Study the forms of Participle I and Participle II
| Form | Active | Passive |
| Simple | showing | being shown |
| Perfect | have shown | having shown |
| Participle II | shown |
Study the functions of Participle I
| Functions | Patterns | Notes | |
| predicative | My friends story was | Participle I is usually rendered into Russian by an adjective | |
| amusing. | |||
| attribute | The smiling faces of | In this function it corresponds to the Russian действительное причастие. In some cases it is rendered in Russian by a clause причастным оборотом. | |
| children failed to | |||
| cheer him up. The | |||
| train arriving on the | |||
| platform four is one | |||
| hour late. | |||
| part of a complex object | I could hear the wind whistling all night. | This construction with Participle I corresponds to a subordinate object clause in Russian. | |
| attendant circumstances (manner) | He was standing at the bridge admiring the beautiful view. | In this function Participle I indefinite corresponds to the Russian деепричастие несовершенного вида, Participle I Perfect corresponds to the Russian деепричастие совершенного вида. In some cases Participle I in this function is rendered by an adverbial clause or деепричастным оборотом. Here we always find a participle phrase. | |
| cause (reason) | The book being writ- ten in simple English is suitable for begin- ners. | ||
| time | While doing his homework John was interrupted several times. Having visited the museum we decided to have lunch at the park. | ||
| comparison | This was said as if thinking about. | ||
| parenthesis | Speaking frankly I consider the plan to be unwise. Judging by what critics say, the new play is worth seeing. | ||
Study the functions of Participle II
| Functions | Indicators | Patterns | Notes | |
| predicative | After the link verbs: to be, to seem, to look, to get to remain, to grow, to turn, etc. | My question to him remained unanswered. We were very shocked when we heard the news. | ||
| attribute | Some roads were blocked bv fallen trees The story told by the man fascinated me. | Participle II corresponds to the Russian страдательное причастие or действительное причастие if some verbs ending in -ся, or by a clause, or причастным оборотом. | ||
| part of a complex object | a) after the verbs denoting sense perception: to see, to hear, to feel, to find, etc. b) after the verbs denoting wish: to desire, to want, to wish, etc.; c) after the verbs: to have, to get, to make. | He always found himself sur-rounded bv admiring readers. We have never heard this opera sung in Italian. I want it done bv tomorrow. Jill has her roof repaired yesterday. You must make your news known. | In the sentence this construction has the function of a complex object. It usually corresponds to a subordinate object clause in Russian. | |
| adverbial of | time | Usually after conjunction when | When given a dictionary he translated the article at once. | In this function Participle II is generally rendered in Russian by an adverbial clause or причастным оборотом. |
| condition | After if, when | If insisted I will gladly come to your house. When seen in this light, the matter doesn't seem so serious. | ||
| comparison | After as if, as though | He stood as though struck by my words. | ||
| concession | After though | Though impressed by the news, he didn't show it. |
Practice
Participles I and II as predicative
Participle I is usually rendered into Russian by an adjective.
1. Analyze the following newspaper article by putting a circle round the correct word in brackets. The first one has been done for you.
Film review
When I first saw his work I thought David Lennox seemed a (promising / promised) young director. So I was (interesting / interested) to see his latest film "Vermilion". I was not (disappointed / disappointing). The story is very (exciting / excited) the special effects are (astonishing / astonished), and I was most (impressed / impressing) by the photography. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of "Tell me another, Freddie" Dash's latest film. Advertised as "an original comedy" it is neither original nor (amusing / amused). In fact, some jokes are so bad as to be almost (embarrassing / embarrassed). I was not (surprising / surprised) that most of the audience appeared totally (boring / bored) by the end, as the story is most (confusing / confused). I am sorry to say that it is a most (disappointing / disappointed) film.
2. Complete the sentences using one of the words in the box.
| Amusing / amused, confusing / confused, exhausting / ex- |
| hausted, annoying / annoyed, disgusting / disgusted, interest- |
| ing / interested, boring / bored, exciting / excited, surprising / |
| surprised |
1. He works very hard. It's not surprising that he is always tired.
2. I've got nothing to do. I'm ... .
3. The teacher's explanation was ... . Most of the students didn't understand it.
4. The kitchen hadn't been cleaned for ages. It was really ....
5. I seldom visit art galleries. I'm not particularly ... in art.
6. There's no need to get ... just because I'm few minutes late.
7. The lecture was ... I fell asleep.
8. I asked Emily if she wanted to come out with us but she wasn't ....
9. I've been working very hard all day and now I'm ... .
10. I'm starting a new job next week. I'm quite ... about it.
11. Tom is very good at telling funny stories. He can be very ....
12. Liz is a very ... person. She knows a lot, she has travelled a lot and she's done lots of different things.
3. Use participles given in brackets as predicative.
(Convincing, touching, disconcerting, demanding, encouraging, mocking, disappointing, terrifying, humiliating, exciting, fascinating, thrilling, disappointing, astonishing.) Translate the sentences into Russian.
1. He spoke of devotion to high ideals; he was in general quite ... and even ... .
2. That she could not remember the origin of her information was neither ... nor unusual.
3. Her gravity was not severe and ... like a schoolteacher's, but warm and ... as a mother's.
4. His voice was ..., and as always the cruelty stood only partially covered, waiting to announce itself.
5. Last night's concert was extremely ... .
6. The effect of his words was ... .
7. The tone in which she spoke with me was ... .
8. The film is ..., I advise you to see it.
9. The trip was very ... .
10. To listen to the story of his adventures was ... .
11. The story of his adventures was ... to listen to.
12. The weather the summer has been ....
13. It is ... to me that he should be absent.