warning · Section 3: Verbs
Rule 3.3: Use the past participle form as an adjective
A verb's past participle form may be used as an adjective — either directly before the noun it modifies, or after a form of 'to be,' 'to become,' or 'to stay' — to show the condition of something; this is not passive voice. Only use a past participle as an adjective if it (or its adjective sense) is listed in the dictionary, including approved adjectives such as 'permitted' or 'damaged' whose underlying verb is not itself approved.
What a checker looks for
Usually a deviation, and context can excuse it.
- Confirm each past-participle-as-adjective is positioned either immediately before the noun it modifies, or after a copular verb ('is/are/was/were,' 'become(s),' 'stay(s)') — not as part of a compound/perfect verb tense (which instead violates rule 3.2 or 3.4).
- Flag a past participle used as an adjective if it is not listed in the dictionary as an approved adjective or as an approved verb whose past-participle form is given.
What this rule does not cover
- 'The unit is disassembled' or 'the disassembled unit,' describing a state or condition, is compliant STE even though it resembles a passive-voice sentence; distinguish state-description (adjective) uses from true passive-voice action clauses (rule 3.6) by checking whether the sentence is describing an action being done to the subject or simply the subject's condition.
- Approved adjectives derived from a non-approved verb (e.g. 'permitted,' 'damaged') are fine to use if the dictionary lists them with part of speech '(adj)', even though the underlying verb is not approved for use.
- Rule 1.4 governs which verb/adjective forms are dictionary-approved; it does not restrict a compliant past-participle-as-adjective use under this rule to only cases where the actor is stated — that clarity question is decided here and in rule 3.4, not by rule 1.4.
How to fix it
If a past participle correctly shows condition (before a noun, or after to be/become/stay) but is not an approved adjective, replace it with an approved adjective or restructure the description. If it is instead part of a disallowed perfect or passive verb construction, fix it per rule 3.2, 3.4, or 3.6 instead.
Examples
Not STE: Do not put more than the weight that is permitted on the trolley.
STE: Do not put more than the permitted weight on the trolley.
Not STE: Make sure that the surfaces do not have damage.
STE: Make sure that the mating surfaces are not damaged.
Related rules
Where this fits in AI governance
A rule a checker can test is a rule a model can be held to. The same discipline, on the governance side of this site.
- Testing AI systems
Verb-form rules are deterministic tests, which is what makes them a useful regression suite for generated text. - Model drift, performance regression and versioning
A rule-level pass rate is a baseline; a provider update that changes the model changes the pass rate. - Output validation guardrails
A controlled language is a checkable output constraint. This is the control that treats model output as something to be checked rather than trusted.
Source
ASD-STE100 Issue 9, Section 3 - Verbs, page 1-3-2.
This page is commentary and does not reproduce the standard. About this rule pack.