The Participle

The Participle is a non-finite form of a verb, which has a verbal and adjectival / adverbial
character. There are two Participles in English - Participle I & Participle II, traditionally called
the Present Participle and Past Participle. Participle I is formed by adding the suffix -ing to the
stem of the verb, and Participle II by adding the suffix -ed.

Adjectival / adverbial characteristics of the Participle

Adjectival/adverbial character of the Participle is manifested in its syntactic functions -
those of attribute or AM.
e.g. Having guarded his car he remembered that he has not lunched. I hated the sound of
the rain pattering on the roof.
Note: some participles have lost their verbality and have become adjectives
e.g. interesting, charming, complicated, furnished

Verb Characteristics of the Participle

The Participle I has: tense and voice (transitive verbs only) distinctions
Active Passive
Indefinite writing being written
Perfect having written having been written
1. Participle I Indefinite Active & Passive expresses the action simultaneous with that
of the finite form of the verb; depending on the tense form of the finite verb it may refer to the
present, past and future.
e.g. When reading this book one can't (couldn't) help laughing. (to the present, past)
When reading this book I will roar with laughter. (to the future)
2. Participle I Perfect Active & Passive indicates an action prior to that expressed by
the finite form of the verb.
e.g. They were old friends having been at school together.
Note: Participle I Indefinite is commonly used instead of Participle I Perfect after some verbs of
sense perception and motion, such as:
to see, to hear, to come, to arrive, to cease, to look, to turn ...
e.g. Hearing steps he rose and went to the top of the stairs.
Participle II has no tense distinctions, it has only one form, which can express both an
action simultaneous and prior to the action expressed by the finite form of the verb, the latter
case is more frequent
e.g. I was reminded of a portrait seen in the gallery
In some cases Participle II denotes an action referring to no particular time.
e.g. he was a man loved and admired by everybody.

Participle I of a transitive verb can take a direct object

e.g. Opening the door, he went out to the yard.
Participle I & Participle II can be modified by an adverb
e.g. Leaving the room hurriedly he ran out.

Predicative Constructions with the Participle

 In Modern English we find the following predicative constructions with the participle:
1. the Objective Participial Construction;
2. the Subjective Participial Construction;
3. the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction;
4. the Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction.

The Objective Participial Construction

The Objective Participial Construction is a construction in which the participle is in
predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the objective case:
e.g. In the next berth she could hear her stepmother breathing heavily.
Їй було чути, як на сусідньому ліжку важко дихає її мачуха.
The participle breathing is in predicate relation to the noun stepmother, which denotes
the doer of the action expressed by the participle.
In the Objective Participial Construction Participle I Indefinite Active or Participle II
is used. In the sentence this construction has the function of a complex object. It usually
corresponds to a subordinate object clause in Ukrainian.
The Objective Participial Construction may be found:
A) after verbs denoting sense perception , such as to see, to hear, to feel, to find, etc:
e.g. He looked round, and saw a girl racing after him.
You will probably find your sister grown, Bella.
B) after some verbs of mental activity , such as to consider, to understand, etc:
e.g. I consider myself engaged to Herr Klesmer.
C) after verbs denoting wish, such as to wish, to want, to desire. In this case only
Participle II is used:
e.g. I want it done by 5 o'clock.
D) after the verbs to have and to get. After these verbs only Participle II is used.
In this case the Objective Participial Construction shows that the action expressed
by the participle is performed at the request of the person denoted by the subject of the
sentence. Thus I had the piano tuned means ‘I made someone tune the piano’.
e.g. I had my coat altered.
Я переробила пальто (тобто, доручила комусь переробити його).
Why don't you have your hair waved?
Чому ви не завиваєте волосся?

The Subjective Participial Construction

The Subjective Participial Construction is a construction in which the participle
(mostly Participle I) is in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a
pronoun in the nominative case, which is the subject of the sentence.
In rendering this construction in Ukrainian a complex sentence is generally used; the
principal clause is of the type which in Ukrainian syntax is called indefinite personal
(невизначено-особове речення).
The peculiarity of this construction is that it does not serve as one part of the
sentence: one of its component parts has the function of the subject, the other forms part of
a compound verbal predicate. This construction is chiefly used after verbs of sense
perception:
e.g. They were heard talking together.
Було чути, як вони розмовляли.
The horse was seen descending the hill.
Було видно, як кінь спускався з гори .
 The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction
The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction is a construction in which the participle
stands in predicate relation to a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative
case; the noun or pronoun is not the subject of the sentence:
e.g. The door and window of the room being open, we looked in.
Оскільки двері і вікно кімнати були відчинені, ми зазирнули в неї.
In the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction Participle I (in all its forms) or
Participle II is used. This construction is generally rendered in Ukrainian by means of
an adverbial clause. It is used in the function of an adverbial modifier. It can be an
adverbial modifier:
a) of time
e.g. This duty completed, he had three months' leave.
Коли ця робота була завершена, він отримав тримісячну відпустку.
b) of cause
e.g. It being now pretty late, we took our candles and went upstairs.
Оскільки було доволі пізно, ми взяли свічки й пішли нагору.
c) of attendant circumstances
In this function the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction is mostly
placed at the end of the sentence. In rendering it in Ukrainian a coordinate
clause or дієприслівниковий зворот is used:
e.g. He got up and walked gently across the room, his boots creaking at every step.
Він підвівся і тихо пройшов кімнатою; чоботи у нього рипіли при кожному кроці.
One morning he stood in front of the tank, his nose almost pressed to the glass.
Одного ранку він стояв перед вітриною, майже приліпивши носа до скла.
d) of condition
In this function the Nominative Absolute Participial Construction occurs but seldom
and is almost exclusively used with the participles permitting and failing:
e.g. Weather (time, circumstances) permitting, we shall start tomorrow.
Якщо погода (час, обставини) дозволять, ми поїдемо завтра.
Conciliation failing, force remains.
Якщо не вдається досягнути примирения, доводиться застосовувати силу.
The Nominative Absolute Participial Construction very often occurs in fiction and
scientific literature; the use of the construction in colloquial English is rare.

The Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction

The Absolute Participial Construction may be introduced by the preposition with and
is then called the Prepositional Absolute Participial Construction. It is in most cases used in
the function of an adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.
This construction is rendered in Ukrainian by a coordinate clause or
дієприслівниковий зворот:
e.g. They were walking on again, with Hugh calmly drawing at his pipe.
Вони знову йшли вперед; Хью спокійно курив свою трубку.
The daughter sat quite silent and still, with her eyes fixed on the ground.
Дочка сиділа мовчки і непорушно, опустивши очі дод