English grammar

Participles: present, past and perfect

A participle is a verb form used to build tenses, the passive and adjectives. The present participle ends in -ing ("writing"), the past participle usually ends in -ed or is irregular ("written"), and the perfect participle uses having ("having written"). They also start short clauses: "Built in 1890, the bridge is still in use."

Example

Participles at work

  • She has written three books.
  • The written test is on Monday.
  • Having finished the test, she left early.
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The three participles

A participle doesn't show tense by itself. The auxiliary or the main verb of the sentence does that.

ParticipleFormMain usesExample
Presentverb + -ingContinuous tenses, adjectives, active clausesThe children are playing. a growing city
Past-ed or irregularPerfect tenses, the passive, adjectivesThe letter was sent. a broken chair
Perfecthaving + past participleAn action finished before anotherHaving read the brief, he began.

-ing and -ed adjectives

The -ing adjective describes what causes the feeling. The -ed adjective describes the person who has the feeling.

-ing (causes the feeling)-ed (has the feeling)
The lecture was boring.The students were bored.
The results are surprising.Everyone was surprised.
It's an interesting topic.I'm interested in history.
The journey was tiring.We were tired after the journey.

Participle clauses

A participle clause is a short way to join two ideas with the same subject. "Walking home, I met an old friend" means "While I was walking home, I met an old friend."

Use the past participle for a passive meaning: "Founded in 1950, the company now employs 10,000 people." Use the perfect participle when one action clearly finished first: "Having saved enough money, she bought a flat."

Participles can also shorten relative clauses: "the man sitting by the door" (who is sitting) and "the figures shown in the table" (which are shown).

Watch the subject. The subject of the main clause must be the one doing the participle action. "Walking into the room, the lights went off" suggests the lights were walking. This is called a dangling participle.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong: I was very boring in the lecture.

    Right: I was very bored in the lecture.

    A person who feels the emotion is bored. The lecture is boring.

  • Wrong: Walking to college, the rain started.

    Right: Walking to college, I got caught in the rain.

    The subject of the main clause must be the person who was walking.

  • Wrong: She has wrote two reports this week.

    Right: She has written two reports this week.

    The present perfect needs the past participle, written.

  • Wrong: Having finish the exam, he went home.

    Right: Having finished the exam, he went home.

    The perfect participle is having plus the past participle.

Using this in IELTS and PTE

In IELTS Writing Task 1, participles make data sentences compact: "the data collected from five countries", "Sales rose to 40%, followed by a sharp fall." In Task 2 and PTE Write Essay, an occasional participle clause adds range, but only if the subject matches. Mixing up bored and boring, or interested and interesting, is one of the most noticeable errors in IELTS Speaking, so it is worth getting right.

5 questions

Exercise

Try each one, then open it to check your answer.

  1. 1. Choose: "The film was (exciting / excited)."

    exciting

    The film causes the feeling.

  2. 2. Name the participle type: "Having checked the data, the team published the report."

    Perfect participle.

    It is having plus a past participle, for an action finished first.

  3. 3. Shorten this: "The people who live nearby complained."

    The people living nearby complained.

    A present participle can replace an active relative clause.

  4. 4. Correct this: "Opened in 2015, visitors love the museum."

    Opened in 2015, the museum is popular with visitors.

    The museum was opened, so it must be the subject.

  5. 5. Complete this: "The table shows the number of cars ___ (sell) each year."

    sold

    A past participle gives a passive meaning: cars which are sold.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a participle and a gerund?+

Both can end in -ing, but a gerund works as a noun ("Swimming is fun"), while a present participle works as part of a verb or as an adjective ("She is swimming", "a swimming bird").

What is a dangling participle?+

A participle clause whose implied subject doesn't match the subject of the main clause, which makes the sentence illogical: "Driving home, the tree fell". Fix it by changing the subject: "While I was driving home, a tree fell."

Is bored a verb or an adjective?+

It can be both. In "The film bored me", bored is a past simple verb. In "I was bored", it is a participle adjective.

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