How does agreement work with participles?

Agreement with participles refers to the matching of the participle form of a verb with the subject or object it is modifying in terms of number and gender. In English grammar, participles can be either present participles (ending in -ing) or past participles (ending in -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne).

When a participle is used as an adjective, it must agree with the noun it modifies in terms of number and gender. For example, in the sentence "The running children are happy," the present participle "running" agrees with the plural noun "children." Similarly, in the sentence "The broken vase needs to be replaced," the past participle "broken" agrees with the singular noun "vase."

In some cases, the participle may agree with the object of the verb instead of the subject. For instance, in the sentence "I saw the girl dancing," the present participle "dancing" agrees with the singular noun "girl," which is the object of the verb "saw."

However, it is important to note that not all participles require agreement. In passive constructions, the past participle remains unchanged regardless of the subject or object. For example, in the sentence "The book was written by the author," the past participle "written" does not change based on the subject or object.

In summary, agreement with participles involves ensuring that the participle form of a verb matches the number and gender of the noun it modifies or the object it refers to.