THE GRAMMAR PAGE
Using present
participles
(verb + “-ing”)
ADRIAN DOFF presents and explains this key
point of grammar with notes on a short dialogue.
MEDIUM PLUS
Explanations
- Participles can be used to describe people or things (= the
people who live across the road). - Here, the participle is used to give a reason (= because we
knew that...). - As in (1), the participle here describes something (= the
note that invited the neighbours). - Participles can also be used to talk about events that
happen at the same time (= they stood around, and they
chatted and drank wine). - Here, the participle is used in a time phrase with after
(= after they had stayed...). - Participles are often used after there is / are and there was /
were to describe a scene (= people were dancing).
Dialogue
Meg gave a party at the weekend. She’s telling her friend
John about it.
John: How was the party?
Meg: Oh, good fun — apart from the people living^1
across the road.
John: Why, what happened?
Meg: Well, knowing^2 that we’d probably make a lot of
noise, we sent a note to all the neighbours, invit-
ing^3 them to come to the party for a drink.
John: Good idea.
Meg: The people from across the road came over at
about nine o’clock, and they stood around, chat-
ting^4 and drinking^4 wine. Then, after staying^5 for
about an hour, they left. The party went on until
quite late. It wasn’t very noisy, but there were
people dancing^6 , and some people were sitting
outside chatting^7.
John: Sounds quite normal.
Meg: Yes, exactly. But around midnight, the police
arrived. They said the people from across the road
had complained about the noise.
John: What? Having come^8 to your party and drunk^8
your wine, they then complained to the police?
Meg: Yes. Not very friendly, was it?
Exercise
Add a participle from the list to each sentence (A–F) in
the correct place.
having | knowing | leaving | rising | saying | watching
A. I could see smoke from the building.
B. She listened in silence without a word.
C. Bought tickets in advance, we didn’t need to queue.
D. Not where he lives, I can’t just go and visit him.
E. He was sitting on the sofa, a film.
F. Before, I kissed her goodbye.
Answers
A.
I could see smok
e rising
from the building.
B.
She lis
tened in
silence without saying
a word.
C.
Ha
ving
bought
tickets in advance, we didn’t need to queue.
D.
Not
knowing
where he lives, I can’t just go and visit him.
E.
He w
as sitting
on the sofa, watching
a film.
F.^
Before
leaving
,
I kissed her goodbye.
Remember!
The present participle (verb + “-ing”) is often used:
...to describe people or things:
⋅ Who’s that man sitting in the corner?
...to describe a scene, after there is / are or there was / were:
⋅ There are lots of people sitting by the river.
...after the verbs see and hear:
⋅ I could hear dogs barking in the distance.
...to talk about two actions happening at the same time:
⋅ I was sitting in the garden, reading a book.
...to describe the reason for an action:
⋅ Knowing I’d be late, I decided to take a taxi.
...in time expressions, following after, before, when and while:
⋅ Before crossing the road, you should look both ways.
Beyond the basics
To talk about an action that happened earlier, you can use the
perfect participle (“having” + past participle):
⋅ Having finished my homework, I went out.
⋅ Having studied physics at university, I knew that what he
was saying was wrong.
50 Spotlight 10/2019 THE GRAMMAR PAGE
- As in (4), this participle describes events that happen at the
same time (= they were sitting and chatting). - Here, the participle describes actions that had taken place
earlier (= before the neighbours complained, they had come
to the party and drunk wine). This is formed with “having”- past participle.