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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:

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:

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: