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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

Participle

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/ˈpɑːtɪsɪpl/nounCommon term

In linguistics & grammar, participle means: A verb form without tense used in verb phrases and as an adjective: the present participle ends in -ing (working), the past participle often in -ed or -en (worked, broken).

In Turkish: ortaç, sıfat-fiil

How it is used

Past participles form the perfect and the passive (has written, was written); present participles form the progressive. Both appear in participle clauses: 'Feeling tired, she went home.' Pairs like bored and boring are participle adjectives.

Example sentences

  1. Irregular verbs have special past participles, such as written, seen and gone.

  2. 'Bored' is a past participle used as an adjective: 'The students looked bored.'

Common collocations

  • past participle
  • present participle
  • participle clause
  • participle adjective
  • gerundThe -ing form of a verb used like a noun, for example as a subject or object: 'Swimming is good exercise' or 'I enjoy reading'.
  • infinitiveThe basic form of a verb, which shows no tense or person, often used with 'to' (to go, to write) and sometimes without it (She can go).
  • passive voiceA sentence structure in which the subject receives the action instead of doing it, made with be plus a past participle, as in 'The bridge was built in 1973'.
  • present perfectA verb form made with have or has plus a past participle, used to link a past action or state to the present, as in 'I have lost my keys'.
  • progressive aspectThe verb form made with be plus the -ing form, used to show that an action is in progress, temporary or unfinished at a certain time, as in 'She is working'.

More terms: Tense, Aspect and Verb Forms

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