Past Participles as Adjectives

Past Participles as Adjectives

How can we turn verbs into adjectives?

But before we start...

Do you remember the class rules?

So, What's a Past Particple anyway?

• It's basically the fancy name of "Verb 3," the one we use mostly for perfect tenses.

• kick -> kicked

• write -> written

• catch -> caught

• eat -> eaten

• Most verbs only need -ed to become past participles, but irregular verbs will need to be spelled differently.

Past Participles as Verbs

• bring -> I have brought food for all of us.

• written -> I had written several news articles before I switched jobs.

• finish -> He will have finished breakfast by the time his mom arrives.

• read -> She has read all of the Harry Potter books in just a month.

• break -> They had accidentally broken their friend's cellphone.

• As you can see past participles are used as verbs in perfect tense--present prefect, past perfect and future perfect.

Past Participles as Adjectives

• Past participles can function as either verbs or adjectives.

• burn -> For some reason, Mom only gave me burnt toast for breakfast.

• bore -> Bored hamsters can sometimes become aggressive.

• embarrass -> John was really embarrassed when he tripped on stage.

• write -> Sometimes, learning from written works is easier than learning in class.

• When we use past participles as adjectives, we can use any tense we want.

Verbs VS Adjectives

• Verbs are used to talk about actions.

• Adjectives describe and add details to nouns, making them easier to understand or imagine.

• I have grown flowers a few times. -> Fully grown roses usually have a nice scent.

• In the future, humans will have driven flying cars. -> He is quite a driven individual, as he is always working or studying.

• Mimi has torn the sofa's fabric a few times. -> I still keep my old, torn clothes because they're still comfortable to wear.

Time for a quiz!

Would you like to ask anything before we start?

Multiple Choice

Which sentence uses the past participle as an adjective?

• I boiled some eggs this morning.

• My breakfast was rice with boiled eggs.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence uses the past participle as a verb?

• Some thrown boomerangs can turn around in the air.

• Andrew has thrown a lot of baseballs.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence uses the past participle as an adjective?

• The police found around a dozen stolen paintings.

• Someone had stolen a great number of expensive artworks from the museum!

Multiple Choice

Which sentence uses the past participle as an adjective?

• Maybe one day we'll get lucky and find some lost treasure!

• By the end of the month, I guarantee he will have lost his cellphone.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence uses the past participle as a verb?

• Dmitri actually prefers frozen pizzas over freshly cooked ones.

• We had frozen the vegetables yet they still ended up rotten.

Multiple Choice

Is the past participle in the following sentence a verb or an adjective?

"One day, I will find all of the world's forgotten civilizations!"

• Verb

• Adjective

Multiple Choice

Is the past participle in the following sentence a verb or an adjective?

"Is it possible to salvage a sunk ship?"

• Verb

• Adjective

Multiple Choice

Is the past participle in the following sentence a verb or an adjective?

"Your school should have taught you the basics of grammar."

• Verb

• Adjective

Multiple Choice

Is the past participle in the following sentence a verb or an adjective?

"Hambo had dug a hole in his cage once, thought he never tried escaping through it."

• Verb

• Adjective

Multiple Choice

Is the past participle in the following sentence a verb or an adjective?

"There are lot of collapsed houses because of the recent earthquake."

• Verb

• Adjective

Open Ended

Write 3 sentences that use past participles as adjectives!

You can write in any tense, but you will need to use different past participles for each.

Open Ended

BONUS: Can you write a perfect tense sentence that also uses the past participle as an adjective?

Well that's all for today?

What do you think of this lesson?

Have you understood how to use past participles as adjectives?