Past Participle

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Examples of Past Participles Being Used As Adjectives

Examples of Past Participles Used as Adjectives

• Here is a laminated copy to replace your torn one.
• Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it's worse when they have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves when they were shot. (TV host Ellen DeGeneres)
• A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child. (Poet Henry Longfellow)
• Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality. (Poet Oscar Wilde)
• The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed , no matter which side he's on. (Author Joseph Heller)

Past Participles in Participle Phrases

• The boy taken to hospital has recovered. (The participle phrase "taken to hospital" describes "the boy.")
• I have a heart wracked with sorrow . (The participle phrase "wracked with sorrow" describes "a heart.")
• Battered by the wind , John fell to his knees. (The participle phrase ""Battered by the wind" describes "john.")
• Finally broken , Lee lowered his gloves. (The participle phrase "Finally broken" describes "Lee.")

Past Participles Used in Verb Tenses

As well as being used as adjectives, past participles are also used to form verb tenses. Here are the verb tenses with the past participles shaded:

Examples of Past Participles Used in Verb Tenses

• I had crossed the line. I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land. (Political activist Harriet Tubman)
• I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different. (Poet T S Eliot)
• I phoned my dad to tell him I had stopped smoking. He called me a quitter.
• Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side.
• Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.
• Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen . (British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli)
• I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
• By September, Jenny will have taken over that role.
• I hope that, when I leave this planet, I will have touched a few people in a positive way. (Actor Will Rothhaar)

Forming the Past Participle (Regular Verbs)

If it's a regular verb, the past participle is the same as the simple past tense. In other words, it is formed like this:

• jump > jumped
• paint > painted

• chat > chatted
• stop > stopped

• sew > sewed
• play > played
• fix > fixed

• incur > incurred
• prefer > preferred

• open > opened
• enter > entered
• swallow > swallowed

• thrive > thrived
• guzzle > guzzled

• cry > cried
• fry > fried

Forming the Past Participle (Irregular Verbs)

• arise > arisen
• catch > caught
• choose > chosen
• know > known

More about Participles

• The Past Participle (Past participles usually end with "-ed," "-d," "-t," "-en," or "-n.")
• The Present Participle (All present participles end with "-ing.")

Why Past Participles Are Important

If you're learning or teaching English, then it is essential to have a good understanding of participles (past participles and present participles) because adjectives and verb tenses are fundamental building blocks when learning a language. any language.

As a rule, native speakers are good at using participles, i.e., they do not cause too many writing errors. However, the same cannot be said for participle phrases, which are responsible for an error called a misplaced modifier. (It's not all bad news with participle phrases. They also offer a benefit.)

Here is one benefit and two writing "traps" associated with past participles:

(Benefit 1) Use a fronted participle phrase to say two things about your subject efficiently.

• Imbued with both common sense and enthusiasm , Patrick is always quick to find a cost-effective solution. (This example features a past participle (bold) in a participle phrase (shaded).)

(Trap 1) Beware misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers!

When using the sentence structure in "Benefit 1," writers must be careful not to write an ambiguous sentence by failing to put the participle phrase next to the word it's modifying. For example:

• Imbued with both common sense and enthusiasm , senior managers routinely praise Patrick for his ability to find a cost-effective solution. (In this example, the participle phrase (shaded) could be modifying "senior managers" instead of "Patrick." This is called a misplaced modifier.)

• Imbued with both common sense and enthusiasm , Patrick routinely receives praise from senior managers for his ability to find a cost-effective solution. (The participle phrase is now next to "Patrick." The ambiguity has gone.)

• Imbued with both common sense and enthusiasm , senior managers routinely offer praise for his ability to find a cost-effective solution. (In this example, the participle phrase (shaded) has nothing to modify. "Patrick" isn't even mentioned. This is called a dangling modifier.)

Key Points

• Past and present participles are key building blocks in any language.
• Using an upfront participle phrase lets you shoehorn more information into a sentence.
• If you use an upfront participle phrase, put the word being modified next.

This page was written by Craig Shrives.