Present+participles


 * How to Think About **

** Present Active Participles  ** Participles are verbal adjectives. They “take” (capere) “part” (pars, partis) of their nature from verbs and part from adjectives. In English the present active participle is the “-ing” form of the verb when used as an adjectives. Example: The man running down the street looked frightened. Running clearly is a verb form but also it describes, points out, or identifies the man. If running is used as a noun, it is a gerund, not a participle. Running can be a healthy sport. Misplaced participles can be comical in English: “Though melting quickly, I ate the ice cream.” English can have present passive participles; “Being seen by other team, we were immediately struck by lasertagged. Latin does not have a present passive participle. Latin present active participles are 3rd declension adjectives of one ending. Here are examples in the nominative singular in each conjugation: 1st canis ambulāns – a dog walking 2nd canis sedēns – a dog sitting 3rd canis currēns – a dog running 3rd –io canis capiēns – a dog seizing 4th canis dormiēns – a dog sleeping Here the phrases are as simple as a participial phrase can be. If the phrase is a little more complicated, everything in the phrase will fall in between the noun and the participle, “sandwiched” you could say. canis in viā ambulans – the dog walking in the street ...   canis ē culīnā celeriter currēns – the dog running quickly from the kitchen ...    canis cibum capiēns – the dog seizing the food ...    If the participles were changed to finite verbs, you would have simple sentences, easily read by a first year student in typical and natural Latin word order. Notice in the 3rd example the participle can take an accusative direct object like any transitive verb. canis in via ambulat. – The dog is walking in the street. canis cibum capit. – The dog seizes the food. Now for a complete sentence with a participle. canis cibum capiēns ē culīnā celeriter currit. – The dog, seizing the food, runs quickly from the kitchen. Notice everything about “seizing the food” stays separated from everything about “running out of the kitchen,” everything the dog itself which rules both the participle and the main verb. Here is the paradigm for “a walking dog” in every number and case. Singular Plural N. canis ambulāns canēs ambulantēs G. canis ambulantis canum ambulantium (some authors –tum) D. canī ambulantī canibus ambulantibus Acc. canem ambulantem canēs ambulantēs Abl. cane ambulante (-ī) canibus ambulantibus For practice do “sleeping dragon” – something which according to Harry Potter should never be tickled. I’ll give you the first two in the singular. draco dormiēns draconis dormientis Scroll down to ** A **to check answers The stem for the present participle is always –nt-. This is importa** nt ** and efficie** nt ** to remember; much is depende** nt ** on it for all you cognosce** nt **i of ancient languages. In fact the importa** nt **, efficie** nt **, dependent, cognosce** nt **i (a little Italian here) and the word prese** nt ** itself are all from Latin prese** nt ** participles as the –** nt ** testifies. Recap: the present participle in Latin is always active. It translates as an –ing form of the verb. It modifies a noun, agrees in number, gender and case and sandwiches the words in its phrase. It is almost identical to a 3rd declension adjective of one ending. It recognized by –ns in the nominative singular and –nt- as a stem in all other instances. Identify the participles and the nouns they modify in these examples and translate: agricolās in agrīs laborantēs vidēmus. periculum captivōrum cedentium erat magnum. cibum puellīs lacrimantibus dabant. nōs a hostibus fugientēs in salutem tandem advenimus. Scroll to ** B ** for answers. **  A   ** draco dormiēns dracones dormientes draconis dormientis draconum dormientium draconi dormienti draconibus dormientibus draconem dormientem dracones dormientes dracone dormiente (-i) draconibus dormientibus **  B   ** agricolās in agrīs laborantēs vidēmus. / We see farmers working in the fields. periculum captivōrum cedentium erat magnum./ The danger of retreating captives was great. cibum puellīs lacrimantibus dabant./ They gave food to the weeping girls. nōs a hostibus fugientēs in salutem tandem advenimus./ We, fleeing from the enemy reached safety at last. Related topics: ablative absolute, future active participle, perfect passive participle