ACTIVE PARTICIPLES

An active participle – also called Present

Participle – is a verbal that does the work of an
adjective.
 * The form of the
active participle is the first
form a verb + ing, the same
as the form of the gerund.
 The active participle
can be
used as:

a). noun modifier.

b). clause modifier.
 A. Active Participle as Noun Modifiers
Frame 1a: Active Participles before
Nouns
Subject predicate
Modifier Noun
1 A crying Child Came to me
2 That Bird Is a ‘Murai’.
singing
 USAGE :
 1. An active participle can be
used to modify a noun. It is
placed before the noun that it
modifies. Look at the
sentences in the above frame.
In sentence 1, the active
participle ’crying’ modifies the
noun ‘child’.
2. As a noun modifier, an
active participle usually
indicates that the activity
is in progress. Look at
sentence 1 and 2. :
Look at sentence 1 and 2.:
A crying child is a child
who is / was crying.
That singing bird is the
bird which is/was singing.
 3. An active participle used as
a noun modifier receives the
same stress as the noun it
modifies. (Compare: Gerunds
as Noun Modifiers.)
 Frame 1b:
Participle Phrases after Nouns
Subject Predicate
1. The boy driving is my
that car brother
2. The officer standing is captain
on that smith.
ship
 Usage :
 1. An active participle can
have an object or a
modifier. An active
participle and its object or
modifier is called an active
participle phrases.
2. A participle phrases can
also be used to modify a
noun. It comes after the
nouns it modifies.
Look at sentences 1,2
. The participle
phrases modify ‘the
boy’, and ‘the officer’.
3.The participle phrase
can be changed into a
clause that has the form:
who/which/that + be+ ing
or who/which/that + verb.
Look at sentence 1 in the
frame.
‘driving that car’ can be
changed into ‘who is/was
driving that car’ or ‘who
drove that car.
 B. Active participles/Participle
phrases as Clause Modifiers
Frame 2:
Modifier Subject Predicate
1. Shouting, he kicked the
door
2. Being old, He Has to wear
the glasses.
3. Having read the signed it.
the report, manager
 Usage :
 1. An active participle or
participle phrase is also
used as a verb modifier.
It modifies the whole
clause that comes after
it.
2. The active participle has
the following meanings:
a). It indicates that the
action takes place at the
same time as the action
expressed in the predicate.
 Look at sentence 1
in the frame.

Sentence 1 means
‘While he was
shouting, he kicked
the door’.
 b). It denotes cause or
reason. Look at
sentences 2 in the
frame.
 The sentence means
‘Because he is old, he
has to wear glasses’.
3.An active participle as clause
modifier can also be used in the
perfect from. The perfect
participle has the from of
having + 3rd form of a verb.
The perfect participle indicates
that the action took place
before the action in the
predicate.
Look at sentence 3 in the
frame. The participle
phrase includes the
perfect participle ‘having
read’. It means ‘as the
manager/he has read’.
 Participle as adjectives
Very often, when there is
no regular adjective form
for a verb, the present or
past participle of the verb
can be used as an
adjective.
Itis sometimes difficult
for foreign students to
decide whether to use
the present participle
( Verb + ing ) or past
participle ( verb III ) as
an adjective.
The present participle ( verb
ing ) is used as an adjective
when the noun it modifies
performs or is responsible for an
action. The verb is usually
intransitive ( it doesn’t take an
object ) and the verb form of the
sentence is the progressive
( continous ) aspect.
Examples :
The crying baby woke Mr.
Bean. ( The baby was
crying ).
The blooming flowers in the
meadow created a rainbow
of colours. ( The flowers
were blooming ).
 The past participle
The past participle is used as
an adjective when the noun it
modifies is the receiver of the
action.
The sentence from which this
adjective comes is generally
in the passive aspect.
Examples:
The sorted mail was
delivered to the offices
before noon.
The imprisoned men were
unhappy with their living
conditions.
 Other verbs such as : interest,
bore, excite, and frighten are
even more difficult. The rule is
basically the same as that given
above.
 The ‘verb + ing’ form is used
when the noun causes the
action and the ‘verb III’ form is
used when it receives the action.
 Compare the following
groups of sentences :
 The boring professor put the students to
sleep.
 The boring lecture put the students to
sleep.
 The bored students went to sleep during
the boring lecture.
 The child saw a frightening movie.
 The frightened child began to cry.
 Participles as modifiers
 Absorbing absorbed
 Amazing amazed
 Amusing amused
 Annoying annoyed
 Astonishing astonished
 Boring bored
 Challenging challenged
 Confusing confused
 Convincing convinced
 Disappointing disappointed
 Disgusting disgusted
 Disturbing disturbed
 Embarrassing embarrassed
 Exciting excited
 Fascinating fascinated
 Frightening frightened
 Interesting interested
 Irritating irritated
 Pleasing pleased
 Satisfying satisfied
 Surprising surprised
 Tiring tired
 Touching touched