Perfect Participles
A perfect participle is a participle that is used with an auxiliary verb to imply a special meaning. In this lesson, you will learn about perfect participle.
What Are Perfect Participles?
Perfect participles are a kind of participle that are used in combination with the verb 'have,' and imply a particular meaning.
Perfect participle is not technically a third type of participle. It is a grammatical phrase constructed by:
having + past participle.
Why Do We Use Perfect Participles?
Perfect participles are used to express actions or states that have just finished. They indicate that one action or event happened before another. Take a look at some examples:
Structure of Perfect Participle
To make a perfect participle, all you have to do is to use the present participle form of the verb 'have' followed by the past participle of the main verb. So, the perfect participle is made of present and past participles. For example:
Using Perfect Participles
Perfect participles are followed by another clause that expresses the result or action by using a verb in the past tense. Here are a few examples:
She cried,
Perfect Participles as Post-modifiers
Perfect participles can be placed after the subject of the clause and modify the subject. Check out these examples to learn more about them:
The girl
in this example, 'having cooked' is modifying 'the girl.'
The class
The Difference between Perfect Participles and Present Participles
Beside their structure and formation, perfect participles and present participles are used in different situations as well. We only use perfect participles when there is an action that has happened before another particular action in the main clause.
If the time of the earlier action is short or it nearly happens at the same time as the second action then we do not use perfect participles instead, we usually use present participle. For example:
down, he turned on the TV. →
well the other day, she could stay up till late at night. →
Negative Perfect Participles
To make a negative perfect participle, all you have to do is to add the adverb 'not' to the beginning of the perfect participle. Check out these examples for more clarification:
My sister left the country,
Perfect Participles as Since-Clauses
The past perfect in passive voice can also be used instead of a since-clause. Check out the example to help you learn them:
Passive Perfect Participles
The structure of a passive perfect participle is: having +
In this example, the police caught the thief as an earlier action.
Review
Perfect participle is a combination of the verb 'have' and the 'main verb'. The structure is as follows:
- having + past participle
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Contents
- What Are Perfect Participles?
- Why Do We Use Perfect Participles?
- Structure of Perfect Participle
- Using Perfect Participles
- Perfect Participles as Post-modifiers
- The Difference between Perfect Participles and Present Participles
- Negative Perfect Participles
- Perfect Participles as Since-Clauses
- Passive Perfect Participles
- Review