Partizip im Englischen: Erklärung und Übungen
In diesem Abschnitt geht es um das Partizip im Englischen (participle constructions).
Vertiefung
Englische Version:
Beispiel
Oliver, being left to himself in the undertaker's shop...
Oliver, having taken down the shutters...
Quelle: http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/windows/session13/143844.shtml
In the victorian novel Oliver Twist (1838) by Charles Dickens occur so many participal constructions that it is not an exaggeration to call them style-defining. In the following you will learn about the formation and use of participles so that you will be able to enrich and elaborate your own diction by using such participle constructions.
Formation
Forms of participle
Merke
Aktiv: present -> eating; perfect -> having eaten; past -> -
Passiv: present -> being eaten; perfect -> having been eaten; past -> eaten
The next few examples illustrate these forms and are followed by a summary concerning actual use of participle constructions:
Present participle
Beispiel
Active
Present simple: He switches on the TV. He sits down on the sofa.
Present participle: Switching on the TV, he sits down on the sofa.
Present participle has the ability to express simultaneity: He is holding the remote in his hand while he lets his body drop into the most comfortable sitting accomodation. This also applies to the passive voice:
Beispiel
Passive
Present simple: The cat is stroked. The cat begins to purr.
Present participle: Being stroked, the cat begins to purr.
The impression of simultaneity is independent from the tense used outside of the participle construction:
Beispiel
Active
Past simple: He switched on the TV. He sat down on the sofa.
Present participle: Switching on the TV, he sat down on the sofa.
Even if past simple is used in the rest of the sentence, he still does one thing while doing the other. Only this time it is told in the past. The same is of course true for the passive voice:
Beispiel
Passive
Past simple: The cat was stroked. The cat began to purr.
Present participle: Being stroked, the cat began to purr.
Perfect participle
Beispiel
Active
Present perfect: He has switched on the TV. He sat down on the sofa.
Perfect participle: Having switched on the TV, he sat down on the sofa.
As you have propably noticed, the events appear in a subsequent order now and the action/event described in the perfect participle comes first, irrespective of the genus verbi (active or passive voice):
Beispiel
Passive
Present perfect: The cat has been stroked. The cat has begun to purr.
Perfect participle: Having been stroked, the cat began to purr (afterwards).
Past participle
As you have seen above, this option is not available in both genera verbi but only in the passive voice:
Beispiel
Passive
Past participle: Stroked, the cat began to purr.
Past participle: Heard from a distance, the waterfall sounded like a giant roaring beast.
Use
Participle constructions fulfil various grammatical functions:
1. Adverbial clause
Merke
An adverbial clause is a subordinate clause containing information about when, how, where, why and with what result something has happened
Beispiel
Before going to work this morning, I prepared some sandwiches.
The subject of the main clause is always the subject of the participle construction as well, although not explicitly mentioned. Examples with and without participle:
Beispiel
Without (1)
If it is taken good care of, the material will last very long.
Beispiel
With (1)
Taken good care of, the material will last very long.
Beispiel
Without (2)
Because he does not like rock music, he never goes to festivals.
Beispiel
With (2)
Not liking rock music, he never goes to festivals.
Beispiel
Without (3)
When she had finished the household chores, she had a coffee in the kitchen.
Beispiel
With (3)
Having finished the household chores, she had a coffee in the kitchen.
Beispiel
Without (4)
Because she hears the sirens of an ambulance, she goes outside her house to find out what is going on.
Beispiel
With (4)
Hearing the sirens of an ambulance, she goes outside her house to find out what is going on.
A good way of practicing how to use participles would be to go through some of your own texts and see if there are any clauses which you could replace by a participle construction. Do you think the new version is in any way preferable to the original version?
2. Defining und non-defining relative clause
It is also possible to use a participle construction instead of a (non-) defining relative clause:
Beispiel
Without (1)
The boy who loves Juliet is a Montague.
Beispiel
With (1)
The boy loving Juliet is a Montague.
Beispiel
Without (2)
People who want to build muscle have 4 or 5 smaller meals throughout the day.
