The participle

The Participle is a non-finite form of a verb, which has a verbal and adjectival / adverbial character. There are two Participles in English - Participle I & Participle II, traditionally called the Present Participle and Past Participle. Participle I is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the stem of the verb, and Participle II by adding the suffix -ed.

Adjectival/adverbial characteristics of the participle

Adjectival/adverbial character of the Participle is manifested in its syntactic functions -those of attribute or AM.

e.g. Having guarded his car he remembered that he has not lunched. I hated the sound of the rain pattering on the roof.

NOTE! some participles have lost their verbality and have become adjectives

e.g. interesting, charming, complicated, furnished

Verb characteristics of the participle

The Participle I has: tense and voice (transitive verbs only) distinctions

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
INDEFINITE	writing	being written
PERFECT	having written	having been written

1. Participle I Indefinite Active & Passive expresses the action simultaneous with that of the finite form of the verb; depending on the tense form of the finite verb it may refer to the present, past and future.

e.g. When reading this book one can't (couldn't) help laughing. (to the present, past)

When reading this book I will roar with laughter. (to the future)

2. Participle I Perfect Active & Passive indicates an action prior to that expressed by the finite form of the verb.

e.g. They were old friends having been at school together.

NOTE! Participle I Indefinite is commonly used instead of Participle I Perfect after some verbs of sense perception and motion, such as:

to see, to hear, to come, to arrive, to cease, to look, to turn ...

e.g. Hearing steps he rose and went to the top of the stairs.

Participle II has no tense distinctions, it has only one form, which can express both an action simultaneous and prior to the action expressed by the finite form of the verb, the latter case is more frequent

e.g. I was reminded of a portrait seen in the gallery

In some cases Participle II denotes an action referring to no particular time.

e.g. He was a man loved and admired by everybody.

Participle I of a transitive verb can take a direct object

e.g. Opening the door, he went out to the yard.

Participle I & Participle II can be modified by an adverb

e.g. Leaving the room hurriedly he ran out.

The functions of the participle in the sentence

The Participle I can be used in different syntactic functions, as:

1. an attribute

In this function Participle I Indefinite Active (Passive is very seldom used) corresponds to the Ukrainian “підрядне означальне речення”:

e.g. We admired the twinkling stars.

Participle I can be in pre- and post-position. In post-position it as a rule has one or several accompanying words:

e.g. The fence surrounding the garden is newly painted.

2. an adverbial modifier (AM)

Participle I Indefinite expresses an action simultaneous with that of the finite form of the verb and corresponds to the Ukrainian “дієприслівник недоконаного виду”.

Participle I Perfect expresses an action prior to that of the finite form of the verb and corresponds to the Ukrainian “дієприслівник доконаного виду”. In some cases Participle I in the function of AM is rendered in Ukrainian by an adverbial clause. All the forms of Participle I may be used as an AM:

a) of time

e.g. Approaching Malta Street Soames thought with wonder of those years in Brighton.

NOTE! Participle I Indefinite of the verb to be is not used as an AM of time.

Clauses of the type Коли він був дитиною..., Коли він був у Лондоні... may be translated When (he was) a boy..., When (he was) in London...