PARTICIPLE NOTES
What is a Participle?
Participles are “verbal adjectives”, which means they are part verb, part adjective. They modify nouns. Some examples of participles in English are:
The lost dog was found by a little girl.
She watched the dog running through the woods.
How are Participles like Verbs?
Tense. Like verbs, participles have a tense. They might be present tense (happening at the same time as the main verb), perfect tense (having already happened before the main verb), or future tense (not having happened yet at the time of the main verb). Voice. Like verbs, participles have a voice. They might be active (the participle’s subject is doing the action) or passive (the participle’s subject has had the action done to him/her/it). Subjects. Like verbs, participles have a subject. The noun they match in case, number and gender is like the participle’s subject.
Ex: She watched the dog running through the woods. Here, running is the participle. Its “subject” is dog. In Latin, you would see that the word dog and the word running share the same case, number and gender.
Direct Objects, Indirect Objects and Prepositional Phrases. Like verbs, participles can have direct objects, indirect objects, and prepositional phrases associated with them.
Ex: The two men watching the game in the stadium shouted at the players. Here, watching is the participle. Its direct object is game, and in the stadium is a prepositional phrase that accompanies it.
How are Participles like Adjectives?
Declension. Like adjectives, participles either use third declension endings, or first and second declension endings. The declension endings a participle uses depends on what kind of participle it is. Number. Like adjectives, participles are either singular or plural. Gender. Like adjectives, participles can be any of the three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. Case. Like adjectives, participles have cases. Their case will match the case of their “subject”. Adjective Rule. Like adjectives, participles follow the adjective rule. That means that they match their noun (“subject”) in case, number and gender.
The Present Active Participle
Tense. Present. Voice. Active. Declension. Third declension. Third declension regular endings are used in the singular, and third declension i- stem endings are used in the plural.
Formation. The present active participle forms differently, depending on what conjugation the verb is. For 1st and 2nd declension verbs:
Take the second principle part of the verb. Remove the final “re”. Add “ns”.
For 3rd and 4th declension verbs:
Take the first principle part of the verb. Remove the final “o”. Add “ens”.
For the verb “amo, amare, amavi, amatus”, the nominative form of the participle is amans.
For the verb “capio, capere, cepi, captus”, the nominative form of the participle is capiens.
Declining. Whenever declining a present active participle, before adding an ending, you need to change the final “s” to a “t”.
Case Masc (S) Fem (S) Neuter (S) Masc (P) Fem (P) Neuter (P) Nom amans amans amans amantes amantes amantia Gen amantis amantis amantis amantium amantium amantium Dat amanti amanti amanti amantibus amantibus amantibus Acc amantem amantem amans amantes amantes amantia Abl amante amante amante amantibus amantibus amantibus
Translation. “while verbing” or “verbing” If the present active participle has a direct object, indirect object or prepositional phrase with it, it will sound best if it is translated AFTER its noun. If it is just the participle, and you choose to translate it as “verbing”, translate it BEFORE the noun.
Ex: Puella equos currentes spectavit. The girl watched the running horses.
Puella equos per agros currentes spectavit. The girl watched the horses running through the fields.
The Perfect Passive Participle
Tense. Perfect. Voice. Passive. Declension. First and second declension. First declension endings are used when the participle’s noun is feminine. Second declension endings are used when the participle’s noun is masculine or neuter.
Formation. The perfect passive participle is the 4th principle part of a verb. No changes required!
For the verb “amo, amare, amavi, amatus”, the nominative forms of the participle are amatus, amata, amatum.
Declining. The participle is declined below.
Case Masc (S) Fem (S) Neuter (S) Masc (P) Fem (P) Neuter (P) Nominative amatus amata amatum amati amatae amata Genitive amati amatae amati amatorum amatarum amatorum Dative amato amatae amato amatis amatis amatis Accusative amatum amatam amatum amatos amatas amata Ablative amatō amatā amatō amatis amatis amatis
Translation. “having been verbed” or “verbed” If you translate the participle as “having been verbed”, translate it AFTER its noun. If you translate the participle as “verbed”, translate it BEFORE its noun.
Ex: Equus visus ad silvam cucurrit. The horse, having been seen, ran to the forest.
Militem vulneratum cepimus. We caught the wounded man.
The Future Active Participle
Tense. Future. Voice. Active. Declension. First and second declension. First declension endings are used when the participle’s noun is feminine. Second declension endings are used when the participle’s noun
Formation. The future active participle is the 4th principle part of a verb, with the final –us changed to –urus. In equation terms: 4th principle part – us + urus.
For the verb “amo, amare, amavi, amatus”, the nominative forms of the participle are amaturus, amatura, amaturum.
Declining. The participle is declined below.
Case Masc (S) Fem (S) Neuter (S) Masc (P) Fem (P) Neuter (P) Nom amaturus amatura amaturum amaturi amaturae amatura Gen amaturi amaturae amaturi amaturorum amaturarum amaturorum Dat amaturo amaturae amaturo amaturis amaturis amaturis Acc amaturum amaturam amaturum amaturos amaturas amatura Abl amaturō amaturā amaturō amaturis amaturis amaturis
Translation. “about to verb”, “going to verb” or “intending to verb” The future active participle sounds best if it is translated AFTER its noun.
Ex: Nautae ad Hispaniam navigaturi ad portum ambulaverunt. The sailors, about to sail to Spain, walked to the port.
Milites hostes fugituros viderunt. The soldiers saw the enemy intending to flee.