Present Participles / Past Participles Used as Adjectives｜Expressions That Modify Nouns to Indicate State or Quality

Participles in English (present participle -ing / past participle -ed) are derived from verbs but function like adjectives to modify nouns.

By understanding this usage, I can more concretely describe “what kind of person” or “what kind of thing” I am talking about. This greatly expands my ability to express myself in English.

In this lesson, I will explain in detail how present and past participles are used adjectivally, along with example sentences.

1. The Adjectival Use of Present Participles

A present participle (-ing form) modifies a noun to indicate an active meaning such as “doing” or “causing.”

1-1. Describing an Ongoing Action

The key point is that the action is being described directly, as in “in the middle of doing.”

1-2. Expressing Qualities or Characteristics

In this case, the participle expresses a quality that affects people.

1-3. Usage in Sentences

Phrases like “standing at the door” or “talking to Tom” describe “the girl” or “the man.”

2. The Adjectival Use of Past Participles

A past participle (-ed form) modifies a noun to indicate a passive meaning such as “done” or “being in a state after an action.”

2-1. Expressing a State

These express a state resulting from an external action.

2-2. Expressing Emotions

With emotions, the past participle refers to “the person who has the feeling.”

2-3. Usage in Sentences

Here, the nouns are described as having “received an action.”

3. The Difference Between Present and Past Participles

Even though they come from the same verb, present and past participles often carry very different meanings.

3-1. interesting / interested

3-2. tiring / tired

3-3. exciting / excited

4. Summary

Izumi

Author

「English Morning｜基礎から学ぶ英語講座」を運営している泉（Izumi）です。このサイトでは基礎から応用まで、英語の文法を解説しています。