In the sentence While driving through the park, we saw two deer, the words while driving through the park constitute an elliptical clause. They are short for while we were driving through the park, in which the present participle driving is the participial component of a present progressive finite verb. The analysis of expressions like before closing the door or after leaving the party is more difficult it is undertaken on Flashcard 23.
* * * * *
Not every past participle is passive. A few intransitive verbs have past participles, and since intransitive verbs have no voice, their past participles are, strictly speaking, neither active nor passive. They resemble passive participles in form and active participles in meaning: gone, grown, fallen, risen, and slept. We can say that someone is gone for the day or slept out. A middle-aged couple may have several grown children. Christians speak of fallen sinners and a risen Lord.
All true passive-voice forms have a functioning past participle as a component. A static (or false) passive, on the other hand, includes a past participle that functions as a simple adjective. Notice the use of the word closed in the following sentences: 1) "At the beginning of the period, the classroom door is closed by the teache," 2) "The door is closed until the end of the period." The first closed is a true participle, part of the present passive is closed. The second closed is a predicate adjective after the linking verb is. It is important to keep in mind that in the passive voice something is happening. Nothing is happening in the sentence "The door is closed until the end of the period."
* * * * *
Participles are sometimes used as nouns: "The injured and the dying were placed on stretchers and rushed to field hospitals." Injured is a past participle and dying is a present participle. Both are used here as nouns.
* * * * *
In expressions like fishing pole and batting helmet, fishing and batting are not participles; if they were, the poles would be fishing and the helmets would be batting. It is best to think of these words, which are actually gerunds used as adjectives, as simple adjectives. Similarly, hunting and drinking are gerunds used as adjectives in the expressions hunting license and drinking fountain. Some words that look like present participles are actually prepositions or regular adjectives. For example, while loved, mitigated, rewarding, and fulfilling are participles, unloved, unmitigated, unrewarding, and unfulfilling are not. Some words ending in -ed are formed from nouns and not verbs (e.g., diseased, talented, cultured); such words often look like participles, but they are simply adjectives. Concerning and regarding, which can be used as participles (e.g., "Regarding his job as untouchable and all others as expendable, the CEO announced today that another 1000 jobs would be eliminated"), are often used as prepositions (e.g., "The CEO refused to disclose details regarding the massive job cuts").
As you make your way through these flashcards, you may wish to refer to a section of my website that deals with terminology, www.german-latin-english.com/diagrammingterms.htm.
Wounded and dying are present participles used as nouns. Closed, which in a sentence like "The barn door was closed every evening by one of the farm hands" is the participial component of a finite verb in the passive voice, is a simple adjective here. A sentence cannot be passive if nothing is happening. The clause introduced by the expletive that is a noun clause.
ERM