PARTICIPLES.

Definition.

263. Participles are adjectival verbals; that is, they either belong to some substantive by expressing action in connection with it, or they express action, and directly modify a substantive, thus having a descriptive force. Notice these functions.

Pure participle in function.

1. At length, wearied by his cries and agitations, and not knowing how to put an end to them, he addressed the animal as if he had been a rational being.—Dwight.

Here wearied and knowing belong to the subject he, and express action in connection with it, but do not describe.

Express action and also describe.

2. Another name glided into her petition—it was that of the wounded Christian, whom fate had placed in the hands of bloodthirsty men, his avowed enemies.—Scott.

Here wounded and avowed are participles, but are used with the same adjectival force that bloodthirsty is (see Sec. 143, 4).

Participial adjectives have been discussed in Sec. 143 (4), but we give further examples for the sake of comparison and distinction.

Fossil participles as adjectives.

3. As learned a man may live in a cottage or a college commmon-room.—Thackeray

4. Not merely to the soldier are these campaigns interesting —Bayne.

5. How charming is divine philosophy!—Milton.

Forms of the participle.

264. Participles, in expressing action, may be active or passive, incomplete (or imperfect), complete (perfect or past), and perfect definite.

They cannot be divided into tenses (present, past, etc.), because they have no tense of their own, but derive their tense from the verb on which they depend; for example,—

1. He walked conscientiously through the services of the day, fulfilling every section the minutest, etc.—De Quincey.

Fulfilling has the form to denote continuance, but depends on the verb walked, which is past tense.

2.

Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,
Comes dancing from the East.
—Milton.

Dancing here depends on a verb in the present tense.

265. PARTICIPLES OF THE VERB CHOOSE.

ACTIVE VOICE.
Imperfect.Choosing.
Perfect.Having chosen.
Perfect definite.Having been choosing.
PASSIVE VOICE.
Imperfect.None
Perfect.Chosen, being chosen, having been chosen.
Perfect definite.None.