Verb Participle [verb pt.
]
Participles are two of the five verb forms that every verb has. Consider the chart below:
REGULAR VERBS
Infinitive Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participle
to giggle giggle(s) giggled giggled giggling
to help help(s) helped helped helping
to jump jump(s) jumped jumped jumping
IRREGULAR VERBS
Infinitive Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participle
to bring bring(s) brought brought bringing
to ring ring(s) rang rung ringing
to sing sing(s) sang sung singing
to swim swim(s) swam swum swimming
Notice that ALL present participles end in -ing. This is a rule that does not change.
★ participials in verb phrases
❀ Verbs can have as many as four parts. When there is a multipart verb, it is called a verb phrase.
✱ I was going to the hospital when you called.
⭒ was = auxiliary verb
⭒ beating = present participle
✱ I had been going to the hospital when you called.
⭒ has = auxiliary verb
⭒ been = past participle
⭒ going = present participle
✱ I should have been going to the hospital when you called.
⭒ should, have = auxiliary verbs
⭒ been = past participle
⭒ going = present participle
★ participles as adjectives
❀ past and present participles often function as adjectives to describe nouns.
✱ The crying baby drew in a deep breath and scared his worried mother.
⭒ Which baby? The crying baby.
⭒ Which mother? The worried mother.
✱ The mangled pair of sunglasses, bruised face, and broken arm meant Sally had taken another
fall on her mountain bike.
⭒ Which pair of sunglasses? The mangled pair.
⭒ Which face? The bruised one.
⭒ Which arm? The broken one.
Gerunds
Present participles can function as nouns in sentences. This is typically called a gerund.
★ using gerunds
❀ Sneezing exhausts Steve, who requires eight tissues and twenty-seven “bless you”s before he is done.
✱ Sneezing = subject of the action verb exhausts
❀ Valerie hates cooking because scraping burnt gunk out of pans always undermines her enjoyment of
food.
✱ Cooking = direct object of the action verb hates
❀ We gave bungee jumping a chance.
✱ Bungee jumping = indirect object of the action verb gave.
❀ Joy bit her tongue instead of criticising her date’s outfit.
✱ Criticising = object of the preposition instead of
❀ Omar’s least favourite sport is skiing because a bad fall in the past caused him to break his leg.
✱ Skiing = subject complement of the linking verb is.
Perfect Tense
In English, your standard past, present, continuous, and future tenses are typically used to show the state of an
action being done. In reality, to show when an action is done, you would typically need to use perfect tense. As such,
there are a total of 12 possible tenses available to use in English.
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
SIMPLE [verb]-ed [verb] will + [verb]
PERFECT had + [verb pt.] have + [verb pt.] will have + [verb pt.]
CONTINUOUS was + [verb]-ing [to be] + [verb]-ing will + be + [verb]-ing
PERFECT CONTINUOUS had been + [verb]-ing has been + [verb]-ing will have been [verb]-ing
PRACTICE:
Consider ALL 12 TENSES when filling in the blanks with the correct tense.
1. John ___________________________ [to plan] to fly to California next month, but now, he can’t afford the plane ticket.
2. She _____________________________ [to save] enough money to afford the car of her dreams next year.
3. It is against the law to kill whales because they ____________________________ [to become] extinct.
4. As of this moment, I _____________________________ [to complete] everything you asked me to do.
5. By the time my brother graduated from high school, he ___________________________ [to attend] five different
schools.
6. Jim, you should take some time off because you _______________________________ [to work] too hard lately.
7. I’ll be right with you as soon as I ___________________________ [to find] my keys.
8. Hopefully, by the time I go to bed tonight, I _____________________________ [to find] my phone charger.
9. The last time my parents ______________________________ [to fly] on an aeroplane was two decades ago.
10. Mary bashfully admits that she ______________________________ [to sing] this song for a competition previously.
11. We _________________________ [to eat] dinner by the time you come back from work.
12. We are extremely late; the symphony ___________________________ [to already begin] by the time we get there.
13. When you see me next time, I ______________________________ [to wear] a new set of clothing.
14. Despite knowing her best friend for seven years, Sally ______________________________ [to never hear] anything about
his past.
15. Tonight, I ______________________ [to sleep] in my bed for the first time in two years.
16. Jim _____________________________ [to never drive] a semi-automatic vehicle before this Christmas.
17. It _______________________________ [to rain] for the last two hours, so the game __________________________ [to postpone].
