Hey guys, for this grammar post we’ll be covering past participle phrases, in order to get a better understanding of them, and how to identify them in a sentence.
So, a past participle is a past tense verb functioning as an adjective. Well, that may sound confusing, but let's break it down. First, we have a past tense verb. In order to get that, let's think of a present tense verb. To brake. I brake. Now we change it to the past tense. I broke something. Something is broken. It is in a broken state. That last sentence had a past participle. The word broken describes what state it is in, so it functions as an adjective. So past participles are quite simple. It's just a past tense verb functioning as an adjective.
One good trick when learning past participles is to think of food. Lots of food terms are actually past participles. Think of iced tea. What type of tea is it? It is iced tea. Some more examples are sautéed spinach, glazed donuts, baked potatoes, etc.. So if you're ever stuck, think of food to help you remember what a past participle is. Here are some example sentences:
- This is a closed shop on Sundays.
- The legalized community was very protected.
- The trodden path was very old.
- Horses’ clipped shoes make a distinct sound when prancing.
- The disused garbage truck lay in a state of disrepair.
Hopefully by looking at the example sentences and by reading the lesson you now have a better understanding of past participles and past participle phrases. Anyway, I’ll see you guys in the next post!
- Jack Goodenough