What are participles?

There are three participles: present participle, past participle and perfect

participle:
Jack is riding his bike - present participle
May has decided to go to university - past participle
Having eaten already, I did not feel lie another meal - perfect participle

Uses
1. Participle clauses can replace relative clauses. These are sometimes
called reduced relative clauses:
The woman who is leading the investigation is Dr Smith - relative
clause
The woman leading the investigation is Dr Smith - participle
clause/reduced relative clause

2. Participle clauses can follow prepositions and conjunctions

After resting for a few minutes, I continued my run
Before having surgery, Jack was given anaesthetic

3. Participle clauses talk about things in a sequence. The perfect participle

clause expresses the action that happened before the other one:
Having unpacked my suitcases, I went out to explore the city.
Compare this with a present participle clause, which indicates that the two
actions happen at the same time
Unpacking my suitcase, I realised I had forgotten to pack my
medicine.

4. Participle clauses offer an alternative to the passive:

I was almost killed, which is why I was so shaken up - passive
Having almost been killed, I was shaken up - participle clause
Greg had been stung my the comment, and quietly slipped out of the
room. - perfect participle clause
Stung my the comment, Greg quietly slipped out of the room. - past
participle clause

 
5. Participle clauses offer an alternative to an unreal present or real future
conditional:
If you look after this sofa carefully, it will last for many years - first
conditional
Looked after carefully, this sofa will last for many years - participle
clause
If I was given the chance to act in a film, I would definitely do it -
second conditional
Given the chance to act in a film, I would definitely do it - participle
clause

6. Participle clauses are used to talk about reason (in place of words

like so or therefore):
I believed that I was being followed, so I turned the corner and ran.
Believing I was being followed, I turned the corner and ran.

7. Participle clauses are used to talk about result (in place of words

like because or as a result):
I got up late, because I had overslept.
I got up late, having overslept.

8. Participle clauses are used to talk about time (in place of words

like when, while or as soon as):
While I was lying in bed, I could hear someone moving around
downstairs
Lying in bed, I could hear someone moving around downstairs

9. The present participle can be used to describe the following verbs:

come, go, sit

Jack went running down the road.

The present participle can also be used after verbs of the senses if we do not
want to emphasise that the action was completed.

feel, find, hear, listen to, notice, see, smell, watch

Did you hear her singing?

The present participle can be used to shorten or combine active clauses that
have the same subject.

The fans left the stadium and cheered.

The fans left the stadium cheering.