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
Both present and past participles are also used as adjectives in English. You already know many adjectives that come from verbs:
I'm married.
The door is closed.
The movie was pretty boring.
The TV is plugged in.
I'm freezing! Is the air conditioner turned on or something?
The weather has been amazing for the last few days.
Present Participles
Adjectives that are present participles usually have an active meaning:
- What should you do about a bleeding nose? (a nose that is bleeding)
- The crying baby is giving me a headache. (the baby that is crying)
- Please pour the boiling water into the cups. (the water that is boiling)
Past Participles
Adjectives that are past participles usually have a passive meaning. The following sentences have largely the same meaning:
| Past Participles as Adjectives | Past Participles as Passive Verbs |
|---|---|
| The radio is broken. | The radio has been broken. |
| Phil and Brenda are married. | Phil and Brenda have been married. |
| The door is closed. | The door has been closed. |
| Dinner was already made when I got home. | Dinner had already been made when I got home. |
| My phone was fully charged when I left home this morning. | My phone had been fully charged when I left home this morning. |
Exceptions
Some past participle adjectives have an active meaning:
- I am finished.
- I have finished my work.
- My toe is swollen.
- My toe has swollen.
- My father is retired.
- My father has retired.
- My sister is grown-up.
- My sister has grown up.
- Joe is gone.
- Joe has gone.
- The car is stopped.
- The car has stopped.
Feelings
Many participial adjectives are used to describe feelings:
| amazing | amazed |
| annoying | annoyed |
| boring | bored |
| concerning | concerned |
| confusing | confused |
| disappointing | disappointed |
| embarrassing | embarrassed |
| frightening | frightened |
| exhausting | exhausted |
| frustrating | frustrated |
| interesting | interested |
| pleasing | pleased |
| relaxing | relaxed |
| shocking | shocked |
| tiring | tired |
| worrying | worried |
The past participles above are used to describe how we feel:
I am very frightened of spiders.
I was shocked when I heard the news.
You seem pretty pleased.
You don't have to be worried.
The present participles are used to describe the people or things that cause the feelings:
The movie was pretty boring.
This music is quite relaxing.
I don't want to work with the annoying student.
Work was exhausting today.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.