Past Participles in English Grammar

In English grammar, the past participle refers to an action that was started and completed entirely in the past. It is the third principal part of a verb, created by adding -ed, -d, or -t to the base form of a regular verb. The past participle is generally used with an  auxiliary  (or helping) verb—has, have, or  had—to express the  perfect aspect, a  verb  construction that describes events occurring in the past that are linked to a later time, usually the present. In addition to the perfect aspect (or perfect tense), the past participle  can be used in a  passive voice  or as an  adjective. Past Participles of Regular Verbs To understand past participles, you first need to know how to make a verb  past tense, says  Study.com. To do so, simply add ed, d, or t, as in these examples that show the verb on the left and the simple past tense on the right: Help helpedWeep weptWork worked Turning these verbs into past participles is also simple: Make the verb past tense and precede it with an  auxiliary verb, as in these examples that list the simple past on the left and the past participle on the right: Helped have helpedVisited have visitedWorked have worked Though they may seem similar, there is a  difference between regular past tense and past participle. The regular past has only one part while the past participle always has two or more parts, and as noted, generally requires an auxiliary verb, says  Write.com. An example of a sentence with a regular verb (using one of the above sentences) would be: I helped my friend. You simply helped your friend at some time in the past, but you might continue to help her at some point in the future. The same sentence with a past participle verb would be: I have helped my friend. You began helping your friend in the past and completed the action of helping her in the past. Past Participle of Irregular Verbs The past participle forms of  irregular verbs  have various endings, including  -d  (said),  -t  (slept), and  -n  (broken). Irregular verbs are trickier to form in the simple past than regular verbs, says Study.com, which gives these examples: Run   ranSing sangGo went To form the past participle of these irregular verbs, again precede them with an auxiliary verb: Ran has run, have runSing has sung, have sungWent has gone, have gone Common Irregular Past Participles Viewing some of the most common irregular verbs, together with the simple past as well as their past participle forms, can be helpful in understanding how they are formed. Verb Simple Past Past Participle fly flew have flown rise rose had risen shrink shrank had shrunk feel felt had felt bite bit has bitten catch caught have caught draw drew have drawn drive drove have driven eat ate have eaten fall fell have fallen Additionally, the verb  wear  is a classic example of an irregular verb that can be complicated to use as a past participle. You might  wear  underwear today if you are expressing action in the present. You  wore underwear yesterday if you are expressing the simple past. To use the same irregular verb as a past participle, however, you might say,  I  have  worn my Superman underwear. This implies that you donned your Superman underwear in the past but you are no longer doing so. Meanings and Forms of Past Participles The past participle can indicate past, present, and future meanings, according to Essentials of English: A Practical Handbook Covering All the Rules of English Grammar and Writing Style, which notes that the past participle has both perfect and progressive forms, as in: Thus deceived, he will be outraged. [Both actions are in the future.]Baffled by your attitude, I cannot help you. [Both actions are in the present.]Baffled by your attitude, I could not help you. [Both actions in the past.] In the first sentence above, the participle acts like an  appositive  adjective, renaming the subject  thief. The two actions occur completely in the future: The thief will be outraged and he  (will be) deceived. Note how the past participle includes an implied form of a to be verb:  will be. In the second sentence,  baffled  is still a past participle but the action will have been started and completed entirely in the present. The past participle includes an implied auxiliary verb—having been—so the full sentence would read: Having been baffled  by your attitude, I cannot help you. The action of being baffled starts and is completed entirely in the present, as is the (non)action of not helping.   In the same way, the third sentence starts with a past participle describing an action that started and was completed entirely in the past. The past participle also serves as an appositive adjective, describing the pronoun (and subject of the sentence).  The full sentence would read: Having been baffled  by your attitude, I could not help you. The  subjunctive  mood in the second half of the sentence describes an action—could not help—that happened (or in this case did not happen) entirely in the past. Sources Hopper, Vincent F. Essentials of English: A Practical Handbook Covering All the Rules of English Grammar and Writing Style. Barrons Educational Series, Cedric Gale, Ronald C. Foote, et al., Sixth edition, Barrons Educational Series, April 1, 2010.