Participle

The participle is a term applied to adjectival forms of verbs. There are two types of participle:
the present participle and the past participle.
Participle I
The present participle is the non-finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the
verb with those of the adjective and adverb, serving as the qualifying-processual name. In its
outer form the present participle is wholly homonymous with the gerund, ending in the suffix -
ing and distinguishing the same grammatical categories of temporal correlation and voice.
Both forms denote a process – the present participle (or the past participle) denotes a qualifying
process while the gerund denotes a substantival process.
The term present participle may be misleading since the participle does not express tense
distinctions. It is a traditional term, originally applied to adjectival forms of verbs in Ancient
Greece which were inflected for tense, aspect, and case.
It was borrowed from Greek grammar through Latin grammar and uncritically applied to
English verbal forms which had an adjective-like use. As to its temporal meaning, the present
participle expresses a process simultaneous with or prior to the process of the finite verb: it
may denote present, past, and future.
Verbal features. Both the present participle and the gerund distinguish the same grammatical
categories of voice and temporal correlation:
writing (non-perfect, non-passive) – being written (non-perfect, passive)
having written (perfect, non-passive) – having been written (perfect, passive)
walking (non-perfect, non-passive) – having walked (perfect, non-passive)
Like the verb, it combines with the object, the adverbial modifier; like the verb, it participates
in the formation of the verbal predicate.
The present participle, similar to the infinitive, can build up semi-predicative complexes of
objective and subjective types. The two groups of complexes, i.e. infinitival and present
participial, may exist in parallel (e.g. when used with some verbs of physical perceptions), the
difference between them lying in the aspective presentation of the process. Cf.:
Nobody noticed the scouts approach the enemy trench. — Nobody noticed the scouts
approaching the enemy trench with slow, cautious, expertly calculated movements.
Suddenly a telephone was heard to buzz, breaking the spell. — The telephone was heard vainly
buzzing in the study.
A peculiar use of the present participle is seen in the absolute participial constructions of
various types, forming complexes of detached semi-predication.
Cf.:
The message being written, I clicked “Send”.
Jane was watching TV, the kids sleeping in the adjoining room.
These complexes of descriptive and narrative stylistic nature seem to be gaining ground in
present-day English.
Adjectival properties. Like the adjective, the present participle can be used as an attribute –
generally as a postposed attribute, e.g. The man talking to John is my boss.
Participle II
The past participle is the non-finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the verb
with those of the adjective, serving as the qualifying processual name. Unlike the present
participle, it has no paradigm of its own.
Its verbal features are participation in the structure of the verbal predicate (e.g. The house was
destroyed by a bomb) and the use as secondary predicate (e.g. Her spirit, though crushed, was
not broken).
Its adjectival feature is its attributive function, e.g. She looked at the broken cup.
Similar to the present participle, the past participle can be used in postposition or in preposition
to the noun: the broken cup vs. the cup broken. But as compared to the present participle, the
past participle occurs in preposition to the noun more frequently.
Like the present participle, the past participle is capable of making up semipredicative
constructions of complex object, complex subject, as well as of absolute complex.
The absolute past participial complex as a rule expresses priority in the correlation of two
events. Cf.: The preliminary talks completed, it became possible to concentrate on the central
point of the agenda.