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Richard Nordquist is a freelance
writer and former professor of English and Rhetoric who wrote college-level
Grammar and Composition textbooks.
Updated July 22, 2018
In English grammar, the past participle refers
to an action that was started and completed entirely in the past. It is the
third principal part of a verb, created by adding -ed, -d, or -t
to the base form of a regular verb. The past participle is
generally used with an auxiliary (or helping) verb—has,
have, or had—to express the perfect aspect, a verb construction that
describes events occurring in the past that are linked to a later time, usually
the present.
In addition to the perfect aspect
(or perfect tense), the past participle can be used in a passive voice or as an adjective.
Past
Participles of Regular Verbs
To understand past participles, you
first need to know how to make a verb past tense, says Study.com. To do so,
simply add ed, d, or t, as in these examples that show the
verb on the left and the simple past tense on the right:
- Help > helped
- Weep > wept
- Work > worked
Turning these verbs into past
participles is also simple: Make the verb past tense and precede it with
an auxiliary verb, as in these examples that list the simple past on the
left and the past participle on the right:
- Helped > have helped
- Visited > have visited
- Worked > have worked
Though they may seem similar, there
is a difference between regular past tense and past participle. The
regular past has only one part while the past participle always has two or more
parts, and as noted, generally requires an auxiliary verb, says Write.com.
An example of a sentence with a
regular verb (using one of the above sentences) would be: "I helped my
friend." You simply helped your friend at some time in the past, but you
might continue to help her at some point in the future.
The same sentence with a past
participle verb would be: "I have helped my friend." You began
helping your friend in the past and completed the action of helping her in the
past.
Past
Participle of Irregular Verbs
The past participle forms of irregular verbs have various endings,
including -d (said), -t (slept),
and -n (broken). Irregular verbs are trickier to form
in the simple past than regular verbs, says Study.com, which gives these
examples:
- Run > ran
- Sing > sang
- Go > went
To form the past participle of these
irregular verbs, again precede them with an auxiliary verb:
- Ran > has run, have run
- Sing > has sung, have sung
- Went > has gone, have gone
Common
Irregular Past Participles
Viewing some of the most common
irregular verbs, together with the simple past as well as their past participle
forms, can be helpful in understanding how they are formed.
Verb
|
Simple Past
|
Past Participle
|
fly
|
flew
|
have flown
|
rise
|
rose
|
had risen
|
shrink
|
shrank
|
had shrunk
|
feel
|
felt
|
had felt
|
bite
|
bit
|
has bitten
|
catch
|
caught
|
have caught
|
draw
|
drew
|
have drawn
|
drive
|
drove
|
have driven
|
eat
|
ate
|
have eaten
|
fall
|
fell
|
have fallen
|
Additionally, the verb wear is
a classic example of an irregular verb that can be complicated to use as a past
participle. You might wear underwear today if you are
expressing action in the present. You wore underwear yesterday if
you are expressing the simple past. To use the same irregular verb as a past
participle, however, you might say, "I have worn my
Superman underwear." This implies that you donned your Superman
underwear
in the past but you are no longer doing so.
Meanings
and Forms of Past Participles
- Thus deceived, he will be outraged. [Both
actions are in the future.]
- Baffled
by your attitude, I cannot help you. [Both actions are in the present.]
- Baffled
by your attitude, I could not help you. [Both actions in the past.]
In the first sentence above, the
participle acts like an appositive adjective, renaming the
subject thief. The two actions occur completely in the future: The
thief will be outraged and he (will be) deceived.
Note how the past participle includes an implied form of a "to be"
verb: will be.
In the second sentence, baffled is
still a past participle but the action will have been started and completed
entirely in the present. The past participle includes an implied auxiliary verb—having
been—so the full sentence would read: "Having been baffled by
your attitude, I cannot help you." The action of being baffled starts and
is completed entirely in the present, as is the (non)action of not
helping.
In the same way, the third sentence
starts with a past participle describing an action that started and was
completed entirely in the past. The past participle also serves as an
appositive adjective, describing the pronoun (and subject of the sentence). The
full sentence would read: "Having been baffled by your
attitude, I could not help you." The subjunctive mood in the second half of
the sentence describes an action—could not help—that happened (or in
this case did not happen) entirely in the past.
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