+272.+ You remember, when we studied the participle, that we found it
was called a participle because it partook of the nature of two or more
parts of speech. For example; in the sentence, _The singing of the birds
greeted us_; _singing_ is a participle derived from the verb _sing_, and
is used as a noun, the subject of the verb _greeted_.
But participles are used not only as nouns; they may also be used as
adjectives. For example; we may say, _The singing birds greeted us_.
Here the participle _singing_ describes the birds, telling what kind of
birds greeted us, and is used as an adjective modifying the noun
_birds_.
You will recall that we found there were two forms of the participle,
the present participle and the past participle. The present participle
is formed by adding _ing_ to the root form of the verb; and the past
participle in regular verbs is formed by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the root
form, and in irregular verbs by a change in the verb form itself. These
two simple forms of participles are often used as adjectives.
+273.+ The present participle is almost always active; that is, it
refers to the actor. As, for example; _Vessels, carrying soldiers, are
constantly arriving_. Here the present participle _carrying_ describes
the noun _vessels_, and yet retains its function as a verb and has an
object, _soldiers_. So it partakes of two parts of speech, the verb and
the adjective.
+274.+ The past participle, when used alone, is almost always passive,
for it refers not to the actor, but to what is acted upon, thus:
The army, beaten but not conquered, prepared for a siege.
In this sentence _beaten_ is the past participle of the irregular verb
_beat_, and _conquered_ is the past participle of the regular verb
_conquer_, and both modify the noun _army_, but refer to it, not as the
actor, but as the receiver of the action. Hence, the past participle is
also the _passive_ participle.
Note in the following sentences the use of the present and past
participle as adjectives:
A _refreshing_ breeze came from the hills.
They escaped from the _burning_ building.
_Toiling_, _rejoicing_, _sorrowing_, onward through life he goes.
The man, _defeated_ in his purpose, gave up in despair.
The child, _driven_ in its youth to work, is robbed of the joy of
childhood.
The army, _forced_ to retreat, destroyed all in its path.
The children, _neglected_ by society, grow up without their rightful
opportunities.