What is the difference between present and past participles?

A participle serves a multitude of purposes. What is a participle? A participle is a word that is derived from a verb, however, it works as a verb form when used with auxiliaries and as adjectives in sentences.

While both present and past participles can be used as adjectives and verb forms, they have some basic differences between them. The primary difference between these two forms is that present participles are in the form of verb + ing, whereas, for past participles, verb + ed (or morphemes of -ed, such as -t, -d) are used. If we look at the examples below, we can figure out the difference:

1. a) He was losing the chess match.

b) The losing team was not taking it well.

2. a) He had lost his car keys.

b) The lost book was never found.

When used as verb forms, present participles tend to show a progressive action (describing an ongoing action), while past participles tend to show a perfective action (describing a completed action). The difference also lies between the semantics of these two participles when they are used as adjectives in a sentence.

1. a) He was a very boring person.

b) The bored child went out for a walk.

2. a) It was interesting news.

b) The interested students may submit their names.

It can be seen here that the present participles and past participles semantically have different meanings. The present participle describes a person or a thing and its characteristics or attributes. However, the past participle describes someone or something causing the feeling. It is seldom used to describe non-living or inanimate things. To make it easier to understand, take a look at this example: “Interesting news can make students interested.” It tells us that the news is interesting, which causes the students to be interested. In present participle, X is an attribute of the person or a thing. In past participles, X is causing Y to happen, which thus becomes an attribute of the thing. Example: “annoying person” shows the person’s attribute to be annoying. Whereas, “broken window” shows the attribute of the window being broken, which is/was done by an agent.

Let’s find out the difference between present and past participles! | Created by: Indira Bishui

However, some common mistakes can be avoided by understanding the following:

1. He was bored.
2. He was bored by the physics lecture.

In both the sentences, we can see that the past participle has been used. In the first one, it is used as a predicative adjective (an adjective that sits after a verb instead of before a noun). In the second one, it is used as a passive verb form.

Similarly, this mistake can also be made in the case of present participles:

1. He was a boring person.
2. He was boring me with his lecture.

In the first sentence, “boring” is used as an attributive adjective (an adjective that sits before a noun), whereas in the second one it is an action done by the third person “he”.

To wrap up, it can be said that both past and present particles can be used as adjectives, however, the semantic differences that “-ing” and “-ed” show, is quite interesting and if not used appropriately can change the meaning of how a thing or person is perceived. After all, one may be bored, but no one wants to be boring!