Free Advanced English Grammar Lessons - CEFR C1

Present Participle

Hear or read four conversations using the present participle.

Lesson 1 - Present Participle

Script
Grammar
Quiz

Conversation 1

Man: Who is the woman sitting next to Joe?
Woman: Oh, that’s Beth. She’s the new project manager.
Man: Oh, really. Huh! I didn’t know anything about her.
Woman: Yeah, there’ll be a meeting tomorrow explaining her new role.
Man: Well, she seems like a nice person.
Woman: Yeah, from what I hear, she’s a lot of fun to work with.

Conversation 2

Man: There were some cookies sitting here. What happened?
Woman: Uh, sorry. I ate them.
Man: What? You ate them. Why?
Woman: Well, I know they weren’t mine, but … I saw the box sitting there, and they just looked so good.
Man: Well, next time could you not eat all of them?
Woman: Yes, next time I’ll try to keep my appetite under control.

Conversation 3

Man: There’s a new movie playing downtown.
Woman: Oh, yeah. What’s it about?
Man: It’s about a woman dealing with racism throughout her career.
Woman: Oh, yeah, I heard some people talking about that. I hear it’s really good.
Man: Yeah, I hear it’s great. Do you want to join me?
Woman: Yeah, I’d love to go.

Conversation 4

Man: There’s a festival going on this week. You wanna come?
Woman: Yeah, I’d like to. I heard there’s going to be lots of booths selling international food.
Man: Yes, supposedly. They’re going to have food from all over the world.
Woman: That’s awesome. I’d love to go. Are they going to have Chinese food?
Man: From what I hear. Let’s go.
Woman: I’m in. Let’s do it.

Present Participle Clause Grammar Rules

Point 1: The present participle relative clause is a clause the gives more information about a preceding noun. It acts like an adjective clause. It uses the present participle (-ing) of the verb.

The woman crossing the street looks familiar.
The movie playing at the theater is sold out.
The car driving behind me is flashing it lights.
The new café opening downtown is not hiring.

Point 2: The present participle relative clause is a clause that omits words from an adjective clause.

The woman (that is) crossing the street looks familiar.
The movie (that is) playing at the theater is sold out.
The car (that is) driving behind me is flashing it lights.
The new café (that is) opening downtown is not hiring.

Point 3: The present participle can represent past, present and future tenses.

The commercial (that is) running on TV is annoying.
The man (that was) teaching the class wasn't very nice.
The person (who will be) serving you is my friend.

Point 4: The present participle can represent adjective clauses in past, present and future simple tenses.

The man that manages the store is my friend.
The man managing the store is my friend.
The woman who helped me was rude.
The woman helping me was rude.
The woman who will help you will be here soon.
The woman helping you will be here soon.

Point 5: The present participle clause creates the action for the noun as a subject. The past participle clause receives the action as an object. It has a passive relationship.

Present Participle Clause

The woman looking over here acts like she knows you.
- The woman is looking over here.
The music playing in the background is distracting.
- The music is playing in the background.

Past Participle Clause

The items sold here cannot be returned.
- The items are sold here. People sell the items.
The rumor heard on the news is not true.
- The rumor was heard. People heard the rumor.