In German, verbs do not have to stay inside the verb slot. Both the present participle (Partizip I) and the past participle (Partizip II) can step directly in front of a noun and function like ordinary adjectives, packing whole actions into compact, descriptive noun phrases.
This feature is handy in everyday B1–B2 German (the sleeping child, a used car) and becomes essential when reading German newspapers, academic prose, and official documents.
1. Partizip I (Present Participle) as an Adjective
Form Partizip I by adding -d directly to the full verb infinitive:
- lachen → lachend (laughing)
- singen → singend (singing)
- schlafen → schlafend (sleeping)
- wachsen → wachsend (growing)
(The only two tiny exceptions in standard German are sein → seiend and tun → tuend.)
Meaning: Partizip I describes an ongoing, active action happening at the same time as the main clause—the direct counterpart to English -ing adjectives:
- das schlafende Kind (the sleeping child — das Kind)
- der lachende Mann (the laughing man — der Mann)
- eine wachsende Wirtschaft (a growing economy — die Wirtschaft)
- die folgenden Punkte (the following points — der Punkt / die Punkte)
Notice how in each case, the noun performs the action: the child is sleeping, the economy is growing.
2. Partizip II (Past Participle) as an Adjective
For Partizip II, use the verb’s standard past participle form (gemacht, gekocht, geschrieben, gebraucht—the same form you know from the Perfekt).
Meaning: Partizip II describes a completed action or resulting state—and with transitive verbs, a passive meaning (something that was done to the noun):
- das gekochte Ei (the boiled egg — das Ei)
- der geschriebene Brief (the written letter — der Brief)
- ein gebrauchter Wagen (a used car — der Wagen)
- die gesuchte Person (the wanted person — die Person)
Compare the classic minimal pairs to feel the active-vs-completed contrast immediately:
| Partizip I (Ongoing / Active) | Partizip II (Completed / Resulting State) | Contrast |
|---|---|---|
| das kochende Ei / Wasser | das gekochte Ei | boiling right now vs. already boiled |
| der schreibende Autor (der Autor) | der geschriebene Roman (der Roman) | the author who is writing vs. the novel that was written |
| der fallende Schnee (der Schnee) | das gefallene Laub (das Laub) | falling snow vs. fallen leaves |
| eine sich öffnende Tür (die Tür) | eine geöffnete Tür | an opening door vs. an opened door |
(One subtle exception: a few intransitive verbs of movement/change that take sein in the Perfekt—like ankommen, fallen, wachsen—have an active completed meaning in Partizip II: der angekommene Zug = the train that has arrived.)
3. Declension: Identical to Normal Adjectives
Once you have formed Partizip I or Partizip II, treat it exactly like a regular adjective. It never gets any special participle endings; it simply takes weak, mixed, or strong endings based on what precedes it:
| Declension Type | Partizip I Example | Partizip II Example | Grammar Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak (der/die/das) | der lachende Mann | das gekochte Ei | Nom. masc./neut. after definite article → -e |
| Weak (Dative/Akk. masc.) | mit dem lachenden Mann | ich lese den geschriebenen Brief | Dative and masc. Accusative after definite articles take -en |
| Mixed (ein/kein/mein) | ein lachendes Kind | ein gebrauchter Wagen | Nom. neut. → -es; Nom. masc. → -er |
| Strong (no article) | Lachende Kinder spielten im Park. | Gebrauchte Autos sind billiger. | Nom. plural with no article → -e |
Notice one helpful tip for spelling: because Partizip I always ends in -d, adding -e, -en, -er, -es, -em simply attaches after -d (schlafend + e = schlafende). You never double the -d and never replace it with -t. You can verify any verb’s exact Partizip II with the Verb Conjugator and check its declined endings in the Adjective Declension Calculator.
4. Extended Participial Phrases (Erweitertes Partizip)
A hallmark of formal, journalistic, and academic German is expanding a participial adjective into a mini-clause tucked between the article and the noun. Instead of writing a relative clause after the noun, German places all modifiers—time expressions, locations, prepositional phrases, or agents—directly before the participle:
- der seit drei Jahren in Berlin lebende Professor (the professor who has been living in Berlin for three years — der Professor)
- die von der Regierung geplante Reform (the reform planned by the government — die Reform)
- ein gestern Abend spät angekommener Brief (a letter that arrived late last night — der Brief)
Notice that the entire phrase acts like one giant adjective! The ending still goes on the participle right before the noun (lebende after der, geplante after die, angekommener after ein). You can unpack any extended participial phrase into a standard relative clause—a technique covered in detail in our C1 guide to the extended attribute and its passive-obligation cousin, the gerundive (die zu lösende Aufgabe).
Common Mistakes: Wrong vs. Right
| Mistake | Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confusing ongoing vs. completed meaning | Ich esse ein kochendes Ei. | Ich esse ein gekochtes Ei. | kochend (Partizip I) means actively boiling right now; gekocht (Partizip II) means boiled. |
| Leaving off the adjective ending on Partizip I | das schlafend Kind | das schlafende Kind | Before a noun, Partizip I must decline; das triggers -e. |
| Using Partizip I when the noun is passive | die von der Regierung planende Reform | die von der Regierung geplante Reform | The reform isn’t planning anything—it was planned (geplant, Partizip II). |
| Putting the case ending on a modifier instead of the participle | der seit drei Jahren in Berlin lebend Professor | der seit drei Jahren in Berlin lebende Professor | Only the participle immediately before the noun receives the declension ending (-e). |