Thabo
Community-Tutor
The Present Particle Tense is one of the tenses that confuses many students. It's the source of confusion for many english learners and I just want to share a brief on what it is... have a read. The present participle is formed by adding the suffix "-ing" to the base form of the verb. For example: Base form: walk Present participle: walking Here are some more examples: Base form: talk Present participle: talking Base form: read Present participle: reading Base form: swim Present participle: swimming The present participle can function in various ways within a sentence: As part of the continuous tenses: It is used in combination with auxiliary verbs "am," "is," "are," "was," or "were" to create continuous tenses. For example: She is studying for her exams. (present continuous) They were playing soccer in the park. (past continuous) As an adjective: The present participle can function as an adjective to describe ongoing characteristics or qualities. For example: The running water is refreshing. (describes the water) The smiling child waved at me. (describes the child) In gerund phrases: Present participles are used as gerunds when they act as nouns in sentences. For example: Swimming is good exercise. (gerund functioning as a subject) I enjoy reading books. (gerund functioning as an object) It's important to note that the present participle can sometimes cause confusion when used as a standalone verb. In such cases, context is crucial to understanding its function in the sentence. At the end of the day, the English langauge has so many exceptions which is why it is important to be familiar with the basic rules.
24. Juli 2023 09:07