Functions of Participles
Uses of Participles
Participles can be used to join sentences.
Using present participle to join sentences:
I saw a lion. I climbed a tree.
Seeing a lion, I climbed a tree. (seeing – present participle)
I was hungry. I took food.
Being hungry, I took food. (being – present participle)
Using perfect participle to join sentences:
She took rest. She started to do homework.
Having taken rest, she started to do homework. (having taken – perfect participle)
Present participle Vs Past participle
Some words making participle adjectives can have both forms – present participle and past participle, i.e. they can have both –ing and -ed forms.
Their meanings might be very different, or not.
For example:
breaking and broken: Their meanings are different.
The breaking waves crashed against the rocks.
She’s suffering from a broken heart.falling and fallen: Their meanings are similar.
The falling leaves covered the path.
The fallen trees blocked the road.
Rule 1
To describe a person (or sometimes animal) or a thing that is the source of a feeling/emotion:
Present participle (-ing adjective) is used to show the qualities or characteristics of a person, animal or thing, i.e. to describe the source of a feeling/emotion, e.g. interesting film, interesting man, exciting city, etc.
He is interesting.
This movie is boring.
The dog is frightening.
To showcase the feeling/emotion of a person (or sometimes animal):
We use a Past participle (-ed adjective) to show a feeling or an emotion of a person or animal (generally for a short time period).
He is interested in politics.
I am bored of this movie.
The dog is frightened.
A thing can cause an emotion or feeling but can’t receive it. So, we do not use a past participle with a thing.
This movie is bored/exited/frustrated. (incorrect – a movie cannot have emotions!)
Let’s see some more examples:
I am interesting in your proposal. (incorrect)
I am interested in your proposal. (correct; the person is having the feeling)
Summary:
We use Past Participle to describe how we feel and Present Participle to describe what caused the feelings.
Is the person / animal / thing the source of the feeling? – If yes, then use –ing form
The cat is frightening.
Is the person / animal having the feeling? – If yes, then use –ed form
The cat is frightened.
I am interested because the movie is interesting. (interested – past participle; interesting - present participle; movie is causing the feeling/emotion)
Rule 2
To showcase the work being done we use present participle.
Everyone was sad in the losing team. - Team is the object (prepositional object to be precise), and it is doing the work of losing, so we will use present participle here, i.e. losing.
The children found the lost dog. - Dog is the object and it is not doing the work of lost, someone else must have lost it. So, we will use past participle here, i.e. lost.
Meaning and Use of Participle Clauses
Participle Clauses give information about condition, reason, result or time.
Condition
We use participles in place of an ‘if-condition’.
Looked after carefully, the horse will live long. (If you look after the horse carefully, it will live long.)Reason
We use participles in place of words like ‘so’ or ‘therefore’.
Wanting to speak, he cleared his throat and garnered courage. (He wanted to speak so he cleared his throat and garnered courage.)Time
We use participles in place of words like ‘when’, ‘while’ or ‘as soon as’.
Sitting at the table, I saw Scarlett Johnson sitting on a table next to me. (While I was sitting at the table, I saw Scarlett Johnson sitting on a table next to me.)
Uses of Present participle
Present participle → $V_1$ + ing
Use Case 1
Present participle is used to combine two sentences when:
- The subject is common
- Action – instant / interrupted / simultaneous
Pattern: $V_1$ + ing + ………………….., Subject + Verb + ………………
Walking across the road, Aanya met her teacher. (Subject - Aanya; Subject was walking and Subject met, i.e. Subject is common)
Turning to the left, you will find the temple.
Reaching home, Hanumita had a bath and then cooked some food.
Having reached home, Hanumita had a bath and then cooked some food.
We use present participle when two actions are taking place at the same time by a single person. In such cases we use present participle in the second action.
He watched television while enjoying red wine.
We also use present participle in case of two actions happening one after another, without any time gap (it shows fastness). In such cases we use present participle in the first action.
Seeing the police, the thief ran away. (It can also be written as - The thief ran away after seeing the police. But it does not reflect the fastness of the thief’s action.)
Use Case 2
Present participle is used to combine two sentences when:
- The subject is not common.
- Action – instant / interrupted/ simultaneous
Pattern 1: While + Subject + Auxiliary Verb + $V_1$ + ing …….., + Subject + Verb, ……
Pattern 2: While + $V_1$ + ing …….., Subject + Verb + …..
While reading the newspaper, the dog disturbed me. (ambiguous - here dog is not reading the newspaper)
While I was reading the newspaper, the dog disturbed me.
While reading the newspaper, I was disturbed by the dog.
Sleeping in my room, a thief entered and stole away everything. (ambiguous - here thief was not sleeping)
While I was sleeping in my room, a thief entered and stole away everything.
Strolling in the park, a dog bit Meenakshi. (ambiguous - here dog was not strolling)
While Meenakshi was strolling in the park, a dog bit her.
While strolling in the park, Meenakshi was bit by a dog.
Use Case 3
Present participle is used to combine two sentences when:
- The subject is not common.
- Action – instant / interrupted / simultaneous (cause and effect)
Pattern: Subject + $V_1$ + ing ……., + Subject + Verb + ……
Being Sunday, she decided to have some rest. (incorrect; here she is not Sunday, but she rested)
As it was Sunday, she decided to have some rest. (correct) OR
It being Sunday, she decided to have some rest. (correct)
As they were very expensive, I could not buy them. (correct) OR
They being very expensive, I could not buy them. (correct)
Use Case 4
After verbs of senses/perception, e.g. smell, hear, listen, look, see, watch, notice, observer, etc., we either use bare infinitive or present participle, but the meaning differs (bare infinitive refers to a completed action while present participle refers to an ongoing action).
