THE MISUSE OF PAST PARTICIPLES


Hello friends, welcome to Dissecting Grammar with Godwin. Today, I want to begin with what I have titled The Misuse of Past Participles. The Past participle is a form of a verb that normally ends with –ed and –en (like “demanded”, “taken”). It is also used with a perfect tense and sometimes used as an adjective. How do you know a perfect tense? You will know it when “have” precedes (comes before) the verb in the sentence. For example,
I have boiled the yam.
I have eaten the mango.
In the sentences above, “boiled” and “eaten” are the past participles of “boil” and “eat” The verb, “boiled” can equally be used as an adjective in certain contexts. Of course, you should know that an adjective describes a noun or a pronoun.
The boiled yam is very hot.
You can see again that “boiled” is used as an adjective, describing the noun “yam.”
Now, let’s come back to the topic of discussion. Do you know that some past participle form of verbs pose a lot of confusions to many learners of English? Have a look at the conversation below.
Mike: Hi guys, guess what? Tuface has sing a new song.
Raph: Oh! You mean he has sang another song?
Peter: Yes o, he has sung a new song.
Did you notice the confusion in the discourse above? I guess you did. Peter got it right while Mike and Raph were wrong. How? The past participle of “sing” is “sung.” Other verbs that are in this category are ring- rung, cling-clung, dig-dug, drink-drunk, fling-flung, run –run, hang- hung or hanged, etc.
Before I let you go, permit me to briefly explain why the past participle of “hang” can either be “hung’ or “hanged.” It is “hung” when you are referring to an object or material things like clothes. Example,
1. I have hung the clothes on the hanger.
2. The clothes are hung on the hanger.
On the other hand, you use “hanged” when you are talking about death by hanging. Example,
1. The notorious armed robber was hanged three weeks ago.
2. The thief has been hanged.
I believe you have learnt something today. Questions and suggestions are welcomed. You may have better contributions to make. I know that no one has the monopoly of knowledge. Please feel free to react. My response may be delayed. Please bear with me. Thanks for reading my post. Remember to serve God well. My name is Godwin Owojecho. Bye.

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