English Participles

The Participle: Introduction

37.1 This lesson presents a part of speech known as the PARTICIPLE. Essentially, participles are VERBAL ADJECTIVES. As with verbs, participles have TENSE and VOICE, and can take DIRECT or INDIRECT OBJECTS. As with adjectives, participles have GENDER, NUMBER, and CASE.

37.2 English Participles

In English, there are two participial forms:

• The PRESENT participle
• The PAST participle

37.3 The PRESENT participle in English is recognized by its ending: –ing. Sometimes the participle stands on its own; in other situations, the participle introduces a PARTICIPIAL PHRASE. A participial phrase consists of the participle, plus any other words or phrases that modify or complement the participle. The present participle in English is ACTIVE.

• Odysseus was a loving father.
  • Here the participle stands on its own, modifying father.
• We see Odysseus thinking about it.
• We will see Odysseus fighting the Trojans.
  • In these two sentences, each participle is modifying Odysseus; both also introduce participial phrases.

37.4 The PAST PARTICIPLE in English is most commonly identified by the ending –ed (e.g., worked, loved), though other forms exist (e.g., eaten, sung). As with the present participle, the participle can stand on its own or introduce a PARTICIPIAL PHRASE. The past participle in English is PASSIVE.

• Odysseus burned the captured city.
  • Here the participle modifies city.
• The women, captured by the Greeks, are unhappy.
  • Here the participle modifies women, and introduces a participial phrase.
• The war, fought mainly on the plains of Troy, will come to an end.
  • Here the participle modifies war, and introduces a participial phrase.