Lesson 1 of 4 · 10 min · +40 XP

Meet present and past participles

Recognise participle forms such as running, played, and written.

Every little practice counts

Level 1 0 XP

0 / 200 XP
0 day streak Best: 0 days
  1. Wed, Oct 28: no completion
  2. Thu, Oct 29: no completion
  3. Fri, Oct 30: no completion
  4. Sat, Oct 31: no completion
  5. Sun, Nov 1: no completion
  6. Mon, Nov 2: no completion
  7. Tue, Nov 3: no completion
0 lessons complete 0 daily challenges solved Make today count →
Your badges & how to earn XP
  • ○ First step Complete your first lesson or daily challenge. Keep going
  • ○ Week in motion Practise on seven consecutive UTC days. Keep going
  • ○ Course finisher Complete every lesson in any course. Keep going
  • ○ Four-skill explorer Complete an IELTS lesson in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Keep going

Earn 40 XP for each new lesson, 100 bonus XP for finishing a course, and 15 XP for solving the daily question. Finish a new lesson or daily question to build your streak. Days reset at 00:00 UTC. XP levels track practice, not IELTS bands.

Progress belongs to this browser session and expires with it. Keep using the same browser to continue your journey.

Two forms to recognise

A participle is a verb form used in a larger verb phrase or a description. The present participle ends in -ing: running, writing, playing. Regular past participles end in -ed, as in played. Irregular ones include written, taken, and seen. Learn irregular verbs as a set: write, wrote, written.

A form is not a tense

The names 'present participle' and 'past participle' do not tell you the time by themselves. In 'Noor was running', running is a present participle, but was places the action in the past. Compare 'I wrote a note yesterday' with 'I have written a note': wrote is a simple past form; written is a past participle.

Notice the job of an -ing form

The same -ing form can have different jobs. In 'Noor is running', it helps form a continuous verb phrase. In 'Running keeps Noor fit', it names an activity and works as the subject; traditional grammar calls this use a gerund. Read the whole sentence before deciding what the form does.

See it in practice

Starting point

Noor is run around the park. She has wrote a note about her route.

Using this skill

Noor is running around the park. She has written a note about her route.

After is, running forms the continuous verb phrase. After has, use the past participle written, rather than the simple past form wrote.

01 / Check your understanding

Try the skill

Choose an answer for each question. You can try again after reading the feedback.

1. Which word is the present participle in 'Noor was running along the path'?
2. Which form is the past participle of 'write'?

02 / Put it into words

Make it your own

Write two or three sentences about preparing for an activity. Use one continuous phrase such as 'am practising' and one perfect phrase such as 'have written'. Check the participle in each phrase.

Write at least 20 words. Use the checklist and example to review your work; this exercise does not give an automatic IELTS score.

0 / 20 words minimum Save your response with the button below.

Before you finish

  • My -ing participle follows a suitable form of be.
  • My perfect phrase uses have or has plus a past participle.
  • I checked any irregular past participles.
Read one possible response

Compare the choices this writer made with your own. Many different responses can work.

I am practising a short talk for our reading group. I have written three notes to help me remember the main points, and my friend is checking them.

Earn 40 XP once by answering all questions correctly, reaching the response minimum, and reviewing your work.