Participles in English are known as Verbals, as they share verb characteristics of tense and voice. They are verbs that have been turned into adjectives and make up Participial phrases, which include more than one or two words (that is, besides the participle) Participles, their tense, and voice:

• Present, Active Participle (Usually found w/ words ending in -ing)
• Present, Passive Participle (Usually found with "being" preceding the participle, and -ed attached to the participle)
• Past, Active Participle (Uncommon -- found with "having" preceding the participle)
• Past, Passive Participle (Usually found with "having been" preceding the participle, and the participle often has -ed attached to it)
• Future, Active Participle (Intending to verb, Going to verb are examples of future active)
• Future, Passive Participle (Intending to be verbed, Going to be verbed
• Example: (Participle is deonted by *)
• Pres. Act: *Walking*, I met my friend in the park.
• Pres. Pass: *Being walked*, the dog was unhappy.
• Past Act: *Having fallen*, the man was injured.
• Past Pass: *Having been shot*, the woman screamed.
• Fut Act: *Intending to fall*, the teenager jumped.
• Fut. Pass: *Intending to be seen*, the small boy painted himself in bright, vivid colors.

The above examples are simply participles which are describing some noun in the sentence. Often times, using just a participle (especially when it is not present active) can sound awkward. By adding more words, such as a prepositional phrase, a participial phrase is created (The same sentences above, only now with a phrase):

• Walking quickly through the city, I met my friend in the park.
• Being walked by his master, the dog was unhappy.
• Having fallen off the ledge, the man was injured.
• Having been shot by the six-fingered man, the woman screamed.
• Intending to fall of the bridge to end his life, the teenager jumped.
• Intending to be seen by his mother, the small boy painted himself in bright, vivid colors.

The examples above are not inclusive of the syntax for all participles, because only the subjects were being described, and participles must preceed the noun which they describe, which means that they are placed at the beginning of the sentence. Participles and their phrases can occur in other places, ie "The man walked the running boy." A word of caution: Placing participles not near the noun which they are describing creates a dangling modifier (A modifier that may modify more than one thing, and the reader is unsure of which).

Most participles are formed by adding -ed or -ing to a verb, and/or adding a form of the verb to be. However, some verbals are irregular, and a dictionary must be consulted to deal with such words. Also Note: participles should not be confused with Gerunds. Participles are adjectives, and gerunds are nouns.

Par"ti*ci*ple (?), n. [F. participe, L. participium, fr. particeps sharing, participant; pars, gen. partis, a part + capere to take. See Participate.]

1. Gram.

A part of speech partaking of the nature both verb and adjective; a form of a verb, or verbal adjective, modifying a noun, but taking the adjuncts of the verb from which it is derived. In the sentences: a letter is written; being asleep he did not hear; exhausted by toil he will sleep soundly, -- written, being, and exhaustedare participles.

By a participle, [I understand] a verb in an adjectival aspect. Earle.

⇒ Present participles, called also imperfect, or incomplete, participles, end in -ing. Past participles, called also perfect, or complete, participles, for the most part end in -ed, -d, -t, -en, or -n. A participle when used merely as an attribute of a noun, without reference to time, is called an adjective, or a participial adjective; as, a written constitution; a rolling stone; the exhausted army. The verbal noun in -ing has the form of the present participle. See Verbal noun, under Verbal, a.

2.

Anything that partakes of the nature of different things.

[Obs.]

The participles or confines between plants and living creatures. Bacon.

 

© Webster 1913.