Participial Adjectives 2 -ed / -ing
Ongoing versus Completed States
A participial adjective modifies a noun and may indicate:
an ongoing process
a completed process
Ongoing vs. Completed
| PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE – ONGOING QUALITY OR STATE | PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE – COMPLETED STATE |
|---|---|
An ongoing state – The present participle serves as an adjective formed from an active verb. |
A completed state – The past participle serves as an adjective formed from the passive form of the verb. |
|
|
Growing children need a lot
of food. |
Grown children often move
out of the house. |
Breaking dishes and shouts could be heard in the kitchen. |
Broken dishes were all over the floor. |
Falling trees are a danger to hikers. |
Fallen trees littered the forest floor. |
Frying potatoes smell delicious. |
Fried potatoes would taste good right now. |
Watch out for falling rocks along the road |
Watch out for fallen rocks along the road |
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Present Participial Adjectives
Present participial adjectives can be used to describe an ongoing quality as well as the function of a noun.
| PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE – ONGOING QUALITY OR STATE | PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE – FUNCTION |
|---|---|
Describe something still undergoing a process or activity. |
Describes the function of something. |
We have a talking parrot (a parrot that talks.) |
We have a talking machine. (a device for talking, a text reader) |
Don't awaken a sleeping dog. (a dog that is sleeping) |
Don't forget your sleeping bag. (a bag for sleeping) |
Look! It's a shooting star. ( a star that is shooting across the sky) |
He practices his rifle skills at the shooting range. (an area for target practice) |
It's a slow-moving train. (a train that is moving slowly) |
It's a moving van. (a truck for transporting households) |
A hiking party was seen to the north of the volcano. (a group that is hiking) |
Mr Hanson was wearing his hiking shoes (shoes that are for trekking.) |
The waiting parents were very worried. (parents that are waiting) |
The doctor's waiting room was brightly decorated. (a room for waiting) |
Past Participial Adjectives
| PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE – COMPLETED STATES | PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE –NATURAL QUALITY OR STATE |
|---|---|
Describes a quality or state completed by someone. |
Describes a natural quality or state (no agent). |
The recently spotted owl was making a nest. (an owl seen or located by someone) |
We saw a spotted owl making a nest. (an owl with natural coloring including spots) |
The black-eyed boxer walked into the ring. (an eye that was harmed by another fighter) |
The black-eyed terrier walked into the ring. (a dog with naturally black eyes) |
We made the pie with pitted cherries. (pits that were removed by us) |
We made the sculpture from pitted wood. (wood with natural scars) |
The freshly-washed dog sat in the sun. (a dog that was washed by someone) |
The short-haired dog sat in the sun. (a dog with naturally short hair) |
Would you like some frozen yogurt. (yogurt that was frozen by someone) |
Would you like to visit the frozen Antarctic tundra? (a region that is permanently frozen) |
She wore a shirt with rolled-up sleeves. (sleeves that were rolled up by someone) |
She wore a long-sleeved shirt. (a shirt with long-sleeves) |
Commonly Confused (by native speakers)
| PITTED OLIVES | OLIVES |
|---|---|
These olives have no pits. |
These olives have pits. |
Pitted olives are those which have had the pit removed by someone. |
While olives could be described as 'pitted olives' – a natural quality or state of having pits – more often they are just called 'olives'. The modifier is unnecessary: Does a naturally grown olive without a pit exist? Because of the confusion, some speakers clarify the terms as 'olives with pits' or 'olives without pits'. |
Practice
Ongoing or Completed?
- Choose the correct participial adjective for the context of the sentence.
- Select each button to reveal feedback about the selection.
- * indicates an incorrect answer.