Past Participle



Past Participle : The forms of the different Participles are as shown below.



Transitive Verbs

Active Voice

1. Present or Continuous : Loving
2. Past : WANTING
3. Perfect : Having Loved

Passive Voice

1. Present or Continuous : Being Loved
2. Past : Loved
3. Perfect : Having been Loved

Intransitive Verbs

1. Present or Continuous : Loving
2. Past : Loved
3. Perfect : Having Loved

Double Character of Participles :

A Participle is a double part of speech - a Verb and an Adjective combined. We have now, therefore, to describe it in each of these characters.

(i) As part of a Finite Verb
(ii) As an Adjective qualifying some Noun

(i) As part of a Finite Verb

The student will have seen already that many of the Tenses of English Verbs are formed with the help of the Past or Present Participle. Thus all the Tenses of the Passive Voice are formed out of the Verb TO BE followed by the Past Participle.

1. I am loved.
2. I was loved.
3. I shall be loved.

Again, all the Continuous Tenses in the Active Voice are formed out of the Verb TO BE followed by the Present Participle.

1. I am loving.
2. I was loving.
3. I shall be loving.

Again, the Perfect Tenses in the Active Voice are formed out of the Verb TO HAVE followed by the Past Participle.

1. I have loved.
2. I had loved.
3. I shall have loved.

(ii) As an Adjective

A Participle, when it is an Adjective, belongs to the Descriptive class. Like other such Adjectives, it can…

(a) Qualify a Noun.
(b) Be qualified by an Adverb.
(c) Admit of Degrees of Comparison.
(d) Be converted to a Noun.

1. Being tired of work, the men went home.
2. The man was picked up in an almost dying state.
3. This flower is more faded than that.
4. Let bygones be bygones. We cannot undo the past.

Since a Participle is a Verb as well as an Adjective, it can take an Object which may be of four kinds.

1. Having shot the tiger, he returned home. (Direct Object)

2. He is here, teaching his sons Latin. (Indirect Object)

3. Having been taught Latin, he became a classical scholar. (Retained Object)

4. We saw them fighting a hard battle. (Cognate Object)

Past Participle

The use of such Participles depends upon whether the Verb is Transitive or Intransitive.

(a) If the Verb is Transitive, the Past Participle is never used in the Active Voice, but only in the Passive.

1. This much-praised man proved to be a rogue.
2. Gold is a metal dug out of the earth.

(b) If the Verb is Intransitive, the Past Participle is not used at all in most Verbs. But whenever it is used (a matter depending entirely on custom), it must precede its Noun and not follow it.

1. The faded rose…
2. A retired officer…
3. A broken heart…
4. The fallen city…
5. A withered flower…
6. A departed guest…

If the speaker or writer desires to place the Past Participle of an Intransitive Verb after its Noun, he must insert the Relative Pronoun and change the Participle into a Finite Verb.

The house of Mr. A., returned to England, is for sale.

This is wrong. The sentence should be…The house of Mr. A., who has returned to England, is for sale.

The Past Participle of Verbs is sometimes used to express some permanent habit, state or character.

A well-read man = a man who has read much and read well

A well-behaved man = a man whose habitual behaviour is good

An out spoken man = a man who habitually speaks frankly and firmly

From this use of the Past Participle has arisen a large class of Adjectives which are formed from Nouns by adding ED to the end of the Noun.

1. An evil-heart-ed man
2. A hot-head-ed man
3. A land-ed proprietor
4. A long-tail-ed ape
5. A rough-hair-ed dog
6. A hood-ed snake
7. A long-leg(g)-ed spider
8. A thickly wood-ed hill
9. A noble-mind-ed man
10. A warm-blood-ed animal
11. A thick-skin(n)-ed fellow

Uses of Participles

Since Participles qualify Nouns or Pronouns, they may be used.

(i) Attributively

1. A willing horse
2. A fallen tree
3. A withered flower
4. A rolling stone gathers no moss
5. A lost opportunity never returns

(ii) Predicatively

1. We found him sleeping. (Objective Complement)
2. He found us walking. (Objective Complement)
3. He became alarmed. (Subjective Complement)
4. They became alerted. (Subjective Complement)

(iii) Absolutely with a Noun or Pronoun going before it

1. Weather permitting, we shall go for a walk.

2. It being fine, we went out.

3. God willing, we shall have another good crop this year.

4. This done (= When this had been done), he left as quickly as he could.

5. The sun having risen, they set off.

The word absolute means free, standing alone and having no connection with any other word in the sentence. The Noun or Pronoun going before the Participle is said to be Absolute, because it is neither the Subject nor the Object to any Finite Verb, but stands alone with the Participle. It is called the Nominative Absolute.

When no Noun or Pronoun is placed before a Participle used absolutely, the Participle is practically a Preposition. Such a Participle is sometimes called an Impersonal Absolute.

1. Supposing this to be true, he is certainly innocent.
2. He plays well, considering his age.
3. Owing to his lameness, he could not walk straight.
4. Speaking confidentially, he is guilty of the offence.
5. We will hear you again concerning, regarding or touching this matter.

Meanings implied in Participles :

Participles must be parsed as Verbal Adjectives qualifying their Nouns. But sometimes there is a further meaning implied in them which can be more fully expressed by changing the participial phrase into a clause.

The implied meanings are

(a) Time
(b) Cause or Reason
(c) Condition
(d) Concession or Contrast

(a) Time

1. Looking through some old papers (= while I was looking through some old papers), I came across this letter.

(b) Cause or Reason

1. Being tired (= because he was tired), he sat down to rest. The letter, having been addressed (= because it was addressed) to the wrong house, never reached me.

(c) Condition

1. Turning to the left (= if you turn to the left), you will find the place you want.

2. God willing (= if God is willing), we shall win this time also.

(d) Concession or Contrast

1. Admitting (= though I admit) what you say, I still think that you made a mistake.

2. He being dead (= although he is dead), yet speaketh New Testament.

Examples Sentences with The Participles :

1. Believing himself to be right, he stuck to his opinion.
2. Night coming on, the men went home.
3. Having been warned of the danger, I stayed there no longer.
4. Having been asked for a loan, he refused to give it.
5. Generally speaking, we get what we deserve.
6. My wife, expecting me to return, did not leave the house.
7. A man-eating tiger must be shot at once.
8. This rose is more faded than that.
9. He seemed contented with his lot.
10. The trees, having shed their leaves, look bare.

RELATED PAGES :



  1. The Participles
  2. The Different Participles
  3. Double Character of Participles
  4. Participle as Part of A Finite Verb
  5. Participle as An Adjective
  6. Present Participle
  7. Past Participle
  8. Uses of Participles
  9. Absolute
  10. Nominative Absolute
  11. Impersonal Absolute
  12. Meanings implied in Participles
  13. Examples Sentences with Participles
  14. The Gerund
  15. Four Forms of Gerund
  16. Double Character of Gerunds
  17. Gerund with An Object
  18. Gerund with The Possessive Adjective
  19. Noun in The Genitive Case
  20. Gerundial Participles
  21. Gerundive Use of Participle
  22. Participles
  23. Present Active Participle
  24. Present Participle
  25. Present Passive Participle
  26. Passive Participle
  27. Past Active Participle
  28. Past Passive Participle
  29. Parsing Models for Participles


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