English Past Participle – Eduma English

Summary

The past participle is a verb form used to create perfect tenses and passive voice constructions. It can also function as an adjective to describe a completed action or state. Regular past participles end in “-ed” but there are many irregular forms such as “been,” “gone,” “seen,” “done” and “written.”

In-depth Explanation

How to Form the Past Participle

Regular Verbs

For regular verbs, the past participle is formed by adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb.

Base form: talk
Past participle: talked
Example: I’ve talked to my boss about a promotion.

Here are some more examples:

Verb	Past Participle	Example
walk	walked	We’ve walked a lot on our trip.
ask	asked	She’s asked for directions.
call	called	He’s called you twice.
start	started	The engine has been started.
clean	cleaned	The room has been cleaned.
play	played	The team has played well.
visit	visited	My parents have visited me many times.
dance	danced	Have you ever danced all night?

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow a set pattern, and their past participles must be memorized. Here are some common examples:

Verb	Past Participle	Example
be	been	We’ve been to Paris twice.
go	gone	I’ve gone to the store.
do	done	The cake is done.
eat	eaten	She’s eaten lunch already.
see	seen	The movie was seen by millions of people.
think	thought	I’ve thought about moving abroad.
know	known	We’ve known each other for ten years.
take	taken	The money was taken from my wallet.

How to Use the Past Participle

To Form Perfect Tenses

The past participle is used with the auxiliary verb “to have” (has, have, had, will have) to form the perfect tenses.

Present perfect tense: Used to describe an action that has been completed at the present moment.

I have finished my homework.

Past perfect tense: Used to describe an action that was completed before another past action.

She had left before we arrived.

Future perfect tense: Used to describe an action that will be completed before a specific future time.

They will have completed the project by next week.

To Form the Passive Voice

The past participle is used with forms of the verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, will be) to create passive constructions, which shift the focus from the subject performing the action to the subject receiving the action.

The book was written by a Spanish author.

The new policy will be announced by the company.

As an Adjective

The past participle can also function as an adjective, describing a noun.

The broken window needs to be fixed.

The excited children waited for the party to begin.

To Form Participle Phrases

A participle phrase begins with a past participle and functions as an adjective, providing additional information about a noun. These phrases are often used to add detail or context to a sentence.

Confused by the instructions, he asked for help.

We stayed in a cabin built in the 1800s.