Unit III. The Participle I

The Participle I is the non-finite form of the verb which is partly a verb because it is formed of verbs, and partly an adjective because it denotes the quality or the feature of an object.

It is also called the present participle.

Listen to that singing bird.

Here the word singing denotes the quality of a bird, so it is partly an adjective. But at the same time it is part of the verb to sing and it denotes an action.

How to translate the Participle I into Russian?

The present participle is translated into Russian by:

• the Russian “действительное причастие”

The man writing something at the table is my brother. – Человек, что-то пишущий за столом, мой брат.

• the Russian “деепричастие”

Having slept for two hours he felt rested. – Поспав два часа, он почувствовал себя отдохнувшим.

• the Subordinate clause

When crossing the street, first look to the left. – Когда переходите улицу, посмотрите сначала налево.

Ex. 1. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

The woman standing at the window is my elder sister.

Travelling in Africa, he saw many interesting things.

Having lost the key, the boy couldn’t get into the house.

Having a lot of time before the beginning of the performance, they decided to walk to the theatre.

Being busy, he couldn’t see me.

I like films showing the life of famous people.

Grammatical categories of the Participle I

The Participle I has the grammatical categories of order and voice.

Table 2. The grammatical categories of order and voice

Voice Tense	Active	Passive	Action
Indefinite	asking	being asked	Simultaneous
Perfect	having asked	having been asked	Prior

The active form of the Participle I indicates that the doer of the action is denoted by the subject of the sentence, the passive form – that the doer of the action is not denoted by the subject.

Seeing that I was late I hurried. – Видя, что я опаздываю, я заторопился.

Having been shown the wrong direction he lost his way. –Он заблудился, так как ему неправильно показали дорогу.

The perfect form is used to present the event as prior to another event (expressed by the predicate verb).

Having quickly eaten her meal June went to school. – Быстро поев, Джун пошла в школу.

The non-perfect form is generally used to present the event as non-prior to another event (simultaneous, posterior or referring to no particular time).

He saw a group of children talking and laughing loudly. – Он увидел группу детей, громко разговаривающих и смеющихся.

Ex.2. Supply Participle I for the verb in brackets.

His smile showed a row of (flash) teeth.

(call) the steward he ordered a tumbler of ice and a couple of glasses.

(spend) a year at home she returned to Cobe with her husband.

He lay on his bed (smoke) a cigarette.

Suddenly there was a small (scrape) sound.

Gert walked into the kitchen and stood (face) Fieta.

(get over) her immediate rage she was regarding the situation with distance.

(leave) a nice sum of money by her parents she decided to leave her job.

It was an old woman (wear) glasses.

Ex. 3. Translate what is given in brackets using an appropriate form of Participle I.

James hesitated for a moment (не понимая, что происходит).

I waited inside the wine-shop (выглядывая из окна).

(Рассказав все, что он знал) the witness left.

We stood on the bridge in the fog (ожидая такси).

He wants to write a book (которая бы подытожила /sum up/) his impressions of the trip.

We came back tired and hungry (прождав целый день поезд).

A new road will soon be built (которая соединит завод с вокзалом).

(Взяв книгу с полки) he sits down on the floor to read it.

She walked up and down the street (как будто бы пытаясь принять решение).

(Возвращаясь домой в прошлый вечер) he had a nasty accident.

(Когда его попросили принять участие в этой работе) he agreed at once.

I decided to go to bed earlier (будучи очень усталой).

(Будучи очарована этими руками) she couldn’t help looking at them time and again.