91. Constructions with the Participle

Both participle I and participle II can be used singly (She went away crying; The tree was cut down), in a phrase (Do you know the man standing at the entrance? Shaken by the news, she stood motionless), or in a predicative construction (/ saw them stealing apples in my garden; She found the lock broken).

The participle can form four predicative constructions:

• the objective participial construction (OPC);

• the subjective participial construction (SPC);

• the absolute participial construction (APC);

• the prepositional absolute participial construction (PAPC).

The Objective Participial Construction (OPC)

As with other non-finite constructions, the participle in a OPC is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or an object pronoun which denotes a person or a thing performing the action denoted by the participle:

I heard them talking loudly.

The OPC with participle I is used after the following groups of verbs.

1. Verbs of perception: feel, hear, notice, observe, overhear, perceive, see, smell, spot, spy, watch;

They noticed a ship approaching the island.

Suddenly he spied a shark coming towards them, (formal)

I overheard them quarrelling.

The participial construction is used instead of the infinitive construction to refer to part of an event, to emphasize the idea of process.

2. Verbs of encounter: catch, discover, find:

She caught them eating jam.

The infinitive construction after find refers to something found out by investigation:

They found him to be innocent

The participial construction denotes something discovered by chance:

They found a man lying in the ditch.

Note that it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between the participial construction and an attributive phrase with a participle as attribute.

3. Causative verbs: get, have:

I will get/have the house looking nice.

He had me swimming in a week.

The OPC with participle II is used after the following verbs.

• Perceptual verbs: see, hear, feel:

She heard her name mentioned.

• Volitional verbs and expressions: would like, need, want:

I want this watch repaired quickly.

You need your eyesight tested.

• Causative verbs: get, have:

She had her car serviced.

• The verb consider:

I consider the case closed.

The objective participial construction always functions as complex object in a sentence.

The Subjective Participial Construction (SPC)

The participle is in predicative relation to the subject of the sentence expressed by a noun or a pronoun:

She was seen running away.

The nominal part of the construction performs the function of the subject, while the verbal part expressed by the participle performs the function of part of a compound verbal predicate.

This construction is mostly used with perceptual verbs (SPC with participle I) and verbs of encounter (SPC with participle II):

He was found talking to himself in a whisper.

The girl was discovered crouched under the table.

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

The horse was seen descending the hill. - Видно было, как лошадь спускалась с холма.

The Absolute Participial Construction (APC)

1. In the APC, participle I or participle II is in a predicative relation to a noun in the common case or pronoun in the nominative case. The APC is used, along with adverbial clauses, to introduce a subject different from the subject of the finite form:

The weather being cold, they decided not to go to the lake. (C.f: As the weather was cold they decided not to go to the lake)

Participle I indefinite is used in this construction to refer something that is going on at the same time as the event described by the finite verb or to mention a fact that is relevant to the fact stated by the finite verb:

Her voice trembling, she asked him, "Where am I to go now? " The door being locked, he could not get in.

Participle I perfect or participle II are used to refer to something which happened before the event described by the finite verb:

The question having been asked, the minister had to answer it somehow.

The absolute participial construction can function as an adverbial modifier of time, cause, attendant circumstances and condition. Participle I perfect is used mostly in the first two functions which very often overlap:

The text having been analyzed, she proceeded to write the summary (adverbial modifier of time).

The lights having gone out, they had to go to bed (adverbial modifier of cause).

She slowly went to the door, her leg still aching (adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances).

Time permitting, I will stay there longer (adverbial modifier of

condition).

The door locked, she put the key in her pocket (adverbial modifier of

reason).

2. When the APC functions as an adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances, the preposition with can be used with it, so that we have the prepositional absolute participial construction:

The old woman stood up, with tears running down her face. I wonder if you could do that with your eyes closed.

Participle I indefinite and participle II are generally used after with. Both the absolute construction and the prepositional absolute construction can be used without a participle:

She stood very erect, her body absolutely stiff with fury. She came into the room, her face pale. He walked by, with his dog by his side.

Apart from a few stereotyped phrases like everything considered, present company excepted, weather permitting, god willing, absolute constructions are rare in Modern English and occur mostly in written descriptive language.