Time Out for Present Participles

In one respect, present participles are pretty simple, straightforward constructions. Whether laughing or crying, they're formed by adding -ing to the base form of a verb. No exceptions. Present participles, you see, are the only verb forms in English that are completely regular.

But after that, things get a bit more complicated.

For one thing, there's that misleading word present. In some cases, the present participle (in this example, rising) does seem to indicate present time:

She looks at the rising sun.

But when the tense of the main verb changes to the simple past, the time of the "present" participle at least seems to change right along with it:

She looked at the rising sun.

And when the main verb is in the future tense, the "present" participle again tags along:

She will look at the rising sun.

So one thing to keep in mind is that the present participle really doesn't keep time at all. That job is reserved for the main verb.

By now you've probably noticed another peculiarity of the present participle. Though it's constructed by adding -ing to a verb, it often works like an adjective. In our examples, the present participle rising modifies the noun sun.

But that's not always the case.

Consider how the -ing words are used in this quotation, variously attributed to Confucius, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vince Lombardi, and American Idol veteran Clay Aiken:

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.

Both falling and rising function here as nouns--specifically, as objects of the preposition in. When a verb plus -ing does the job of a noun, it's no longer called a present participle. Suddenly it's a gerund. (I prefer to think of it as a verbal with a multiple personality disorder.)

Then again, when a present participle is combined with a form of the auxiliary verb to be, it functions as a verb:

The price of oil is rising.

This construction is called the present progressive tense.

But that's enough about participles, gerunds, and progressives--at least for the present. If you're interested in learning more, please visit these pages:

• Identifying Verbals
• Creating and Arranging Participial Phrases
• What Is the Difference Between the Present Progressive and the Present Participle?