(Keys, p.126) the participles

Module 8. The general characteristics, forms and grammatical categories of the Participles

Principal ideas:

1. The Participles (PARTs) – Participle I – (PI) and Participle II – (PII) share their forms with the verb (the grammatical categories and the elements of their forms are therefore verbal), but most of their syntactic functions (such as Attribute, Predicative, Adverbial Modifier) they share with the Adj. and Adv.

2. The grammatical meaning carried by the participles is action, process or event (which is also of verbal character), but it is presented by the participles as the feature or property of some object or event.

3. Like the Adj., the PARTs characterize inanimate objects or people:

falling leaves, fallen leaves, smoking chimney, smoked salmon, writing students, written document; I found him standing in the corner; In despair, we watched our house being destroyed by the fire; Little Sam was caught smoking a cigarette; We are going to have our house decorated next year.

4. Like the Adv., the PARTs characterize events or actions:

Having told his story once before, he didn’t like to retell it. Smiling to everybody in the room, she began her lecture.

5. Verbal features of PARTs are displayed also in the elements of their form: the suffixes –ed, -ing, the auxiliary verbs be and have, and in the forms of grammatical categories of Voice and Time correlation (with PI).

15. The forms and categories of the Participles

15.1. Voice and Time Correlation distinctions can be expressed in the forms of PI:

Voice: Active PI – taking, going, Passive PI of transitive verbs – being taken.

Time Correlation: Non-Perf. PI – taking, going, Perf. PI – having taken, having gone; Perf. Pass.PI – having been taken.

15.2.1. PII doesn’t possess forms of verbal grammatical categories, but it is capable of expressing the grammatical meaning of Voice, Aspect and Time Correlation in the context of the sentence:

• I saw him taken away by the police (=The police were taking him, I saw it.) – the meaning of Passive Voice and Continuous Aspect;

• Viewed from a distance, the island looked like a cloud (=When it was viewed from a distance, the island looked like a cloud) – the meaning of the Passive Voice;

• I had the carpet cleaned (=Somebody had cleaned the carpet for me) – the meaning of the Perfect form of the category of Time Correlation and the meaning of Passive Voice;

• We now have the problem solved (=The problem has been solved by somebody) – the meaning of the Perfect form of the category of Time Correlation and the meaning of the Passive Voice.

15.2.2. PII used as an attribute (before or after the noun) almost always has a passive meaning:

a broken window is a window that has been broken by somebody; the problems discussed means the problems that were, have been or are discussed.

However, there are a few participles II that have active meaning in the position of an attribute, e.g. fallen, vanished, retired, grown-up, escaped, faded:

a retired general (=a general who retired), faded colours (coloures that faded), an escaped prisoner (=a prisoner who escaped from the prison), vanished civilizations (=civilizations that vanished).

Some other participles II can be used in this way with an ADV or adverbial particle:

a well-read person, a much traveled man, recently arrived immigrants, a burnt-out match.

15.3. The grammatical category of Voice (expressed only in PI) is based on the opposition of Active and Passive.

The Active PI denotes an action directed from its agent: Do you know the students translating the text now (= ... the students who are now translating the text).

The Passive PI denotes an action directed to smb./smth.: Are you familiar with the problem being discussed here? (=The problem is being discussed).

Pass. PI may carry the idea of priority of the action to the event of the predicate: She offered herself at the palace as a servant, and being admitted, threw off her disguise and appeared as the goddess, surrounded with thunder and lightning.

15.4. The grammatical category of Time Correlation is manifested by the Non-Perf. and Perf. forms of PI. The Non-Perf. PI suggests that the action is:

simultaneous to the event of the predicate:

• Walking in the park I saw a bird building its nest (= I was walking, the bird was building a nest) – reference to the past;

• Walking in the park on a spring day I see many birds building nests (=Whenever I walk in this park in spring I see birds that build their nests) – reference to the present;

• Walking in the park on a spring day you will be able to see birds building their nests (=When you are in this park in spring, you will be able to see birds that will be building their nests) – reference to the future.

or sequential (that which follows the main action, that is posterior to it):

• This road is going to be completed next year connecting Norbergville and Richtown.

The time reference of the event is clear only in the context of the whole sentence.

The Non-Perf. PI can also render the meaning of immediate priority – i.e. the action is slightly prior to that of the finite predicate:

Opening the door to the kitchen, I encountered our neighbour Mrs. Drumm;

The Perf. PI indicates the priority of its action to the event named by the main predicate in the sentence (note, that the time reference of the form is also created in the sentence as a whole):

• Having married very late, my father was only a year short of fifty when I was born (=My father was nearly fifty when I was born because he had married very late) – reference to the past;

• Having discussed the plan in every detail, we are now going to see the ways to put it in action (=We have discussed the plan and now are going to speak about its fulfillment) – reference to the present;

• Next week we are discussing the new school for the community. Having discussed the idea, we shall be able to plan the finance resources. (=When we have discussed the idea of the new school, we shall be able to find finance for it). – reference to the future.

Note that Perf. PI is not used to express priority in the function of Attribute – that-clause of the complex sentence is used instead: *Where are the men having stood here? à Where are the men who/that stood here?

15.5. The combination of PARTs with their Obj. or AM can be used as an Attr. before another N (especially when the phrase expresses a permanent quality and thus is very close to an ADJ):

a well-known trademark (=known well), home-grown vegetables (=grown at smb.’s home), the long-expected call (=the call expected long), English-speaking countries (=where people speak English), a long-playing record (=that can play long), self-winding watch (=winding itself), etc.