--- THIS COLUMN IS ENTIRELY IN EVERYDAY ENGLISH ---

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Past participle definition: 

A past participle IN EVERYDAY ENGLISH is formed from a verb and modifies a noun, noun phrase, verb, or verb phrase.

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A past participle most often ends in –ed.

The trouble is, it ends in so many other ways as well and is prime candidate leading to the great confusion of English grammar, spelling and the like.

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What is a Past Participle?

A past participle is formed from a verb.

Because it is used to express actions that have already happened, it takes the past tense form.

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Most past participles IN EVERYDAY ENGLISH end in -ed.

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Past Participles in Participle Phrases

Past participles can also be used to create past participle phrases which act as adjectives.

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Even though they are acting like adjectives, past participles still look like verbs.

Finding their placement in a sentence is key to understanding how they are being used in a sentence.

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In a participle phrase, the participle usually is the first word.

Example:

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• Verb: to brush

• Past participle: brushed

• Past participle as participle phrase: brushed with a comb

• Sentence: Brushed with a comb, the dog’s fur felt smooth.

In this sentence, brushed with a comb serves as an adjective in a participle phrase to modify the dog’s fur.

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Forming the Past Participle in Everyday English:

How to Form Past Participle Verbs.

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The past participle of most regular verbs is formed by adding “-ed” to the end of the base (infinitive) form of the verb.

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• talk > talked

• chew > chewed

• reach > reached

The past participle of some verbs ending in a short vowel sound require doubling the last consonant before adding “-ed”

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• brag > bragged

• skip > skipped

• stop > stopped

The past participle of verbs that end with an “e” required only adding a “d” to the end of the word.

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• wave > waved

• judge > judged

• reserve > reserved

The past participle of verbs ending in “y” where the “y” replaces a vowel sound require the “y” to be dropped and “-ing” to be added.

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• study > studied

• imply > implied

• deny > denied

The past participle of irregular verbs do not follow a specific pattern. Here are a few common examples.

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• run > ran

• sing > sang

• bring > brought

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Past Participles in Other Tenses

In addition to being used as an adjective, past participles are used to form the perfect tenses in English. Here is how they appear in the various tense.

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The Four Past Tenses:

• Simple Past Tense > I spoke

• Past Progressive Tense > I was speaking

• Past Perfect Tense > I had spoken.

• Past Perfect Progressive Tense > I had been speaking.

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The Four Present Tenses:

• Simple Present Tense > I speak

• Present Progressive Tense > I am speaking

• Present Perfect Tense > I have spoken

• Present Perfect Progressive Tense > I have been speaking

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The Four Future Tenses:

• Simple Future Tense: I will speak

• Future Progressive Tense: I will be speaking

• Future Perfect Tense: I will have spoken

• Future Perfect Progressive Tense: I will have been speaking.

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In summary, a past participle is formed from the past tense of a verb. It is used to create verb forms and may also modify nouns, noun phrases, adjectives, and adjective phrases.