German participle as adjectives
Sign up for free to get all information about private lessons and our available group courses (A1, A2, B2, B2, C1, C2)
Sign up for freeWe offer both private lessons and organized group courses
Sign up for free to get all available courses or contact one of our teachers yourself!
Elisabeth M.
35.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Jana K.
32.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Christina M.
23.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Our offer
Participles are known as kinds of a verb. Therefore, in German there are used two different participles: the present and the past participle.
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.Present participle used as an adjective
- 1.1.Declension of present participles
- 2.Past participle used as an adjective in German
- 2.1.Construction of past participles
- 2.2.Transformation for regular verbs without a prefix
- 2.3.Transformation of regular verbs with separable prefix
- 2.4.Transformation of regular verbs with inseparable prefix
- 2.5.Transformation of verbs ending with -ieren
- 2.6.Transformation of strong verbs
- 3.Exercises
- 3.1.Build the correct participle form!
- 3.2.Exercise on present and past participles used as adjectives
Present participle used as an adjective
The present participle is used, when two events happen at the same time. This kind of participle is always used as an adjective.
| Sentence without a participle | Sentence with a participle |
|---|---|
| Das Kind weint und steht im Garten. (The child is crying and is standing in the garden.) | Das weinende Kind steht im Garten. (The crying child is standing in the garden.) |
| Die Frau schreit und rennt aus dem Haus. (The child is crying and runs out of the house.) | Die schreiende Frau rennt aus dem Haus. (The screaming women runs out of the house.) |
As you might have recognized, the words weint and schreit are returned into the infinitive form and an -de was added to make it a present participle.
Have a question?
Take online language lessons with a professional teacher
- Native & verified teachers
- Free trial lesson
- Learning materials included
Eleonore G. 
20.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Andrea B. 
25.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Beatriz B.
30.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Martina C.
18.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Bruna D.
20.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Gloria P. 
15.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Ana N. 
30.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Marwa E. 
25.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Beatriz A. 
30.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Laura G.
25.00 €/h
Free trial lesson!
Group lessons!
Declension of present participles
By using the present participle as an adjective, it has to be declined in order to adjust it to the noun it describes, depending on the gender, case and number of the noun. Due to different articles used, there exist different forms of declensions: weak declension (with a definite article), mixed declension (with an indefinite article) and strong declension (no preceding article). If you want to learn more about the four german cases just have a look at the special chapter about it.
Starting with the weak declension:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der weinende Junge | die weinende Puppe | das weinende Mädchen | die weinenden Kinder |
| Accusative | den weinenden Jungen | die weinende Puppe | das weinende Mädchen | die weinenden Kinder |
| Dative | dem weinenden Jungen | der weinenden Puppe | dem weinenden Mädchen | den weinenden Kinder |
| Genitive | des weinenden Jungen | der weinenden Puppe | des weinenden Mädchens | der weinenden Kinder |
Coming to the mixed declension:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein weinender Junge | eine weinende Puppe | ein weinendes Mädchen | einige weinende Kinder |
| Accusative | einen weinenden Jungen | eine weinende Puppe | ein weinendes Mädchen | einige weinende Kinder |
| Dative | einem weinenden Jungen | einer weinenden Puppe | einem weinenden Mädchen | einigen weinenden Kindern |
| Genitive | eines weinenden Jungen | einer weinenden Puppe | eines weinenden Mädchens | einiger weinender Kinder |
And the strong declension:
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | weinender Junge | weinende Puppe | weinendes Mädchen | weinende Kinder |
| Accusative | weinenden Jungen | weinende Puppe | weinendes Mädchen | weinende Kinder |
| Dative | weinendem Jungen | weinender Puppe | weinendem Mädchen | weinenden Kindern |
| Genitive | weinendes Jungens | weinender Puppe | weinendes Mädchens | weinender Kinder |
It's also possible that the participle is in a non-attributive function, meaning that the participle is isolated in the sentence. For instance, "Der Auftrag ist dringend." (The order is urgent."). Then the -d ending is enough.
