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Partizip 1 as Adjective — Present Participle as an Adjective

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📺 Instructional Video

An instructional video explaining this grammar topic with practical examples.

🎯 Lesson Objectives

  • Learn how the German present participle (Partizip I) functions as an adjective.
  • Master the endings for the four cases and three genders.
  • Identify common mistakes and avoid them.

📚 Core Rule

The present participle (Partizip I) is formed by adding -end (or -ierend for some verbs) to the verb stem. When used as an adjective it inflects like a regular adjective and agrees with the noun in gender, number and case.

Case Example with machen Translation
Nominative Masculine der machende Mann the doing man
Accusative Feminine die machende Frau the doing woman
Dative Neuter dem machenden Kind to the doing child
Genitive Plural der machenden Menschen of the doing people
Verb Partizip I Example Phrase
machen machend das machende Kind (the doing child)
sehen sehend die sehende Frau (the seeing woman)
fahren fahrend der fahrende Zug (the moving train)

Examples

  • das lachende Kind — the laughing child
  • der spielende Hund — the playing dog
  • die lernende Schülerin — the learning schoolgirl



📝 Interactive Exercises

✏️ Fill in the blank with the correct word: Write only one word in each field.

# Question Answer
1 Convert the verb lachen (to laugh) into a Partizip I adjective.
2 Convert the verb spielen (to play) into a Partizip I adjective.
3 Convert the verb lernen (to learn) into a Partizip I adjective.
4 Fill in the blank with the correct participle: "Das ___ Kind ist früh aufgestanden."