1. Participles

2. Present participles /staying, leaving/
Past participles /stayed, left/
Perfect participles
/having stayed, having left/

3. What somebody, something is?
Used as adjectives
Present participle
Past participle
What kind?
What somebody, something is?
It was an exciting film.
/what kind of film?/
Biology is a boring lesson /what kind of lesson?
How do you feel?
How somebody feels?
I was excited when I watched the film.
/how did you feel?/
I was bored when teacher taught Biology.
/how did you feel/

4. Used instead of relative pronoun and full verb
Present participle
Past participle
The woman waving at me is my aunt. /the woman who is waving at me is my aunt/
The new shampoo advertised on TV is very expensive. /the new shampoo which is advertised on TV is very expensive/

5. To express reasons Present participle Perfect participle
Feeling shy, Laura didn’t talk to Ben. /because she was shy, Laura didn’t talk to Ben/ Being tired, Katie went to bed. /because she was tired, Katie went to bed/
Having seen the film before, I decided to stay at home. /because I had seen the film before, I decided to stay at home/

6. To express time Perfect participle Present participle
We met John while shopping. /we met John while we were shopping/
Having taken his Master’s degree, he applied for a job. /after he had taken his Master’s degree, he applied for a job/ Having made dinner, she called the children. /After she had made dinner, she called the children.

7. Actions happening immediately happen one after another
Hearing the news, she fainted. /she heard the news and she fainted. Picking up her pen, Amy started to write the letter. /Amy picked up her pen and started to write the letter/

8. Avoid repeating the past continuous tenses in the same sentences
She was laying on her bed reading a book. /She was laying on her bed and she was reading a book/