Pattern: verb + object + present participle
I saw her eat mangoes. (eat – bare infinitive; indicates a completed action)
I saw her eating mangoes. (eating - present participle; indicates an ongoing action)
Use Case 5: catch and find
We use present participle with the verbs ‘catch’ and ‘find’ in the following manner.
Pattern: verb + object + present participle
When used with ‘catch’, the present participle always refers to an action which causes annoyance or anger. While in case of ‘find’, it is unemotional.
If I catch you stealing my books again, I will definitely report.
I caught her going through my purse.
We found her roaming in the corridors.
Uses of Past Participle
Past participles - represent a completed action
Exited by the news, he jumped up and down on the bed.
(Exited by the news – describes a completed action; exited – non-finite verb, i.e. past participle $V_3$; jumped – finite verb)
In the above sentence ‘$V_3$’ shows an action already completed before the second action took place. The second action started after the first action and also as the result of the first action.
Uses of Perfect Participle
Perfect Participle → Having + (been) + $V_3$
Use Case 1
Perfect participle is used to combine two sentences when:
- The subject is common.
- One action takes place after the completion of another.
Pattern: Having + (been) + $V_3$ + …….. + Subject + Verb + Object
Having finished my homework, I went out to play.
Having been arrested, the thief was sent to jail.
Having cooked the food, I served it.
Having been washed, the clothes were put out in the sun.
Use Case 2
Perfect participle is used to combine two sentences when:
- The subject is not common.
- One action takes place after the completion of another (cause and effect)
Pattern: Subject + having + $V_3$, + Subject + Verb
The sun rose. The fog disappeared.
Combined sentence - The sun having risen, the fog disappeared.
The two businessmen have come to terms. Now the business will prosper.
Combined sentence – The two businessmen having come to terms, now the business will prosper.
Use Case 3
Perfect participle means ‘after completion of some action’.
- Having + $V_3$ (active form)
- Having been + $V_3$ (passive form)
Perfect participle is used when there are two actions and there is a time-gap between the two actions. We use Perfect participle for the first action. The second action starts only after the first action ends.
Having taken food, I went to bed. (having taken – perfect participle in active form)
Having been defeated, they fled away. (having been defeated - perfect participle in passive form)
Errors in the Use of Participles
Participial phrases that don’t clearly have a noun to modify are known as dangling or misplaced modifiers. There’s a minute difference between them though.
So, two very common mistakes in the use of participles are:
Misplaced modifier – when there are two or more subjects in a sentence and we place the participle at the wrong place, making it unclear which subject it is modifying.
Dangling modifier – when the word/subject being modified isn’t present in the sentence.
Error 1: Misplaced modifiers
Misplaced modifier – When it is not clear which subject the Participial phrase is modifying, then such Participial phrase is known as misplaced modifier.
Participle is a verb-adjective and so it must be clear which noun or pronoun they are referring to, i.e. a proper ‘subject of reference‘ should be there. We must put the participle phrase next to the word it’s modifying.
Standing at the porch, a scorpion stung her. (ambiguous statement)
It is an ambiguous statement. It may mean two things depending on whom the participle is referring too. Who is standing? – scorpion or the girl? How can a scorpion possibly stand? Here ‘standing’ is a misplaced modifier.
It’s clear that the writer wants to say that the girl was standing. So, to clarify it we need to rewrite the sentence such that the participle points to the right subject.
Standing at the porch, she was stung by a scorpion. (correct; the girl was standing, i.e. the participle ‘standing’ was modifying the noun ‘girl’, so we placed the ‘girl’ next to the participle phrase)
Or: While she was standing at the porch, a scorpion stung him. (correct; the girl was standing)
Talking about misplaced modifiers in general, there are two kinds of misplaced modifiers:
Type 1: Classic misplaced modifier
Misplaced modifier could seem to modify a word that it should not, i.e. it modifies the wrong word.
Coax the monkey with a banana.
Here, ’with a banana’ is a classic misplaced modifier. Does it modifies coax or monkey? Right now it seems to modify ‘monkey’. So, it means – coax the monkey that has a banana. What the writer actually wants to say (and it makes more sense) is that – coax the monkey by using a banana. So, a Classic misplaced modifier changes the meaning of the sentence from what the writer originally intended.
Type 2: Squinting modifier
With Squinting modifier it is not clear whether it modifies the thing to its left or right.
Whispering quickly annoys him.
Here, ’quickly’ is a squinting modifier. ‘quickly’ modifies ‘Whispering’ or ‘annoys’? Does he gets annoyed when someone whispers quickly OR when someone whispers he gets annoyed quickly. So, a Squinting modifier makes the sentence ambiguous.
We should place our modifier next to whatever it’s modifying, and as far away from other possible words that it may seem to modify and make the sentence ambiguous or meaningless.
Error 2: Dangling modifiers
Dangling modifier – when the word/subject being modified isn’t present in the sentence, i.e. this modifier has nothing to modify.
Having read the novel, the movie will be a super hit. (‘having read the novel’ participle phrase modifies what?)
Having read the novel, I think the movie will be a super hit. (participle phrase modifies I)
We can also say that, we use Participle Clauses when the Participle and the Verb in the main clause have the same subject. If they have separate subjects then we need to mention both subjects, otherwise the participle clause/phrase will become a dangling modifier.
Being ill, we didn’t go to school. (correct; ‘being’ and ‘didn’t go’ have the same subject ‘we’)
Being a rainy day, we didn’t go to school. (incorrect; ‘being’ and ‘didn’t go’ have different subjects and so we need to mention both)
It being a rainy day, we didn’t go to school. (correct)
Driving on the highway, the baby began to cry. (incorrect; ‘driving’ and ‘began’ have different subjects and so we need to mention both)
While I was driving on the highway, the baby began to cry. (correct)
Extra Books and Tools
If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.