EXAMPLES EXPLANATION
Many people are involved in making a movie.
Hollywood is located in California.
Is Geraldine Chaplin related to Charlie
Chaplin?
We are done with the video.
When you are finished with the video, return
it to the store.
Is the theater air-conditioned?
The theater was very crowded.
In some cases, we use a past participle as an
adjective even though there is no previous
action. The sentences to the left have no
equivalent active form.
a. The glass is broken.
b. Don’t touch the broken glass.
a. The child is lost in the park.
b. Let’s take the lost child to the park office.
a. The child seems tired.
b. Let’s put the tired child to bed.
Past participles can be used:
a. after be and other linking verbs
(seem, look, feel, sound, etc.).
o r
b. before a noun.
Chaplin was a well-known actor.
He was a highly paid actor.
To emphasize and further describe the
adjectives used as past participles, an adverb
can be added.
Language Notes:
1. Some phrases that contain an adverb + past participle are:
a well-liked teacher a highly skilled worker
a well-educated person a closely watched experiment
a well-behaved child a slightly used book
a well-dressed woman closely related languages
a well-fed dog an extremely crowded room
2. The following are some common combinations of be + past participle:
be air-conditioned be filled (with) be married (to)
be accustomed (to) be finished (with) be permitted (to)
be allowed (to) be gone be pleased (to) (with) (by)
be born be injured be prepared (to) (for)
be broken be insured be related (to)
be closed be interested (in) be taken (occupied)
be concerned (about) be involved (in) be used
be crowded be known (for) (as) be used to
be divorced (from) be located be worried (about)
be done be locked be wounded
be dressed be lost
be educated be made (of, in)