Focus on Grammar. Present Participle (I) - ing

Participle

Present Participle (I) - ing

Active Passive

Simple giving being given

Perfect having given having been given

 

Past Participle (II) -ed (III form of irregular verbs)

open - opened give - given

 

Past Participle always has a passive meaning.

1. Present Participles can be used as adjectives to describe an action which is still happening.

They watched the burning forest. Они наблюдали за горящим лесом.

На русский язык переводится причастием, деепричастием, определительным или обстоятельственным придаточным предложением.

2. Past Participles can be used as adjectives to describe the result of an action that has happened.

Тhe completed work was given to the teacher. Завершенная работа была передана преподавателю.

Обычно переводится причастием прошедшего времени или страдательным причастием.

3. Participles are often used in participle clauses to describe two actions that happen

a) at the same time: She sat by the fire reading a book.

He went to the party very well dressed.

b) one after another: Opening the bag she took out a purse.

Caught by the boy, the bird tried to fly away.

c) two actions that happen one because of another:

Not knowing what to do I just waited.

4. The subject of a participle need not be the same as the subject of the following verb, but in this case the participle must follow its noun/pronoun. This construction is not connected with the subject of a sentence and has the function of an adverbial modifier:

The day being fine, we decided to go swimming.

Так как день был прекрасным, мы решили искупаться.

Pure iron ranks ninth among the metals in degree of malleability, gold being the most malleable metal known.

По степени ковкости железо занимает девятое место среди металлов, причем золото является самым ковким из известных металлов.

 

Эти обороты называются независимыми причастными оборотами и переводятся на русский язык придаточными предложениями времени, причины, уступительными, условными с соответствующими союзами. Иногда могут переводиться самостоятельными предложениями с сочинительными союзами причем, а, и и т.д. При этом всегда необходимо помнить о контексте и общем смысле высказывания.

Exercise 1. Use simple or perfect forms of Present Participle.

 

1. She was sitting in the arm-chair, (to look) through a newspaper. 2. (To get) a letter from an unknown lady, I decided to invite her for a lunch. 3. (To enter) the room he suddenly saw that there were several unknown people in it. 4. Mother stood (to wave) her hand until we drove away. 5. Every day I see them (to pass) the house. 6. Romeo (to believe) that Julia was dead, decided to kill himself. 7. (To be) there twice, she decided to spend her vacation somewhere else. 8. She entered the hall (to accompany) by her mother. 9. (To warn) she decided not to take the risk and stayed at home. 10. Sam, (to feel) that the interview was over, stood up.

 

 

Exercise 2. Use the present or past participle.

 

1. They watched the (to burn) forest helplessly. 2. The (to complete) letter was in front of him, but he was (to hesitate) to post it. 3. (To have) a shower, she got dressed. 4. He went to visit his aunt (to dress) as a real gentleman. 5. She gave me a drink (to make) of five different fruits. 6. (To advise) to give up work for a while, he undertook a trip to Europe. 7. During the flight I was (to read) a book. 8. He was (to dress) in a blue cotton shirt and a pair of grey trousers, (to spot) with vegetable oil.

 

 

Exercise 3. In the following pairs of sentences, the same verb is missing

twice, once used as a present participle and once as a past

participle. Insert the verbs in their correct forms.

 

1. I fell on ice,... my arm. Three people,... in an accident, were taken to hospital. (to hurt)

2. The film,... by Stephen Spielberg, is expected to be a great hit. They... beautiful silverware in Sheffield. (to make)

3. I looked at her,... her youth and beauty. This actress, though... by everybody, is very shy and modest. (to admire)

4. He walked down the road,... a song. This song is usually... by him at the beginning of a concert. (to sing)

5. Books... out of the library must be returned within 10 days.... a book from the shelf she didn’t notice that it missed several pages. (to take).

Exercise 4. Participle clauses can express the following ideas:

at the same time; because; after; if; with the result that

Which of the above ideas do the following participle clauses express?

 

1. Kissing her mother goodbye, she went off to the station. 2. Knowing how much I liked this book, she presented me with it. 3. Awakened early, he had enough time to pack. 4. Having read the book, I went to bed. 5. Having read the book, I knew all about the subject. 6. He left the house saying he would be back by dinner. 7. Taken in three times a day, this medicine will help you in a week. 8. Having spent all our money in the restaurant, we went home.

Exercice 5. Translate into Russian, paying attention to the use of the participles.

 

1. Alloy is a material consisting of two or more elements. 2. A series of alloys known as aluminium bronzes posess high strength. 3. If worked beyond certain limits, the metal will become very brittle. 4. Depending upon the kind of metal and the final shape desired, one or more rolling operations may be possible. 5. The speed-range depends on the kind of speed-change mechanism used. 6. Engineers of the company designed a press line, believed to be the first of its kind in Britain. 7. Machines and machine products have made possible a standard of living unsurpassed in history. 8. Owing to these methods it has become possible to obtain new mechanical properties of the alloy. 9. The tin strengthens and hardens copper, making it hard and resistant to wear. 10. Iron oxide is the major problem when forging steel. 11. When broken, the material has a black, silken fracture. 12. A piece of steel heated to a bright cherry red and suddenly chilled becomes extremely hard. 13. Manganese, phosphorus, sulphur and silicon are the elements separately and distinctly acting on physical properties of steel. 14. Having found out how to separate the mixture into its components, we understood that we could finish our experiment successfully. 15. Iron and sulphur being ground together, a greenish-black powder is obtained. 16. The atoms in diamond being closer to each other than in graphite, this substance is very hard.

 

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