Beispiel
With (2)
People wanting to build muscle have 4 or 5 smaller meals throughout the day
Beispiel
Without (3)
John, who was waiting outside, was very nervous.
Beispiel
With (3)
John, waiting outside, was very nervous.
Beispiel
Without (4)
My father, who is quite handsome and a good dancer, was always very popular with the ladies. (to be popular with xy -"bei xy beliebt sein")
Beispiel
With (4)
My father, being quite handsome and a good dancer, was always very popular with the ladies. (to be popular with xy -"bei xy beliebt sein")
If the action/event described in the main clause is a direct result of what happens in the participle clause, it is generally advisable to begin it with having+past participle:
Beispiel
Having talked to all her friends, Mary decided to actually go to the job interview. (*Talking to all her friends,...).
Having completed her university degree, Amanda began to look for a job. (Completing würde wieder Gleichzeitigkeit bedeuten.)
Here are some fixed participle construction that will always come in handy when you write a text:
- generally/strictly/.../broadly speaking
- taking xy into consideration
- supposing that
Check the British National Corpus at http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/ for example sentences!
The next section will deal with yet another -ing form: The gerund.
Beispiel
Oliver, being left to himself in the undertaker's shop...
Oliver, having taken down the shutters...
Quelle: http://www.uua.org/re/tapestry/children/windows/session13/143844.shtml
In dem Gesellschaftsroman Oliver Twist (1838) von Charles Dickens finden sich so viele Partizipialkonstruktionen, dass man ohne Übertreibung von einem stilprägenden Phänomen sprechen kann. Damit auch du deinen Stil mit solchen Konstruktionen bereichern und verbessern kannst, wird im Folgenden zunächst ihre (erfreulich einfache) Bildung dargestellt, bevor weitere Hinweise zur Verwendung folgen.
Bildung
Formen des Partizips
Merke
Aktiv: present -> eating; perfect -> having eaten; past -> -
Passiv: present -> being eaten; perfect -> having been eaten; past -> eaten
Die folgenden Beispiele verdeutlichen, wie die Formen in Sätze eingebaut werden. Nach den Beispielen findest du eine abschließende Zusammenfassung zur Verwendung:
Present participle
Beispiel
Aktiv
Present simple: He switches on the TV. He sits down on the sofa.
Present participle: Switching on the TV, he sits down on the sofa.
Das present participle bringt Gleichzeitigkeit zum Ausdruck: Er hält die Fernbedienung in der Hand und während er sich aufs Sofa setzt, drückt er den Power-Knopf. Hier ein weiteres Beispiel im Passiv:
Beispiel
Passiv
Present simple: The cat is stroked. The cat begins to purr.
Present participle: Being stroked, the cat begins to purr.
Die Gleichzeitigkeit bleibt auch bei einer Kombination mit einer anderen Zeitform außerhalb der Partizipialkonstruktion bestehen:
Beispiel
Aktiv
Past simple: He switched on the TV. He sat down on the sofa.
Present participle: Switching on the TV, he sat down on the sofa.
Auch wenn der andere Teil des Satzes im past simple steht, kannst du mit dem present participle Gleichzeitigkeit ausdrücken: Er hielt die Fernbedienung in der Hand und während er sich aufs Sofa setzte, drückte er den Power-Button. Das Gleiche gilt natürlich auch wieder für das Passiv:
Beispiel
Passiv
Past simple: The cat was stroked. The cat began to purr.
Present participle: Being stroked, the cat began to purr.Perfect participle
Beispiel
Aktiv
Present perfect: He has switched on the TV. He sat down on the sofa.
Perfect participle: Having switched on the TV, he sat down on the sofa.
Hier wird keine Gleichzeitigkeit ausgedrückt, sondern ein Nacheinander. Die im perfect participle beschriebene Handlung hat immer vor der Handlung im Hauptsatz stattgefunden, egal ob Aktiv oder Passiv:
Beispiel
Passiv
Present perfect: The cat has been stroked. The cat has begun to purr.
