Kinds of Participles

There are three kinds of participles in English:

                       - present participle,

                       - past participle, and

                       - perfect participle.

You probably know the first two from certain tenses and adjective forms. Apart from that, participles are also used to shorten sentences.

• Present Participle

The present participle is the ing-form. You surely know this form:

• from progressive / continuous tenses (e. g. Present Progressive) – I am speaking.
• as an adjective form – The film is interesting.
• as a gerund – He is afraid of flying.

Not the exceptions in spelling when adding 'ing':

Exception	Example
final e dropped (but: ee is not changed)	come – coming (but: agree - agreeing)
final consonant after short, stressed vowel is doubled	sit – sitting
final consonant l after vowel is always doubled (in British English)	travel – travelling
final ie becomes y	lie – lying

- The present participle can be used to describe the following verbs:

              come, go, sit

Example: The girl sat crying on the sofa.

- The present participle can also be used after verbs of the senses if we do not want to emphasise that the action was completed. (see Infinitive or Ing-Form)

              feel, find, hear, listen to, notice, see, smell, watch

Example: Did you see him dancing?

- Furthermore, the present participle can be used to shorten or combine active clauses that have the same subject.

Example: She left the house and whistled. – She left the house whistling.

• Past Participle

- The past participle is the participle that you find in the column of lists with irregular verbs (see the column bellow). You surely know this form:

• from perfect tenses – I have spoken.
• from passive voice – The letter was written.
• as an adjective form – I was bored to death.

- For regular verbs form the past participle by adding ed, however, note the following exceptions in spelling:

Exceptions when adding ed	Example
after a final e, only add d	love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled	admit – admitted travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i	hurry – hurried

The past participle can also be used to shorten or combine passive clauses that have the same subject.

Example: The boy was given an apple. He stopped crying. – Given an apple, the boy stopped crying.

Note:

List of Irregular Verbs

Infinitive	Simple Past	Past Participle
alight	alighted, alit	alighted, alit
arise	arose	arisen
awake	awoke, awaked	awoken, awaked
be	was, were	been
bear	bore	borne, born
beat	beat	beaten, beat
become	became	become
beget	begot	begotten
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
bereave	bereaved, bereft	bereaved, bereft
beseech	besought, beseeched	besought, beseeched
bet	bet, betted	bet, betted
bid	bade, bid	bidden, bid, bade
bide	bade, bided	bided
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
bless	blessed, blest	blessed, blest
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast, broadcasted	broadcast, broadcasted
build	built	built
burn	burnt, burned	burnt, burned
burst	burst	burst
bust	bust, busted	bust, busted
buy	bought	bought
can	could	(kein Participle)
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cleave	cleft, cleaved, clove	cleft, cleaved, cloven
cling	clung	clung
clothe	clothed, clad	clothed, clad
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
crow	crowed	crew, crowed
cut	cut	cut
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamt, dreamed	dreamt, dreamed
drink	drank	drunk
drive	drove	driven
dwell	dwelt, dwelled	dwelt, dwelled
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbad, forbade	forbid, forbidden
forecast	forecast, forecasted	forecast, forecasted
forget	forgot	forgotten
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
geld	gelded, gelt	gelded, gelt
get	got	got, gotten
gild	gilded, gilt	gilded, gilt
give	gave	given
gnaw	gnawed	gnawed, gnawn
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grip	gripped, gript	gripped, gript
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung	hung
have	had	had
hear	heard	heard
heave	heaved, hove	heaved, hove
hew	hewed	hewed, hewn
hide	hid	hidden, hid
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt, kneeled	knelt, kneeled
knit	knitted, knit	knitted, knit
know	knew	known
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
lean	leant, leaned	leant, leaned
leap	leapt, leaped	leapt, leaped
learn	learnt, learned	learnt, learned
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
light	lit, lighted	lit, lighted
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
may	might	(kein Participle)
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
melt	melted	molten, melted
mow	mowed	mown, mowed
pay	paid	paid
pen	pent, penned	pent, penned
plead	pled, pleaded	pled, pleaded
prove	proved	proven, proved
put	put	put
quit	quit, quitted	quit, quitted
read	read	read
rid	rid, ridded	rid, ridded
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
saw	sawed	sawn, sawed
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
sew	sewed	sewn, sewed
shake	shook	shaken
shall	should	(kein Participle)
shear	sheared	shorn, sheared
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone	shone
shit	shit, shitted, shat	shit, shitted, shat
shoe	shod, shoed	shod, shoed
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	shown, showed
shred	shred, shredded	shred, shredded
shrink	shrank, shrunk	shrunk
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit	sat	sat
slay	slew	slain
sleep	slept	slept
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
slink	slunk	slunk
slit	slit	slit
smell	smelt, smelled	smelt, smelled
smite	smote	smitten
sow	sowed	sown, sowed
speak	spoke	spoken
speed	sped, speeded	sped, speeded
spell	spelt, spelled	spelt, spelled
spend	spent	spent
spill	spilt, spilled	spilt, spilled
spin	spun	spun
spit	spat	spat
split	split	split
spoil	spoilt, spoiled	spoilt, spoiled
spread	spread	spread
spring	sprang, sprung	sprung
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank, stunk	stunk
stride	strode	stridden
strike	struck	struck
string	strung	strung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
sweat	sweat, sweated	sweat, sweated
sweep	swept	swept
swell	swelled	swollen, swelled
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
telecast	telecast, telecasted	telecast, telecasted
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
throw	threw	thrown
thrust	thrust	thrust
tread	trod	trodden
understand	understood	understood
wake	woke, waked	woken, waked
wear	wore	worn
weave	wove	woven
wed	wed, wedded	wed, wedded
weep	wept	wept
wet	wet, wetted	wet, wetted
win	won	won
wind	wound	wound
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written

