Study the following sentences:
The traveller filled his water-bags. He continued his journey.
When combined these sentences become:
Having filled his water-bags, the traveller continued his journey. “Having filled” is called the perfect participle. It is formed by adding the past participle “filled” to the word “having”.
Exercise 1: what are the perfect participles of these verbs? write, hear, see, do, arrive, go, greet, feel, pass.
Exercise 2: combine each of the following pairs of sentences using a perfect participle.
- The athletes finished their training. They went home.
- Father prepared the soil. He planted the seedlings.
- Marco Polo travelled across Asia. He reached Cathay.
- The Arab reached Mecca. He felt contented.
Noun objects
Some verbs have not only a subject but also an object.
To find the subject we asked the question who or what before the verb.
Example: The cat drank the milk. Who drank? Subject: The cat.
To find the object we ask the question whom or what after the verb.
Example: The cat drank the milk. Drank what? Object: The milk.
All verbs that have objects are called transitive verbs. If there is no object the verb is intransitive. Note: The verb “to be” is always intransitive.
Exercise 1: write out the following sentences and underline the object.
- He finally wrote the letter.
- The gardener picked some lovely flowers.
- Father drove the new car around the block.
- Our baby loves orange juice.
- The captain sent a distress signal.
Exercise 2: in the next group of sentences write down the verbs that have objects.
- Robert and Christopher jump well.
- The train ran off the tracks.
- The Mayor presented the prizes to the successful entrants.
- Did you miss the bus?
- Hail ruined the crop.
Bruce, M.J. 1985. Living Language 6. Melbourne: Methuen, pp.80, 96-97