When describing two actions happening at the exact same time—like a sleepwalker exploring the house at night—German uses the present participle (Partizip I) as an adverb.
| Snoring, the sleepwalker goes into the kitchen. | Schnarchend geht der Schlafwandler in die Küche. |
Forming the Present Participle
To form the present participle, simply add a -d to the infinitive of a verb.
- schnarchen (to snore) becomes schnarchend (snoring)
- murmeln (to mumble) becomes murmelnd (mumbling)
- gähnen (to yawn) becomes gähnend (yawning)
When you use these words to describe how another action is happening—acting as adverbs of manner—they never change their form. There are no adjective endings to add.
You will often see these participle adverbs at the very beginning of the sentence to emphasize the action or set the scene. Remember that the main conjugated verb must immediately follow the adverb in position two.
| Mumbling, he searches for something in the kitchen. | Murmelnd sucht er etwas in der Küche. |
| Stumbling, he steps on a toy. | Stolpernd tritt er auf ein Spielzeug. |
| Yawning, he stands in the hallway. | Gähnend steht er im Flur. |
Mid-Sentence and Combinations
Just like any standard adverb, you can place the present participle later in the sentence, after the conjugated verb. You can also combine multiple adverbs with und.
| Finally, he lies snoring in bed again. | Schließlich liegt er wieder schnarchend im Bett. |
| He goes barefoot and mumbling back into his bed. | Er geht barfuß und murmelnd zurück in sein Bett. |
| Stumbling and yawning, he finds the pajamas. | Stolpernd und gähnend findet er den Schlafanzug. |