Can anyone distinguish when to use past simple and past participle in a sentence? I understand past participle must have an auxiliary verb to be complete, yet this is all my mind is able to grasp for some reason..
There are numerous reasons when to use one or the other, but I will give the most simple approach. Past simple: I ran (shows action). Past Participle: I was running (Sets a stage). - With the above ideas in mind, I use a past Participle to set the stage for the action of the sentence. Example: While I was running, a bear leaped out of the bushes. As you can see, the first half of the sentence sets the stage for action half. - The above is just one of many uses of past participles but it is one I recommend.
So what you're calling the past participle I would call the past continuous (which is, of course, formed using the past participle). What are the other uses of the past participle?
Grammatically: 1. They are used in Absolute phrases. (The birds singing) 2. As Adjectives. (The Running dog, piss-covered bed) 3. Nouns (Her singing filled the room.) Rhetorically. 1. Figurative language (I feel like I am dying.) 2. Creating doubt (It was raining. Is it still raining?) Much more than I am probably thinking of. -
Are those mostly present participles? What's the difference between a past participle and a present participle? Like, I'd call "singing" a gerund, I think, in the context of example 3, but if we're looking at it as a participle, isn't it the present participle? Isn't the past participle of To Sing "sung"? (I don't know why I get started on this stuff. I only know enough to confuse myself! And possibly others...)
My fault, I had a brain malfunction. Past Participles are stilled used as adjectives. - I believe News question is more about when to use was/have/been + Past Participles vs. When not to. I use them to set a stage in the narrative before the action occurs. I am sure we've all read the advice 'Cut all the To be verbs out of your manuscript.' I can sympathize with this advice, but I feel that giving examples of when you should use 'I was running' vs 'I ran' is more helpful than giving a black and white rule. Writing is full of colorful variations, and each writer has their own conventions they use.
But I think the part participle of To Run is "run". So it'd be more of a past perfect than a past continuous, maybe? Not "I was running" but "I had run"?
I believe It really depends on what meaning you are after. I was running when X happened. (Means I was doing A when B happened). -I was running when I passed out. I had run when X happened. (Means A was finished when B happened.) -I had run 10 miles before I passed out. - (This is a great conversation by the way. I could talk about the subtleties of writing all night long.)
