door being closed

A: Why is the door closed?

B: I closed it because I was cold.

What are Participles?

There are two kinds of participles: past and present. Present participles are the ~ing form of a verb. Past participles end in ed except for irregular verbs:

Verb Present Participle Past Participle
enjoy enjoying enjoyed
go going gone
work working worked
swim swimming swum
play playing played
try trying tried

Of course, you are already very familiar with both present and past participles. We use present participles with continuous tenses and gerunds. Past participles are used in passive sentences and perfect tenses:

Present Participles

  • Instead of using your car to drive to work, why don't you take the bus?
  • She's been working here for many years.
  • What movie are you watching?
  • Please continue doing your work.

Past Participles

  • These grapes were grown in California.
  • Have you ever tried bungee jumping?
  • The food hasn't been eaten yet.
  • When I got home, my wife had already made dinner.

Participles as Adjectives


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Exercise

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