Present Active Participle
The present active participle is often translated as the “-ing” form of the verb; for example, “singing”, “laughing”, “praising”, “hearing.”
This is easy to confuse, however, with the gerund, a verbal noun that also ends in -ing. It is important to keep in mind the difference between a participle and a gerund: the participle is a verbal adjective that usually modifies a noun, and the gerund is itself a verbal noun. If you need to determine whether an -ing form in English is a participle or a gerund, try to add the words “the act of” before the -ing form. If the sentence still makes sense, the -ing form is a gerund; if not, it’s a participle. For example:
- We cheered him up by singing.
- We cheered him up by the act of singing. = gerund
- The singing girl was very loud.
- The the act of singing girl was very loud. = participle
It is easy to tell the two apart in Latin, however, because they are formed differently. In order to form the present active participle, we use the second principal part.
- If a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd conj. verb, chop off the -re, and then add the endings -ns, -ntis to form a one-termination adjective.
- If a 3rd -iō or 4th conj. verb, chop off the -re, change the vowel to -ie-, and then add your -ns, -ntis.
For example:
- laudāre > laudāns, laudantis, “praising”
- monēre > monēns, monentis, “warning”
- regere > regēns, regentis, “ruling”
- capere > capiēns, capientis, “seizing”
- audīre > audiēns, audientis, “listening, hearing”
In all conjugations, the vowel before the -ns of the nominative singular will always be long; the vowel before the -nt- of the oblique cases will always be short.
So, take a look at some examples of the present active participle in context.
- puella, carmina multa canēns, cēnam parāvit. (cēna, -ae, f. - dinner) The girl, singing many songs, prepared dinner.
- milēs ā duce urbem regente* interfectus est. The soldier was killed by the leader ruling the city.
* Note that the ablative singular of the present active participle can end either in -ī (the usual ending for one-termination adjectives) or in -e. -ī is the ending when the participle is used as a simple adjective (e.g., ab regentī rege, “by the ruling king”). -e is used when the participle takes a prepositional phrase or object, as above (urbem regente), or is used in an ablative absolute (on which see below).
Note that there is no present passive participle.
Note also that the literal “-ing” translation of a present active participle can sound stilted and awkward. There are better and preferable ways to translate a participle; see the section on translating participles within this module.
Present Active Participle of Deponents
We form the present active participle of a deponent verb similarly.
- If a 1st or 2nd conj. verb, follow the appropriate rules from above (swapping in -rī for -re in the instructions).
- If a 3rd conj. verb, replace the final -ī of the infinitive with -e- before adding -ns, -ntis.
- If a 3rd -iō conj. verb, replace the final -ī of the infinitive with -ie- before adding the -ns, -ntis.
- If a 4th conj. verb, replace the -īrī of the infinitive with -ie- before adding the -ns, -ntis.
Note that this is one of three exceptions to the rule that deponents are passive in form but active in meaning. In this case, the present active participle of a deponent verb is both active in form AND active in meaning. We’ll learn about the other two exceptions below.
- hortārī > hortāns, hortantis, “exhorting”
- verērī > verēns, verentis, “fearing”
- loquī > loquēns, loquentis, “speaking, saying”
- morī > moriēns, morientis, “dying”
- orīrī (“to rise”) > oriēns, orientis, “rising”
Here are some examples of the present active participle of deponents in action:
- dux, mīlitēs hortāns, profectus est. The leader, exhorting the soldiers, set out.
- mīlitem morientem ferēbāmus. We were carrying the dying soldier.