Verb Forms and Verb Tenses (#10): Past Participles English verbs have five basic forms: the

base, - S, -ing, past, and past participle forms. The past participles for regular verbs are the same as their past forms (look-looked-looked and study-studied-studied), for example. For irregular verbs, the past and past participle forms are different (for example, be- was/were-been and go-went-gone). The past participle is commonly used in several situations:
1. Past participles are used as part of the present and past perfect tenses (both "regular" and continuous). The non-continuous present perfect tense uses has or have + the past participle; the present perfect continuous tense uses has or have + been (the past participle of BE) + the - ing form of the main verb. Examples: He has (He's) taken a vacation. / He has (He's) been taking a vacation. I have (I've) taken my medicine. I have (I've) been taking that medicine for three days. The non-continuous past perfect tense uses had + the past participle; the past perfect continuous tense uses had + been + the - ing form of the main verb. Examples: She had (She'd) lived here for 10 years when I met her. She had (She'd) been living here for 10 years when I met her. He had (He'd) waited a long time before he left. He had (He'd) been waiting a long time before he left.

2.

Past participles are also used to make one of the past forms for the modal verbs (modal auxiliaries). These forms use a modal + have + the past participle. Examples: could have gone may have been should have known might have seen would have written must have forgotten Another use for past participles is as participial adjectives (verb forms used as adjectives). Participial adjectives may be used both singly and in phrases. Examples: We were bored / excited / interested. We were bored with / excited about / interested in the movie. It's broken / gone / done. It's broken into two pieces / gone from where I usually put it / done by machine, not by hand. Abandoned, he didn't know what to do. Abandoned by everyone he had considered to be his friends, he didn't know what to do.

3.

4.

One more use of past participles is in making the past form of infinitives (to + the base form). Examples: to be / to have been; to live / to have lived; to go / to have gone; to have / to have had.

___________________________________________

Special Notes:
1. In the "modal perfect" tenses, the modal auxiliary and have are usually contracted in spoken English (though this is not as common in written English): could have --> could've; may have --> may've; might have --> might've; must have --> must've; should have --> should've; would have --> would've When 've is spoken quickly in casual conversation, the sound changes to something like "a" (the second vowel sound in "sofa"). The common word "of" is pronounced the same way in quick, casual speech. Because of this, people sometimes write wrong forms such as *could of, *may of, *might of, etc. 2. Both - ing forms (present participles) and past participles are used as adjectives (for example, boring / bored and exciting / excited), butthe meanings are not the same: He's boring = He bores someone. He's bored = Something (or someone) bores him. They're exciting = They excite someone. They're excited = Something (someone) excites him. 3. The past infinitive is not very common except in very formal writing or when it is important to show two different times: Tennyson: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all." (This is formal language. Also, the poet makes a contrast between now-"'Tis better" [It is better]--and the past--"to have loved and lost" [loving and losing were in the past].) I'm sorry to disappoint you. / I'm sorry to have disappointed you. (In the first sentence, "be sorry" and "disappoint" are both present, but in the second sentence "be sorry" is present and "disappoint" is past.)