A: Why is the door closed?
B: I closed it because I was cold.
What are Participles?
There are two kinds of participles: past and present. Present participles are the ~ing form of a verb. Past participles end in ed except for irregular verbs:
| Verb | Present Participle | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy | enjoying | enjoyed |
| go | going | gone |
| work | working | worked |
| swim | swimming | swam |
| play | playing | played |
| try | trying | tried |
Of course, you are already very familiar with both present and past participles. We use present participles with continuous tenses and gerunds. Past participles are used in passive sentences and perfect tenses:
Present Participles
- Instead of using your car to drive to airport, why don't you take the bus?
- She's been controlling here for many years.
- What airspace are you watching?
- Please continue doing your work.
Past Participles
- These aircraft were built in Seattle.
- Have you ever tried navigating by NDB?
- The VOR hasn't been activated yet.
- When I got in the cockpit, my First Officer had already programmed the GPS.
Participles as Adjectives
Both present and past participles are also used as adjectives in English. You already know many adjectives that come from verbs:
I'm married.
The door is closed.
The flight was pretty boring.
The Flight Management System (FMS) is plugged in.
I'm freezing! Is the aircraft heat turned on?
The weather has been amazing for the last few days.
Present Participles
Adjectives that are present participles usually have an active meaning:
- What should you do about a bleeding nose? (a nose that is bleeding)
- The crying baby is giving me a headache. (the baby that is crying)
- Please pour the boiling water into the cups. (the water that is boiling)
Past Participles
Adjectives that are past participles usually have a passive meaning. The following sentences have largely the same meaning:
| Past Participles as Adjectives | Past Participles as Passive Verbs |
|---|---|
| The VHF radio is broken. | The VHF radio has been broken. |
| Phil and Brenda are married. | Phil and Brenda have been married. |
| The cockpit door is closed. | The cockpit door has been closed. |
| The IFR flight plan was already made when I got to the aircraft. | The IFR flight plan had already been made when I got to the aircraft. |
| My phone was fully charged when I left home this morning. | My phone had been fully charged when I left home this morning. |
Exceptions
Some past participle adjectives have an active meaning:
- I am finished.
- I have finished my flight plan.
- My toe is swollen.
- My toe has swollen.
- The controller is retired.
- The controller has retired.
- My IFR trainee is grown-up.
- My IFR trainee has grown up.
- DF (Direction Finding) is gone.
- DF has gone.
- The aircraft is stopped.
- The aircraft has stopped.
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.