Inhaltsverzeichnis
Participles as adjectives
You probably know two types of participles
- the present participle, which is formed using the verb + -ing, e.g. interesting
- the past participle, which is formed using the verb + -ed (or the third verb form with irregular verbs), e.g. interested
- You meet the present participle in progressive forms: I am watching TV
- The past participle is part of present perfect forms: I have watched a lot of TV in my life
Participles as adjectives
Participles can also be used as adjectives. Any verb can be turned into an adjective when you use it to form one of the two participle forms.
Present participles as adjectives
| Example | Explanation |
|---|---|
| I saw an boring movie yesterday. | verb: to bore [langweilen] → present participle as adjective: boring |
| Helen told me about a fascinating book this morning. | verb: to fascinate [faszinieren] → present participle as adjective: fascinating |
The present participle as an adjective has an active meaning (the movie bores me, the book fascinates me).
The object of the participle (Here: “movie”, “book”) is the cause [Ursache] or the giver of a feeling: The movie gives me the feeling of boredom [Langeweile].
Past participles as adjectives
| Example | Explanation |
|---|---|
| During the movie I got very bored [gelangweilt] . | verb: to bore → past participle as adjective: bored |
| When I read the book myself, I was also fascinated | verb: to fascinate → past participle as adjective: fascinated |
The past participle as an adjective has an passive meaning (I was bored by the movie, I was fascinated by the book).
The object of the participle (here: “I” in both sentences) is the result [Ergebnis] or the receiver [Empfänger] of a feeling: I get the feeling of boredom [Langeweile] from the movie.