1. Past participles are used as part of the present and
pastperfect tenses (both "regular" and continuous).
The non-continuous present perfect tense uses has
or have + the past participle; the present perfect
continuous tense uses has or have + been (the past
participle of BE) + the - ing form of the main verb.
Examples:
He has (He's) taken a vacation. /
He has (He's) been taking a vacation.
I have (I've) taken my medicine.
I have (I've) been taking that medicine for three days.
The non-continuous past perfect tense uses had +
the past participle; the past perfect continuous
tense uses had + been + the - ing form of the
main verb.
Examples:
She had (She'd) lived here for 10 years
when I met her.
She had (She'd) been living here for 10 years
when I met her.
He had (He'd) waited a long time before
he left.
2.
Past participles are also used to make one of the
past forms for the modal verbs (modal auxiliaries).
These forms use a modal + have + the past participle.
Examples:
could have gone
may have been
should have known
might have seen
would have written
must have forgotten
3. Another use for past participles is as participial
adjectives (verb forms used as adjectives).
Participial adjectives may be used both singly
and in phrases.
Examples:
We were bored / excited / interested.
We were bored with / excited about / interested in
the movie.
It's broken / gone / done.
It's broken into two pieces / gone from where
I usually put it / done by machine, not by hand.
Abandoned, he didn't know what to do.
Abandoned by everyone he had considered to be
his friends, he didn't know what to do.
