Partciples - Present and Past

By Matthew, 13 November 2008 - 11:39pm
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The difference between a present participle (doing) and past participle (done) and how to use each.

Participles are made from verbs. In English there are two - the present participle and the past participle (P.P).

 

The Present Participle

The present participle is made the following way:

[VERB]+ing

talking; eating; watching; speaking; working.

Learn more about the Present Participle

 

The Past Participle (P.P.)

The past participle is made this way:

[VERB]+ed

talked; watched; asked; looked; worked.

There are many irregular PPs in English - check our list of irregular verbs

Learn more about the Past Participle

 

Compare the Participles

Look at the participles together:



Simple Past
 Past Participle
 Present Participle
Regular walk
 walked walked walking
look looked looked looking
push
 pushed pushed pushing
Irregular eat
 ate eaten eating
go
 went gone going
teach
 taught taught teaching

 

Active and Passive

The present participle is always active. The past participle can be active or passive. Look at the table:


Use
 Example
 Active or Passive
Present Participle Progressive Aspect I am sitting. Active
Modifying a Noun It was an interesting movie.
Modifying a Verb or Sentence Speaking of examples, how about this one?
Past Participle Passive Voice The book was written by Orwell. Passive
Modifying a Noun Please see the attached documents.
Modifying a Verb or Sentence Given the situation, there is only one solution.
Perfect Aspect She has eaten the whole cake! Active
Modifying a Noun I am a changed man.

 

Notes: 
  1. Participles are the origins of ~ED and ~ING adjectives, which can be very confusing for some learners.
  2. A present participle looks exactly like a gerund. They differ in the way they are used. A gerund is like a noun, but a participle is a modifier.
  3. A past participle often looks like the simple past of the verb (for regular verbs).