 

• Perfect Participle

The perfect participle can be used to shorten or combine clauses that have the same subject if …

• … one action (the one where the perfect participle is used) is completed before the next action starts.

Example: She bought a bike and cycled home. – Having bought a bike, she cycled home.

• … one action has been going on for a period of time when another action starts.

Example: He had been living there for such a long time that he didn't want to move to another town. – Having lived there for such a long time, he didn't want to move to another town.

- The perfect participle can be used for active and passive voice.

• active voice: having + past participle (Having cooked, he set the table.)
• passive voice: having been + past participle (Having been cooked, the food looked delicious.)

---Use of Participle Clauses

- If a clause is shortened using a participle construction, the clause is called participle clause.

Example: Watching TV, she forgot everything around her.

In English, participle clauses are mainly used in writing in order to put a lot of information into one sentence.

When shortening or combining clauses with a participle construction, keep the following rules in mind:

• Both clauses should have the same subject.
• The less important part becomes the participle clause. Important information should always be in the main clause.
• Make sure, you use the correct participle form (see above).
• The conjunctions as, because, since and relative pronouns who, which are left out.
• The conjunctions before, when are used in the participle clause.
• The conjunctions after, while can be used or left out.

---Participle Clauses with different Subjects

- Sometimes participle clauses can be used even if the clauses to be combined do not have the same subject. This is the case for example if the main clause contains one of the following verbs + object:

feel, find, hear, listen to, notice, see, smell, watch

Example: I heard him playing the guitar.

- Here, the participle clause must directly follow the object it is relating to. (Note: Some of the verbs mentioned here can also be used with the infinitive. For further information see Infinitive or Ing-Form)

- A participle construction is also possible, if both subjects are mentioned (often the word 'with' is put before the subject in the participle clause). This is very formal, however, and not often used.

Example: Mrs Jones went to New York. Mr Smith took up her position.
→ (With) Mrs Jones going to New York, Mr Smith took up her position.

---Incorrect Participle Clauses

- Apart from the exceptions mentioned above, participle clause and main clause should have the same subject. Otherwise the sentences might sound rather strange.

Example: I was driving on the motorway, when the baby started to cry.
→ Falscher Partizipialsatz: Driving on the motorway, the baby started to cry.

In this example you get the feeling that the baby has driven the car. So these participle clauses are considered wrong in standard English. In colloquial English, these 'incorrect participle clauses' are usually okay, and you can even find an example in Shakespeare's Hamlet:

Now, Hamlet, hear. ’Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me.

As the text goes, it is said that Hamlet's father was bitten by a snake. Strictly speaking, however, the snake was asleep when it bit Hamlet's father.