Whats a Participle: Present vs Past Participles Explained

Running, Broken, Playing — What Are Participles?

Look at these sentences. The blue words are all participles:

• The crying baby needs milk.
• She is reading a book right now.
• The broken window let cold air in.
• He has finished his homework.

Did you see? Some end in -ing and some end in -ed or have a special form. These are the two types of participles. Do not worry — they are easier than they sound.

Two Types: Present Participle and Past Participle

1. Present participle = verb + -ing

You make it by adding -ing to the verb. Every verb follows this rule — no exceptions.

• walk → walking
• eat → eating
• run → running
• think → thinking

2. Past participle = verb + -ed (or a special form)

For regular verbs, add -ed. For irregular verbs, you need to learn the special form (the “third form” of the verb).

• play → played (regular — just add -ed)
• cook → cooked (regular)
• break → broken (irregular — special form)
• eat → eaten (irregular — special form)

Easy way to remember: If the word ends in -ing, it is always a present participle. If it ends in -ed or is a special third form (like written, spoken, gone), it is a past participle.

How Participles Work in Everyday English

Participles do two jobs. They can describe a noun (like an adjective) or help build a verb tense (with a helping word like is, was, have, or had).

As a describing word:

• Look at the sleeping cat. (present participle — the cat is sleeping now)
• I picked up the broken glass. (past participle — someone broke the glass before)

As part of a verb tense:

• She is cooking dinner. (present participle + “is” = present continuous tense)
• They were laughing at the joke. (present participle + “were” = past continuous tense)
• I have finished my work. (past participle + “have” = present perfect tense)
• The door was locked. (past participle + “was” = passive voice)

You are doing great. Now let’s look at the mistakes many learners make.

Three Common Mistakes With Participles

Even intermediate learners mix these up sometimes — so if you get confused, you are not alone.

Mistake 1: Using the present participle when you need the past participle (or the other way around)

How to remember: After have, has, or had, always use the past participle. After is, am, are, was, or were (when you mean “right now”), use the present participle (-ing).

Mistake 2: Adding -ed to irregular verbs

How to remember: Irregular verbs have special past participle forms. Common ones to learn: break → broken, write → written, eat → eaten, speak → spoken, take → taken.

Mistake 3: Confusing the adjective feeling

How to remember: The -ing form describes the thing that causes the feeling. The -ed form describes the person who feels it. The movie is boring (it causes boredom). You are bored (you feel the boredom).

Test Yourself: Present or Past Participle?

Choose the correct answer for each sentence. Click Check to see if you are right.

Keep Going — You Are Building Something

You just learned how participles work. That is one more grammar skill you will never get confused by again.

Now you know that past participles go with have, has, and had. But do you know what tense that makes? It is called the present perfect tense, and it is one of the most useful — and most misunderstood — tenses in English. When do you use I have eaten instead of I ate?

Next lesson: Understanding the Present Perfect Tense: Usage and Examples