The past participle is a nonfinite (unconjugated) verb form. In English, the past participle is prototypically used to form the perfect and perfect-progressive aspects:
The past participle is also prototypically used to form the passive voice:
Past participles can also function as noun phrase modifiers, which is explained in more detail at The Functions of Verbs and Verb Phrases in English.
The following sections discuss the formation of past participles as well as the spelling changes and pronunciation rules for English past participles.
The past participle of regular English verbs is identical in form to the simple past tense. For most verbs in English, the past participle is formed by adding the morphological suffix -ed to the end of the base form. The base form of an English verb is the infinitive without the preposition to functioning as an infinitive marker. For example:
- Base – Past Participle
- ask – asked
- boil – boiled
- dress – dressed
- hover – hovered
- jump – jumped
- search – searched
- walk – walked
- yell – yelled
English verbs that take the morphological suffix -ed to form the past participle are referred to as regular verbs.
Some regular verbs undergo slight spelling changes as past participles. For verbs that end with the letter e, add only the morphological suffix -d to the end of the base form. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- admire – admired
- care – cared
- frame – framed
- guide – guided
- joke – joked
- like – liked
- prepare – prepared
- sparkle – sparkled
For verbs than end in a consonant followed by the letter y, change the y to an i and add the morphological suffix -ed. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- carry – carried
- dry – dried
- empty – emptied
- identify – identified
- marry – married
- multiply – multiplied
- terrify – terrified
- worry – worried
For verbs with one syllable that end in a single vowel sound followed by a single consonant (other than w or y), double the final consonant and then add the morphological suffix -ed to the end of the verb. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- bat – batted
- clip – clipped
- drop – dropped
- grin – grinned
- hug – hugged
- step – stepped
- tap – tapped
- whip – whipped
For verbs with two syllables in which the second syllable is stressed, double the final consonant and then add the morphological suffix -ed to the end of the verb. For example:
- Base – Simple Past
- admit – admitted
- benefit – benefited
- commit – committed
- concur – concurred
- format – formatted
- prefer – preferred
- regret – regretted
- reoccur – reoccurred
For verbs that end with the letter c, add the letter k after the c and then add the morphological suffix -ed to the end of the verb. For example:
- Base – Present Participle
- frolic – frolicked
- mimic - mimicked
- panic – panicked
- picnic – picnicked
- traffic – trafficked
For more information on forming past participles in English, please continue to page two of this article.