Unit 04: Participles and Participle Clauses – Chapter 1: Grammar Practice – Starter TOEIC – Third Edition – Building TOEIC Test-taking Skills – Anne Taylor – Casey Malarcher

🎯Target:

👉 Participle adjectives ending in -ING used with agents.
👉 Participle adjectives ending in -ED used with nouns other than agents.
👉 The correct use of a participle in participle clauses.

Forms of Participles: -ing and -ed

A. If the participle of a noun is the agent (doing the action of the participle), choose an -ing form.
When the noun plays the role of the agent performing the action, use the -ing form to describe it.
Example: The game tired the players.
the tiring game (agent – the game causing tiredness).
=> Here, “the game” is the agent of the action “tired” (caused tiredness). Since the game is the cause of the action, we use tiring to describe it.

B. If the participle is NOT the agent, choose an -ed form (receives the action of the participle).
When the noun is not the agent performing the action but instead the receiver of the action, use the -ed form to describe it.
Example: The game tired the players.
the tired players (not agent – the players who became tired).
=> Here, “the players” are not the agent performing the action “tired” but are the ones affected by it. Therefore, we use tired to describe their state.

Participle Clauses

A. An -ing form can be used when two things occur at the same time.
The -ing form (present participle) is used to indicate that two actions occur simultaneously. The participle appears in the subordinate clause to clarify the time relationship with the main clause.
Example: He suddenly went out shouting.
=> The action “shouting” happens at the same time as “went out.”

B. An -ing form can be used when one action occurs during another ongoing action.
The -ing form is used to describe a secondary action that happens within the time frame of the main action.
Example: She hurt herself cooking dinner.
=> The action “cooking dinner” happens simultaneously or during the time “hurt herself.”

C. An -ing clause can be an explanation of the following main clause.
(When the subordinate clause explains the reason or state of the main clause, the -ing clause can be used to provide an explanation or reason for the action in the main clause.)
Example: Feeling tired, he went to bed earlier.
=> “Feeling tired” explains why he went to bed earlier.

Choice Between -ing and -ed in Participle Clauses

A. Use an -ing form when the original verb is intransitive.
Intransitive verbs are those that do not require an object. When using the present participle (-ing form) for intransitive verbs, it typically describes the action or state of the subject in the sentence.
Example: Walking along the street, Tom ran into one of his old friends.
=> Here, “walking” is an intransitive action that does not need an object and describes what Tom was doing.

B. Use an -ing form when the original verb is transitive and when its object comes after it.
Transitive verbs require an object. When using the -ing form, it often describes an action that the subject performs either before or at the same time as the action in the main clause.
Example: Facing a police officer, he chose to run away.
=> Here, “facing” is a transitive verb (requiring the object “a police officer”), and this action explains the situation of the subject “he.”

C. Use an -ed form when the object of its original verb serves as the subject of the main clause.
The -ed form (past participle) is used when the object of the verb in the subordinate clause becomes the subject in the main clause. This form typically indicates the state or position of the subject.
Example: Located on a hill, the hotel commands a fine view.
=> Here, “located” describes the state or position of “the hotel,” which is the subject of the main clause.