Perfect participle: Having been stroked, the cat began to purr (afterwards).
Past participle
Wie du oben sehen kannst, gibt es diese Möglichkeit nur im Passiv!
Beispiel
Passiv
Past participle: Stroked, the cat began to purr.
Past participle: Heard from a distance, the waterfall sounded like a gient roaring beast.
Verwendung
Partizipialkonstruktionen können verschiedene Funktionen übernehmen:
1. Adverbialer Nebensatz
Merke
Ein adverbial clause ist ein untergeordneter Nebensatz (subordinate clause), der Infomationen darüber enthält, wann, wie, wo, warum, mit welchem Ergebnis etc. etwas passiert.
Beispiel
Before going to work this morning, I prepared some sandwiches.
Im participle clause ist das sozusagen mitgedachte, aber nicht ausdrücklich genannte Subjekt, das des Hauptsatzes. Die folgenden Beispiele ohne und mit participle clause verdeutlichen es dir:
Beispiel
Ohne (1)
If it is taken good care of, the material will last very long.
Beispiel
Mit (1)
Taken good care of, the material will last very long.
Beispiel
Ohne (2)
Because he does not like rock music, he never goes to festivals.
Beispiel
Mit (2)
Not liking rock music, he never goes to festivals.
Beispiel
Ohne (3)
When she had finished the household chores, she had a coffee in the kitchen.
Beispiel
Mit (3)
Having finished the household chores, she had a coffee in the kitchen.
Beispiel
Ohne (4)
Because she hears the sirens of an ambulance, she goes outside her house to find out what is going on.
Beispiel
Mit (4)
Hearing the sirens of an ambulance, she goes outside her house to find out what is going on.
Als Übung kannst du eigene Texte von dir durchgehen und einige adverbial clauses durch participle clauses ersetzen. Wie wirkt der veränderte Text auf dich?
2. Relativsatz
Du kannst auch einen (non-) defining relative clause mit einer Partizipialkonstruktion ersetzen, wie die Beispiele ohne und mit participle clause zeigen:
Beispiel
Ohne (1)
The boy who loves Juliet is a Montague.
Beispiel
Mit (1)
The boy loving Juliet is a Montague.
Beispiel
Ohne (2)
People who want to build muscle have 4 or 5 smaller meals throughout the day.
Beispiel
Mit (2)
People wanting to build muscle have 4 or 5 smaller meals throughout the day
Beispiel
Ohne (3)
John, who was waiting outside, was very nervous.
Beispiel
Mit (3)
John, waiting outside, was very nervous.
Beispiel
Ohne (4)
My father, who is quite handsome and a good dancer, was always very popular with the ladies. (to be popular with xy -"bei xy beliebt sein")
Beispiel
Mit (4)
My father, being quite handsome and a good dancer, was always very popular with the ladies. (to be popular with xy -"bei xy beliebt sein")
Wenn die Handlung/das Ereignis des Hauptsatzes eine Folge dessen ist, was im participle clause beschrieben wird, solltest du diesen mit having+past participle bilden:
Beispiel
Having talked to all her friends, Mary decided to actually go to the job interview. (*Talking to all her friends,...).
Having completed her university degree, Amanda began to look for a job. (Completing würde wieder Gleichzeitigkeit bedeuten.)
Es gibt außerdem einige feste Ausdrücke mit Partizip, die du dir für deine Texte merken kannst:
- generally/strictly/.../broadly speaking
- taking xy into consideration
- supposing that
Wenn du damit keine Beispiele bilden kannst, gib die Ausdrücke einfach im British National Corpus (http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/) ein und sieh dir einige der Ergebnisse an.
Im nächsten Abschnitt geht es wieder um eine -ing Form, nämlich das Gerundium (gerund). Bildung und Verwendung werden beschrieben und es wird von Partizipialkonstruktionen abgegrenzt. Wenn du noch unsicher bist, ob du alles über Partizipien verstanden hast, kannst du dein Wissen mit unseren Übungen überprüfen!
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