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Participles
The present active participle
The present active participle, also sometimes called participle I, consists of the infinitive of a verb, plus the letter d, plus, if applicable, the appropriate adjective ending. This form corresponds to the English continuous present form with -ing, for example walking, talking, playing, singing, driving etc. However, in German this form is not used as a verb form or as a noun, but only as an adjective or adverb. Examples:
- bellende Hunde (barking dogs)
- ein fliehendes Pferd (an escaping horse)
- spielende Kinder (playing children)
- liebende Großeltern (loving grandparents)
- ein spannender Film (a suspenseful movie)
- ein rührender Anblick (a stirring sight)
- eine fliegene Untertasse (a flying saucer)
- Ihre Mutter ist reizend. (Your mother is charming.)
- Sein Chef macht ihn rasend. (His boss is driving him crazy).
The perfect passive participle
The perfect passive participle, also sometimes called participle II, consists of the perfect participle of the verb plus, if applicable, the appropriate adjective ending. Examples:
- ein geliehener Film ( a rented movie)
- ein gebrauchtes Buch (a used book)
- ein viel diskutiertes Thema (a much discussed topic)
- ein gestohlener Ausweis (a stolen identification card)
- geliebte Großeltern (beloved grandparents)
- Die Kinder sind aufgeregt und entzückt. (The children are excited and delighted.)
Extended modifiers with participles
Participle modifiers can be preceded by long adverbial constructions. However, these kinds of structures are almost exclusively used in written language; for example in scientific, scholarly, technical, and literary writings. Examples:
- Der gestern Nachmittag um 15.15 Uhr von dieser Haltestelle abgefahrene Bus stürzte in einen Graben. (The bus which departed from this bus stop at 3:15pm yesterday afternoon fell into a ditch.)
- Ich habe einige Exemplare dieser schon seit Jahren nicht mehr erscheinenden Zeitschrift in einer in einer Seitenstraße gelegenen und von einem älteren Herren betriebenen antiquarischen Buchhandlung gefunden. (I found a few copies of this periodical, which has not been published in years, in a second-hand book store that is situated in a side street and managed by an old gentleman.)
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