The active adjectival participle (-ący)
When you want to describe a noun that is currently performing an action—like a working farmer, a barking dog, or growing grain—Polish uses the active adjectival participle.
These participles are built from imperfective verbs in the present tense. To form one, take the "they" form (third-person plural) of the verb and simply add the suffix -cy (for masculine), -ca (for feminine), or -ce (for neuter).
- pracować (to work) → pracują (they work) + cy = pracujący (working)
- rosnąć (to grow) → rosną (they grow) + ce = rosnące (growing)
Declining like adjectives
Because these participles act as adjectives, they must decline to match the noun's gender, number, and case. They use standard adjective endings.
If the noun is the subject (Nominative case), the participle uses its basic dictionary endings:
If the noun is in a different case, the participle changes right along with it. For example, when a masculine noun for a person or animal is in the Accusative case, the participle takes the -ego ending:
In the plural, the endings also follow typical adjective rules. Non-masculine-personal nouns (like plants, animals, or objects) take the -ące ending. Masculine-personal nouns (groups involving men) take the -ący ending.
Describing a scene
Because these participles describe ongoing actions rather than permanent traits, they are an excellent tool for painting a vivid picture of rural life and agriculture in motion.