Participles in English

Participles are the form of the verb that usually ends in ‘ed’ or ‘ing’ and is used as an adjective.
In English grammar, there are two forms of participles:

1.    Present Participle
2.    Past Participle or Perfect Participle

Present participle is a form of a verb that ends in ‘ing’ and comes after another verb to show continuous action. It is used to form present continuous.

•    He is singing in front of the class.
•    She is watching television.
•    They are eating in a restaurant.

In the above examples, ‘singing’, ‘watching’ and ‘eating’ are present participles.
Present participles can be used in the following ways:

As an adjective:
•    It was a boring movie.
•    It was challenging for the mountaineers to climb the cliff.
•    He convincing in the interview.
•    It was an exciting roller coaster.
•    The documentary was interesting.

With verbs like ‘spend’, ‘waste’, ‘catch’, ‘find’:

•    He spent the entire night watching movies.
•    Spend your money in buying books for yourself.
•    He wasted two hours chatting with friends.
•    Don’t waste your time sleeping in the afternoon.
•    He caught his brother reading his love letters.
•    We found her strolling in the garden all alone.
•    Let me not find you watching television!

Past participle or perfect participle is a form of the verb that is usually made by adding ‘ed’ in the end. For example:

•    The past participle of ‘play’ is ‘played’.
•    The past participle of ‘watch’ is ‘watched’.
•    The past participle of ‘work’ is ‘worked’.