16. The Participle. General notion. The Functions of Participle II in the sentence.

1. Participle II as an attribute. Participle II, as well as Participle I, can be used in pre-position (without any accompanying words) and in post-position (with one or more accompanying words).

However, only in a few cases Participle II of an intransitive verb may be used attributively, mostly Participle II of the verbs to fade, to wither, to retire, to fall, to vanish, e. g. faded leaves, a withered flower, a retired colonel, a fallen star, the vanished jewels.

2. Participle II as an adverbial modifier.

In this function Participle II is preceded by the conjunctions when, while, if, as if, as though, though, etc. It is generally rendered as an adverbial clause.

Participle II can be an adverbial modifier:

(a) of time.

(b) of condition.

(b) of comparison.

(c) of concession

3. Participle II as a predicative.

4. Participle II as part of a complex object.

17. Predicative constructions with the Participle. The Objective Participial Construction. Its function in the sentence. Verbs after which it is used.

In Modern English we find the following predicative constructions with the participle:

(1) the Objective Participial Construction;

(2) the Subjective Participial Construction;

(3) the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction;

(4) the Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction.

The Objective Participial Construction.

The Objective Participial Construction is a construction in which the participle is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case.

In the next berth she could hear her stepmother breathing heavily.

The Objective Participial Construction may be found:

(a) after verbs denoting sense perception, such as to see, to hear, to feel, to find, etc.

Then he looked out of the window and saw clouds gathering.

(b) after some verbs of mental activity, such as to consider, to understand.

I consider myself engaged to Herr Klesmer.

(c) after verbs denoting wish, such as to want, to wish, to desire. In this case only Participle II is used.

The governor wants it done quick.

(d) after the verbs to have and to get; after these verbs only Participle II is used.

In this ease the Objective Participial Construction shows that the action expressed by the participle is performed at the request of the person denoted by the subject of the sentence. Thus I had the piano tuned means ‘I made someone tune the piano’.

I had my coat altered.

In interrogative and negative sentences the auxiliary verb to do is used:

Why don’t you have your hair waved?

Occasionally the meaning of the construction is different: it may show that the person denoted by the subject of the sentence experiences the action expressed by the participle.

The wounded man had his leg amputated.

18. Predicative constructions with the Participle. The Subjective Participial Construction. Its function in the sentence.

The Subjective Participial Construction is a construction in which the participle (mostly Participle I) is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative case, which is the subject of the sentence.

In rendering this construction in Russian a complex sentence is generally used; the principal clause is of the type which in Russian syntax is called ‘indefinite personal’ (неопределенно-личное предложение).

The peculiarity of this construction is that it does not serve as one part of the sentence: one of its component parts has the function of the subject, the other forms part of a compound verbal predicate.

They were heard talking together...

This construction is chiefly used after verbs of sense perception.

The horse was seen descending the hill.

Then Bathsheba’s footsteps were heard crossing the room.