Functions of participle I

FUNCTIONS	CONJUNCTIONS	EXAMPLES
PART of a SIMPLE VERBAL PREDICATE		My son is playing in the garden. He has been playing there since morning.
ATTRIBUTE		The whipping waves roared through the night. The waves, whipping the shore savagely, roared through the night.
PARENTHESIS		Generally speaking, he is a satisfactory student.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF TIME *	when ** while/whilst **	(While) waiting for another question, he was silent. Having finished the repairs, the plumber is preparing to leave.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF CAUSE *		Being late for classes, I ran up the stairs. Having sold their house, they were free to leave.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCES		He lay in bed reading.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF CONCESSION	though/although	Though knowing what was there, he took the paper out and walked to the window to read.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF MANNER		He spent his morning reading “The Morning Star”.
ADVERBIAL MODIFIER OF COMPARISON	as if/as though	For a moment he stood as if waiting for another question.
* In these functions Perfect Participle I may occur. ** These conjunctions are optional.

When a participial phrase is used as attribute it follows the modified noun. Its verbal character is evident from its verbal combinability and sometimes from the passive form itself. A participial phrase may be (a) non-detached or (b) detached:

a) We went along the street leading to the seashore.

Emma sat in the armchair facing the door.

Another factor concerns the formality of the language being taught.

b) Once a month Tommy, arriving separately, came in for a brief drink.

A detached participial phrase is set off from the modified noun by a comma (or commas) in writing and by a pause (or pauses) in speech.

When a single participle is used as attribute, it generally functions as a premodifier. Here we usually find only participle I active of intransitive verbs. Its verbal character is clear from the processual meaning of the verb itself: living people, a sleeping dog.

Participle I as a premodifying attribute differs from the gerund in the same function. The noun serves as the subject of the action expressed by the participle, as in a living man = a man who lives, a burning house = a house that is burning, a dancing girl = a girl who is dancing (or dances). The gerund suggests the destination of the object or a person’s occupation, as in writing paper =paper for writing, dancing hall = a hall for dancing, a singing teacher = a teacher of singing. Note also the difference in stress patterns. There are two stresses in the pattern with the participle (a 'burning 'house), the second being the main stress, while in the pattern with the gerund only the first (gerundial) element is stressed (a ' dancing hall); if there are two stresses, the first component has the main stress, as in a 'speaking 'habit, a 'writing 'career.

When a prior action is meant no participle I can be used as attribute, only an attributive clause is used. Thus when we translate sentences with the Russian perfective participle active with the suffix-вш into English we must use an attributive clause: спросивший - who has asked, переводивший (ранее) - who has translated or who has (had) been translating, уехавший -who has gone, вернувшийся - who has (had) returned or who returned, depending on the context or situation:

Я разговаривал со студентами, вернувшимися с практики. – I’ve just talked to the students who have come back from their teaching practice.

Я разговаривал со студентами, вернувшимися с практики на прошлой неделе. – I’ve talked to the students who came back from their school practice last week.

Женщина, стоявшая на крыльце, вошла в дом. - The woman who had been standing on the porch went into the house, (the action expressed by the participle is prior to that of the finite verb) But: Я обратился к женщине, стоявшей на крыльце. - I addressed the woman standing on the porch (simultaneous actions).