received an e-mail

which contains

a virus, delete it immediately.)

A past participle clause can replace a passive voice finite relative clause. The noun before the participle is its object:

This is the last photograph

taken of my grandmother

.

(This is the last photograph

that was taken of my grandmother

.)

Quotes:

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. - Chinese proverb

The greatest weariness comes from work not done. - Eric Hoffer

There is no man living that cannot do more than he thinks he can. - Henry Ford

Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. - Peter Marshall

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted. - Ruth E. Renkl

Related topics:

Relative clauses