Definition of Past Participle

There are several types of words: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, verbs, etc. Each of them has a specific function. Verbs are words that are used to express actions. The structure of verbs is complex and it is easy to make mistakes when handling them correctly. For this reason, it is useful explain the meaning and proper use of the different verb forms.

The past participle (also called the past participle) is one of the three non-personal forms of the verb: infinitive, gerund, and participle. The participle is used as a verb form that refers to an action that has already occurred and therefore belongs to the past, although it refers to a recent past and that is still related to the present: we achieved victory this morning, the year ended with good results. In these last two examples the action has already happened but in both cases they belong to a recent moment (the morning belongs to today and it is understood that the year has not ended yet).

The participle is the only non-personal form of the verb that has gender and number, not happening the same with the infinitive and the gerund. A few examples will clarify this peculiarity of the participle. In the infinitive the verb to finish is to finish (because the infinitive is the very name that designates the verb) and in the gerund the verb to finish is finishing. In participle the verb to finish is finished, but it can also be modified both in its gender ( male or feminine ) and its number ( singular or plural). Thus, the finished participle becomes finished or finished if the sentence requires it (the tasks have been finished).

One of the things that are difficult in relation to the past participle is that some of them are regular and others irregular. The regular participles are those that end with ado or gone (walked, gone) and the irregular ones are those that violate this rule. The participle of open is open, that of putting is put and that of saying is said. When a person is already an adult and has an acceptable level of culture, there is usually no confusion with regular and irregular forms and they are used with normal, although sometimes the speaker makes a mistake and makes a momentary lapse (in this case an error in the training of the participle would be to say she has decided me instead of she has told me). These types of errors are more typical of kids small, who have not yet studied verbal irregularities.