The Participlecan be used in different syntactic functions. A simple participle occurs but seldom: in most cases we find a complex participle or a participial phrase, i.e. a participle with one or several accompanying words. Besides it can be used as part of a predicative construction.
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| · Let sleeping dogs lie. (a simple participle)
· He drank his coffee standing.
· There are some other people waiting for you. (a participial phrase)
· We found him working in the garden. (part of a predicative construction)
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1.
| The Participle can be used in a sentence asan attributeandan adverbial modifier of time, of reason (cause), of mannerandattendant circumstances, of condition, of comparison, of concessionand as a parenthesis. The Participle can also be used as a predicativeand as part of a predicative construction.
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2.
| The Participle as a predicative
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| In the function of a predicative the so called participle adjectives are used. Although keeping the form of the participle, they are treated as an adjective, or a deverbal adjective.
Participle I in this function gives the qualitative characterization to the person or thing used as subject (or object, in the case of the objective predicative).
Participle II in this function denotes a state.
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| 2.1.
| We use adjectives derived from Participle I (Present Participles) e.g. surprising to describe the source or cause of an action or feeling.
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| · The news was surprising.
· I find the story amusing.
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| 2.2.
| We use adjectives derived from Participle II (Past Participles) e.g.surprised to describe the one(s) affected by the action or feeling.
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| · My parents were surprised.
· Why is she getting so amused?
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| 2.3.
| Participles as predicativefollow the link verb to be as a rule. Participle I, however, may be used with other link verbs, in which case it may keep its verbal character.
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| · Isadoraremained standing.
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3.
| Participle I as part of a compound verbal predicate
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| Non-perfect Participle I can be part of a compound verbal predicate of double orientation. The predicate of double orientation consists of two parts: the first is oriented on somebody implied, and the second refers semantically to the doer of the action expressed by the subject.
Within this type of predicate Participle I follows verbs of sense perception, such as see, hear, feel, find, catch, also some causative verbs, such as keep, leave in the Passive Voice.
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| · Jane was heard playing the piano.
· The boy was caught teasing the cat.
· I was kept waiting an hour or so.
· I was left standing on the stage.
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4.
| Here are some examples illustrating the use of the Participle in other syntactic functions.
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| · The fence surroundingthe gardenis newly painted. (attribute)
· My watch was among the thingstaken.
· There was a branch railway line being laid out to a new settlement which interested its residents greatly.
· Seeing him on the other side of the street, I called him. (adverbial modifier of time)
· Having sent the invitation, I felt a sense of relief.
· When heated, metals expand.
· Being an orphan at six, he was brought up by a distant relative. (adverbial modifier of reason)
· Being of a more slender figure than Mr. Jarndyce, and havinga richer complexion, Mr. Skimpole looked younger. (Dickens)
· I wrote him a friendly letter, thanking him for his help. (adverbial modifier of manner and attendant circumstances)
· Gwendolen was silent, again looking at her hands.(Eliot)
· If sent immediately, the telegram will certainly be delivered by eight o’clock.
(adverbial modifier of condition)
· It was a dreadful thing that he now proposed, a breach of the law which, if discovered, would bring them into the police court.
· She paced up and down the room restlessly as if trying to make some decision. (adverbial modifier of comparison)
· As if torn with inner conflict and indecision, he cried. (Galsworthy).
· Though astonished by her interest in the details of the accident, I went on with my story. ( adverbial modifier of concession)
· ... her spirit, though crushed, was not broken. (A. Bronte)
· Roughly speaking the number of birds on this island exceeds one million.
(parenthesis)
• Granting it to be true I didn’t object to his coming there.
· I am pleased with the result. (a predicative)
· The play was really boring.
· Paul was found sitting in the armchair and smoking a pipe. (part of a compound verbal predicate)
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