How many participles does english have

He lay looking up at the clouds. She came running towards me. Examples I heard someone singing. He saw his friend walking along the road. I can smell something burning! I watched the birds flying away. Examples It was an amazing film. Dark billowing clouds often precede a storm. He was trapped inside the burning house. Many of his paintings show the setting sun. Examples My boss spends two hours a day travelling to work. Don't waste time playing computer games! Present participles always end in -ing.

Other examples of present participles include swimming , laughing , and playing. The present participle can function as an adjective and modify nouns in sentences. Get grammar check, spelling help and more free! Combining the word having with the past participle of a word creates the perfect participle. Perfect participles demonstrate that an action was completed in the past. Examples of perfect participles include having watched , having arrived, and having slept.

Participial phrases are participles combined with other words that act as adjectives within sentences. Usually, participial phrases modify the subjects of sentences, but sometimes they modify other nouns. Within a sentence, participial phrases should be close to the nouns that they modify to avoid confusion. For instance:. Feedback Dictionary. Key Points Present and past participles are key building blocks in any language.

Using a participle phrase upfront allows you to cram more information into a sentence. Learn how to form passive sentences because there are some great benefits to be had. Ready for the Test? Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson.

This test can also be: Edited i. Printed to create a handout. You should have come earlier. Have you done your homework yet? When I got home my family had already eaten. This bag was made in Switzerland. The managers will have seen all the candidates by the end of the day.

Has he written the report? Other uses of the Past Participle In formal written English, you can find the past participle used in participle phrases. For example, Driven by ambition, Derek worked up to 14 hours a day. Exhausted from the marathon, the runner collapsed onto the ground. Illuminated by multi-colored lights, the skyscraper looked incredible.