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101
taking
mentioning
teaching
holding
- being taken
- being mentioned
- being taught
- being held
- taken
- mentioned
- taught
- held
According to the syntactical function of participle I and the aspectual character of the verb, non-perfect
participle I passive may denote process, as in:
Have you heard anything of the conference being held at the University? (of the conference which is
being held at the University)
The phrase The conference held at the University is ambiguous, because it might be understood as The
conference that has been held or -was held or is being held.
Syntactical functions of participle I
§ 131. Participle I performs the syntactical functions characteristic of the adjective and the adverb, and can
therefore be used as attribute, predicative, or as adverbial modifier.
It may be used (a) alone or (b) as headword of a participial phrase, or else (c) as part of a predicative
construction:
a) Let sleeping dogs lie.
He drank his coffee standing.
b) There are some other people waiting for you.
The youth looked at him curiously, never having seen a Forsyte with a beard.
c) We found him working in the garden.
Participle I as attribute
§ 132. This function is peculiar to non-perfect participle I in its main sense, that of a process simultaneous
with the action denoted by the main verb or with the moment of speech. It corresponds to the Russian
imperfective participle, usually active: leading - ведущий, asking - спрашивающий, sleeping - спящий. The
passive participle I corresponds to the Russian imperfective passive participle: being asked - спрашиваемый,
being translated -переводимый, being built - строящийся.
When a participial phrase is used as attribute it follows the modified noun. Its verbal character is evident
from its verbal combinability and sometimes from the passive form itself. A participial phrase may be (a) non-
detached or (b) detached:
a) We went along the street leading to the seashore.
Emma sat in the armchair facing the door.
Another factor concerns the formality of the language being taught.
b) Once a month Tommy, arriving separately, came in for a brief drink.
A detached participial phrase is set off from the modified noun by a comma (or commas) in writing and by a
pause (or pauses) in speech.
When a single participle is used as attribute, it generally functions as a premodifier. Here we usually find
only participle I active of intransitive verbs. Its verbal character is clear from the processual meaning of the
verb itself: living people, a sleeping dog.
Participle I as a premodifying attribute differs from the gerund in the same function. The noun serves as the
subject of the action expressed by the participle, as in a living man = a man who lives, a burning house = a