The Participle

is a non-finite form which has certain verbal functions and the syntactical functions of an adverb and an adjective.
There are 2 participles in English: the Present Participle (Participle I) & the Past Participle (Participle II).
The Participle has voice & tense distinction:
present participle active writing He told me to start early, reminding me that the roads would be crowded.
*perfect participle active having written Having read the instructions, he snatched up the fire extinguisher.
present participle passive being written Being occupied with the work, I didn’t get time to talk to her.
past participle passive written Weakened by successive storms, the bridge was no longer safe.
perfect participle passive having been written Having been warned about the bandits, he left his valuables at home.
* is used to emphasize that the action expressed by the participle happened before the action expressed by the main verb
The functions of the participle in the sentence:
1. Predicative The door was locked.
2. Attribute Blooming apple-trees, approved fact
3. Attribute clause There was a wooden bench running round the walls.
4. Adverbial modifier of:
- time Entering the house, she turned on all the lights.
- cause or reason Not knowing the answer I felt ill at ease.
- manner or attendant circumstances They worked whispering cheerfully to one another.
- condition Taken daily vitamin pills you can improve your health.
- comparison He looked at me as if asking me for smth.
- concession Although expecting the news I was shocked by it.
Complexes (Participial phrases and constructions are characteristic of Formal English. In Spoken English they are replaced by
subordinate clauses. The only exception is objective participial construction)
a) Complex object (accusative with the I saw him walking along the street. (p I)
participle) I had my flat repaired (p II)
1) Verbs of mental & physical perception:
see, hear, feel, smell, listen to, notice, watch
2) Catch, find, leave + object + present I caught them stealing my apples. (displeasure). He found a tree lying across
participle the road. I left him talking to Bob.
b) Complex subject (the same verbs in He was heard singing.
passive)
c) The nominative absolute participle It can be used as adverbial modifiers of:
construction - the connection of this - time All questions answered, they went home.
construction is loose, so it’s called absolute - cause The season being over, there were few people
(it’s used in formal literary texts. It consists of on the beach.
a noun in the common case or a pronoun in - condition We’re going to eat outside, the weather
the nominative case + present/past participle) permitting
- manner or attendant She continued working, the child silently
circumstances reading (=while the child ... )
The differences between gerund & participle:
The gerund The participle
- is preceded by a preposition yes no
- is modified by a noun in the genitive case yes no
- as a subject yes no
- as a predicative yes yes
- as a part of a compound verbal predicate yes yes
- as an object yes yes
- as an attribute with prepositions without prepositions
- as an adverbial modifiers with prepositions without prepositions
If the gerund is used as a part of a compound noun, the a dancing hall; a drinking fountain; an ironing board.
person/thing denoted by the noun doesn’t perform the action
expressed by the – ing form:
If the participle is used as an attribute, the person denoted by a dancing girl; here are your running shoes; I love the sight
the noun performs the action expressed by the – ing form: of running water
Some Present Participles (-ing forms) and Past Participles (-ed forms) can be used as adjectives.
Remember the differences between the following pairs of adjectives: alarmed-alarming, amazed-amazing, bored-boring,
excited-exciting, frightened-frightening, pleased-pleasing, surprised-surprising, tired-tiring, worried-worrying. When we
use these adjectives to describe how someone feels about something, the –ing adjectives describe the ‘something’ (e.g. a
surprising decision) and the –ed adjectives describe the ‘someone’ (e.g. I was surprised)
I’m pleased with the result. and It’s a pleasing result.
The bored children started to get restless. and The play was really boring.
 A present participle replacing a main clause:
When two actions by the same subject occur simultaneously it’s He rode away. He whistled as he went. =
possible to express one of them by a present participle He rode away whistling.
When one action is immediately followed by another by the He opened a drawer and took out a revolver. =
same subject the first action can often be expressed by a present Opening the drawer he took out a revolver.
participle
When the second action forms part of the first, or is a result of She went out, slamming the door.
it, we can express the second action by a present participle.
A present participle replacing a subordinate clause:
Can replace as/since/because + subject + verb Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to buy food on his journey,
he took large supplies with him. = As he knew ...
Being at the beginning of the sentence means ‘as he is/was’ Being a student = As he was a student.
Misrelated participles
Waiting for a bus a brick fell on my head makes it appear that ‘the brick was waiting for a bus’.
A participle linked in this way to the wrong noun/pronoun is said to be ‘misrelated’. The above sentence should be rewritten:
As I was waiting for a bus a brick fell on my head.
The ways of translating the participle into Russian
Active Present P Throwing бросающий The boy throwing stones in the pond is my brother. (Мальчик,
бросающий ...)
бросивший The boy throwing a stone in the pond laughed loudly. (Мальчик,
бросивший ...)
бросая The boys stood on the bank throwing stones. (Мальчики стояли,
бросая ...)
бросив Throwing the letter into the fire he left. (Бросив письмо, он ушёл)
Perfect P Having бросив Having thrown the ball into the water the boy couldn’t get it back.
thrown (Бросив мяч в воду ...)
Passive Present P Being бросаемый The stones being thrown by the boys are falling into the water.
thrown (Камни, бросаемые ...)

Past P Thrown бросаемый Stones thrown into the water go to the bottom. (Камни,
бросаемые в воду, идут ко дну)
брошенный The stone thrown by the boy reached the opposite bank. (Камень,
брошенный мальчиком ...)
Perfect P Having been так как бросили Having once been thrown into the water by the children, the dog
thrown always ran away when it saw them. (Так как собаку бросили …)
Proverbs & Sayings
1. Signed and sealed 12. A watched pot never boils.
2. To keep one’s fingers crossed 13. Let a sleeping dog lie.
3. To take smth for granted 14. Once bitten twice shy.
4. A doubting Thomas 15. Barking dogs never bite.
5. A walking encyclopedia/disaster 16. Fear Greeks bearing gifts.
6. An unwritten law 17. First impressions are most lasting.
7. A confirmed bachelor 18. Science is organized knowledge.
8. Broken English 19. One volunteer is worth two pressed men.
9. A turning point 20. For every person wishing to teach there are 30 not wanting to be taught.
10. A laughing stock
11. Stolen pleasures are sweetest =
Forbidden fruit is sweetest.