The present and past participles used as adjectives

The present and past participles can be used as adjectives. When used in this way, they are sometimes called participial adjectives and the present participle has an active meaning, while the past participle usually has a passive meaning. They can occur:

• in an attributive position before nouns:
  

  The survey revealed some worrying results. (present participle)
  The wind was blowing through the broken living room window. (past participle)

• in a predicative position after a linking verb:
  

  The results of the survey were/seemed worrying.
  The living room window was/looked broken.

In the second case above the present and past participles function as adjectives that express states and describe the subject of the sentence. But if they come after be and are followed by an object or an adjunct, they function as part of a verb phrase and express actions:

The results of the survey were worrying the authorities. (past continuous active)
The living room window was broken by the burglar. (past simple passive)

When used as adjectives, some past participles have an active meaning:

The fallen leaves covered the path. (The leaves that had fallen covered the path.)
My parents are retired now. (My parents have retired.)