[Grammar] Past Participle help

[Kate Henderson]

Hello
First off I'm new so please forgive me if I am posting in the wrong forum or doing something else wrong....

I need help. I have a reasonably good understanding of verbs but the past participle is by far the hardest term I've ever come across. So anyway here's my question.

I have to identify from this paragraph what the past participle is and I tried different ones that I thought were the answer but they ended up being incorrect. This is the paragraph:
“What do you mean?”“Well, I’m going out with Rachel. The other lads have girls to go with them. But Katie, Rachel’s flat mate, wants to come but doesn’t want to feel like a gooseberry. If you come with us, she can go with you. How about it?”
Michael seemed to get a little shy. “No, no, it’s okay. It’ll be me feeling like a spare wheel. I … I don’t know her. It’d be weird and I really haven’t the time”
“Don’t be silly. We can meet before the film starts, go for a drink, do the introductions and then it’s time for … ‘The name’s Bond … James Bond … 007… licensed to kill’.” I used my best James Bond voice.
“That’s Sean Connery’s voice.”

I thought that the past participle was 'come' and the second one was 'seemed' but apparently that is incorrect. I don't understand why they are wrong? Is the past participle 'meet'?
Thanks in advance for any help at all. :-D

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Ms. Henderson:

1. "She wants to come." My books tell me that "to come" is an infinitive, the object of the verb "wants."
2. "Michael seemed to get a little shy." My books tell me that "seemed" is the past tense of "seem." (Compare: "Yesterday, she seemed nervous.")
3. "We can meet before the film starts." "Can" is an auxiliary verb, so the form of the verb after it is labeled the base form or the bare infinitive.

*****

Usually (NOT always!), it is "easy" to recognize a past participle, for it follows a form of "have":

4. "I have come to help you."
5. "He had seemed fine a few minutes before his heart attack!"
6. "Had you ever met him before yesterday?"


*****

As I said, sometimes the past participle is NOT preceded by a form of "have." Perhaps other members will discuss that topic. I will give you just two examples:

"The man was injured (by someone)." The books label "injured" as a past participle. (ONLY my opinion: I think that it comes from "Someone injured the man."

"They found [discovered] the prisoners gone." The books label "gone" as a past participle. (ONLY my opinion: I think that it comes from "They found that the prisoners had gone."

Credit for those two examples goes to Walter Kay Smart in his ENGLISH REVIEW GRAMMAR (fourth edition).

 

[Kate Henderson]

Hello

Thank you for your help. Thanks for explaining that 'come' 'seemed' and 'meet' are not past participles. What I will do is look up every word that I think is a past participle and deduce it from there.

 

[TheParser]

Thanks for explaining that 'come' 'seemed' and 'meet' are not past participles.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

I think that you meant that they are not past participles in those particular sentences.

Sometimes "come" is a past participle, as in "He has come," but not a past participle in "We come to school every day."

Sometimes "seemed" is a past participle, as in "Everyone was surprised by their divorce, for they had seemed happy," but not a past participle in "They seemed happy yesterday."

Please post any questions you have here, and the members will eagerly assist you.

 

[Kate Henderson]

Yeah I meant they are past terms, just not in these sentences.

 

[MikeNewYork]

"The man was injured (by someone)." The books label "injured" as a past participle. (ONLY my opinion: I think that it comes from "Someone injured the man."

Parser, that is passive voice.

 

[tzfujimino]

Yes, I agree.
I believe TheParser is trying to explain what past participles are.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Me too.