Grammar: Word classes: Verbs: Verb formation

Participles (-ing/-ed)

The form and uses of participles

There are two types of participles in English: the present participle (-ing) and the past participle (-ed/-en):

When dealing with language in the classroom, it is useful to be able to identify the two types of participles. For some practice identifying participles, click here:

The present participle is formed by adding -ing to the base form of the verb (playing).

The present participle is used with the auxiliary verb be to form the present and the past continuous:

Dotty was hiding under the sheets.
           past continuous

For regular verbs, the past participle is typically formed by adding -ed to the base form of the verb (play - played). With irregular verbs, there is much more variation (beat - beaten, begin - begun, bring - brought). For more information, click on the menu on the left: Irregular verbs.

The past participle is used with the auxiliary verb have in perfect forms:

When SleepStealer had filled his bag,
                             past perfect
he crawled back to the bottom of the harbour.

The past participle is used with the auxiliary verb be to form the passive:

These cupboards were locked many years ago.
                            passive voice

Both the present participle (-ing) and the past participle (-ed) do a similar job as adjectives:

Kitty looked under the folding table.
                                 adjective

Grandma opened the locked cupboards.
                               adjective

For more information, see:

	Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Time & tense: Overview
	Grammar: Groups & phrases: Verb group: Structure of the verb group: Voice: active and passive
	Grammar: Word classes: Nouns: Noun formation: Forming nouns from other word classes