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 gestohlenerAusweis (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.)