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Activities: “Participles in English: What are they and how are they used?”

By: revel arroway, Isabel McKay

Associated Articles

These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: Spot the participles

The story below contains some participles. Can you spot them all?

There are both present participles (root + -ing) and past participles (root + -edor irregular). Can you spot them all?

The Moores go on vacation!

A drawing of three people. On the left a smiling black man in a green polo. On the right a smiling white woman with red hair and an aqua collared shirt. In the middle, a smiling white boy with dark hair and a green and orange polo.

!Mike, !Jill, !and !Jimmy !Moore !are !a !family !from !Springfield, !Illinois. !This !spring, !Jill !is !graduating !with !a !master’s !degree, !and !so !they !will !be !celebrating !with !a !visit !to !New !York !City.

!They’ll !be !visiting !a !lot !of !fun !places !while !they !are !in !New !York. !Mike !is !going !to !enjoy !the !crowded !streets !and !will !spend !some !time !looking !up !at !skyscrapers. !He !works !in !construction, !so !he !loves !to !watch !people !building !new !high !rises!

!Jill !wants !to !visit !some !museums. !She !is !fascinated !by !Ancient !Egypt, !so !she !is !expecting !that !their !visit !to !the !Metropolitan !Art !Museum !will !be !exciting!. !She !has !seen !other !museums !with !Egyptian !art, !but !she !thinks !she’ll !be !amazed !by !the !collection !at !the !Met, !as !it !is !very !well-!known!.

!Jimmy !is !getting !a !special !treat !too! !He !loves !the !musical !Beauty !and !the !Beast!, !so !his !mom !and !dad !have !bought !tickets !for !the !Broadway !production. !Jimmy !doesn’t !know, !and !his !parents !are !expecting !him !to !be !very !surprised !when !they !take !him !to !the !theater.

!They !are !all !looking !forward !to !a !few !other !family !experiences !too. !Jimmy !is !excited !to !eat !hot !dogs !from !a !cart !(he !is !a !growing !boy, !after !all), !Mike !is !hoping !to !take !the !ferry !out !to !the !Statue !of !Liberty !and !Ellis !Island, !and !Jill !is !planning !to !enjoy !a !relaxing !ride !in !a !horse-!drawn !carriage!

Activity 2: Write the participles

Write the past and present participle form for each of the verbs below.

Hint: Many of them have irregular past participles or require special spelling rules. Make sure to check your irregular verbs reference sheet and your sheet of English spelling rules for endings!

to watch
- past participle:
- present participle:
to win
- past participle:
  → irregular verb
- present participle:
  → one syllable, CVC
to understand
- past participle:
  → irregular verb
- present participle:
  → This is also an adjective that describes someone who generally is kind when someone else makes a mistake.
to play
- past participle:
  → V + y, not C + y, so we don’t use -ied
- present participle:
to make
- past participle:
  → irregular verb
- present participle:
  → delete e before -ing
to read
- past participle:
  → irregular verb, the participle is pronounced [red] not [reed]
- present participle:
to pay
- past participle:
  → irregular verb
- present participle:
  → final y does not double for one-syllable words that end in CVC
to clean
- past participle:
- present participle:
to bike
- past participle:
  → delete e before -ed
- present participle:
  → delete e before -ing
to agree
- past participle:
  → do not add a third e
- present participle:
  → do not delete -ee before -ing
to bury
- past participle:
  → ends in C + y, change y to i before -ed
- present participle:
  → y does not change to i before -ing

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