The Present Participle (Partizip I)
To describe an ongoing action, English uses the "-ing" form of a verb, like "the waving child" or "the glowing light." In German, this is called the present participle (Partizip I).
Forming the present participle is simple: just add -d to the infinitive.
| to glow | leuchten |
For leuchten (to glow), the base present participle is leuchtend (glowing).
Using Participles as Adjectives
When you place a present participle in front of a noun, it acts as an attributive adjective. It takes standard adjective endings to match the noun's gender, number, and case.
With a definite article, leuchtend gets an -e ending for a neuter accusative noun:
| We visit the amusement park and see the glowing Ferris wheel. | Wir besuchen den Freizeitpark und sehen das leuchtende Riesenrad. |
Similarly, winken (to wave) becomes winkend, taking the -e ending for a neuter nominative noun:
| The waving child is sitting on the carousel. | Das winkende Kind sitzt auf dem Karussell. |
Participles in Other Cases
Participles follow standard adjective declension. Without an article before a plural noun, the participle takes the strong ending -e in the nominative and accusative.
| Screaming people are riding the wild roller coaster. | Schreiende Leute fahren mit der wilden Achterbahn. |
After a definite article in the dative case, the weak adjective ending is -en.
| The father is buying sweet cotton candy for the laughing girl. | Der Vater kauft dem lachenden Mädchen süße Zuckerwatte. |
This also applies to dative plural nouns:
| Is the fast carousel fun for the screaming children? | Macht das schnelle Karussell den schreienden Kindern Spaß? |