Nice question! A participial construction means that we have an adjective phrase modifying a noun. So let's break down your example. Earlier today, IGY Corporation released a ______ confirming its plans for expansion in South America. What is the noun? It's "statement". It can't be stated or stating, because these are both verb (present participles). It can't be state either. State is a noun, but it doesn't make sense in this context. A state is not a statement, look up the words in a dictionary if this isn't clear. What is the adjective phrase? It's "confirming its plans for expansion in South America." This phrase describes the "statement". Note that both "opened" and "confirming" are both participles. Opened is a past participle, confirming is a present participle. They use "opened" because the restaurant was opened in the past, it is not currently opening. Maybe I can make this clear that there are different kinds of participial constructions with examples, some which have past participles, some which have present participles. N: noun, P: participle, A:adjective phrase "Having been on the road for more than 4 days, I was really exhausted" N:I, P:having, A: "having been on the road..." Another way to put this is "I am really exhausted because I have been on the road for 4 days" "I saw a deer hopping across the lawn" N:deer P:hopping A:"hopping across the lawn" basically: "I saw a deer which was hopping across the lawn" "Have you never seen a man holding hands with another man?" N:(1st)man, P:holding A: "holding hands with another man" "Never having seen a Chinese person before, Billy Bob was cautious." N: Billy Bob, P: having seen, A: "Never having seen a Chinese person before". "Billy Bob was cautious because he had never seen a Chinese person before". This is how I understand participial constructions. Hope it helps, and would love to see if someone better versed in linguistics can improve my answer. Keep working hard!