Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics
participle [Lat. particeps ‘having a share in, participating’]
Non-finite verb form, in English the present participle and past participle: doing vs done. Participles have properties of both nouns and verbs. In keeping with their verbal character, participles govern objects and give temporal and aspectual information (
tense, aspect).
The present participle designates the course of a process, while the past participle describes its result or effect(s). In addition, participles serve to form compound tenses (He has come, He was coming); the past participle is also used in forming passives (The book was written). Nominal features are: (a) it can be declined as an adjective in some languages; (b) it forms antonyms, e.g. fitting vs unfitting, satisfied vs dissatisfied; (c) it forms compounds, such as farreaching, near-sighted; (d) it can be used both attributively and predicatively, e.g. a much-read book vs The book is much read; (e) it is used in forming gerunds, e.g. reading books is good for you.
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