Past participle used as an adjective in German
The past participle, in contrast, signals that the noun of a sentence is in a certain condition or that two actions didn't happen at the same time. Many weak and strong verbs can be used as adjectives.
| Sentence without participle | Sentence with participle |
|---|---|
| Ich verkaufe das Auto. Das Auto ist gebraucht. (I am selling my car. The car is used.) | Ich verkaufe mein gebrauchtes Auto. (I am selling my used car.) |
Die Frau ist gebildet und ist Professorin. (The women is well eductaed and is a professor.) | Die gebildete Frau ist Professorin. (The well educated women is a professor.) |
Construction of past participles
By constructing the past participle you have to be careful, because you need to transform the verb of a sentence into an adjective. By doing so, there are different options:
- Transformation of regular verbs without a prefix
- Transformation of regular verbs with seperable prefix
- Transformation of regular verbs with inseperable prefix
- Transformation of verbs ending with -ieren
- Transformation of strong verbs
1. Transformation for regular verbs without a prefix
- construction: ge - verb stem - (e)t
| Infinitiv | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kaufen (to buy) | ge-kauf-t | Bring bitte den gekauften Regenschirm mit. (Please bring the bought umbrella.) |
| öffnen (to open | ge-öffn-et | Bitte mach das geöffnete Fenster zu. (Please close the opened window.) |
2. Transformation of regular verbs with separable prefix
- construction: seperable prefix - ge - verb stem - (e)t
| Infinitiv | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| aufrunden (to round sth. up) | auf-ge-rund-et | Ich habe die Summe aufgerundet. (I rounded the sum up.) |
| angebrannt (to be burnt) | an-ge-brann-t | Die Suppe ist angebrannt. (The soup is burnt.) |
3. Transformation of regular verbs with inseparable prefix
- construction: inseparable prefix - verb stem - (e)t
| Infinitiv | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| zerstören (to destroy) | zer-stör-t | Die zersörte Stadt wird wieder aufgebaut. (the destroyed city will be rebuilt.) |
| entwickeln (to develop) | ent-wickel-t | Das entwickelte Computerprogramm ist gut. (The developed computer program is good.) |
4. Transformation of verbs ending with -ieren
- construction: verb stem - t
| Infinitiv | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| repapieren (to fix) | reparier-t | Wo steht das reparierte Auto? (Where is the fixed car? |
| studieren | studier-t | Der studierte Informatiker weiß viel. (The studied computer scientist knows a lot.) |
5. Transformation of strong verbs
- construction: ge - verb stem - en
| Infinitiv | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kommen (to come) | ge-komm-en | Der gestern gekommene Katalog ist schön. (The catalog which arrived yesterday is fine.) |
| fahren (to drive) | ge-fahr-en | Die gefahrene Route war schneller. (The droven route was faster.) |
There are some exceptions to this rule, for instance the verbs sein (gewesen), haben (gehabt), werden (geworden).
Exercises
Build the correct participle form!
Exercise on present and past participles used as adjectives
Exercises
Build the correct participle form!
Exercise on present and past participles used as adjectives
What our students say
Unlike in other platforms, all our teachers are manually verified by our professional team. Trust in the experiences of our students.
My name is Tim Grundl and I have been teaching languages professionally for over 15 years. By using modern methods and a personal approach, the lessons become sustainable and motivating. The fun of learning should not be neglected, because learning is only possible in a relaxed atmosphere.
Book a free trial lesson and form your own opinion.
Whatever your goals are, conversation training, writing letters or emails, etc., together we will create a goal-oriented, individual plan to achieve these goals as stress-free as possible.
I would be happy to work with you.
M. R.
My husband has really enjoyed the lessons he's had with Tim. The material is rigorous and in-depth. Even after previous lessons, Tim has been able to push my husband and keep his confidence up.
Tim G.
Hello,
my name is Nina, I'm from Austria and I also lived for one year and a half in Canada. I worked there as a German Teacher for adults, so I speak German, English and French.
I also teach English for beginners and advanced beginners.
My teaching methodes are totally based on the level of my student. If somebody is already advanced, I focus on communication and pronunciation. We will arrange on a topic and talk and discuss in the lesson about it.
If my student is a beginner, I'm gonna start with the basics of the German language. (the articles, the verb "to be", the pronouns...)
The learning material is all made by myself, because I'm a German teacher, so that means, I already got lots of working sheets for many topics. I send these to my student via e-mail or put it directly on the coLanguage homepage.
I'm available from Monday to Thursday between 5pm and 08:00 pm. For the weekend it's the best to just send me a request.
Of course is a free trial lesson (it's about 20 minutes) possible.
I'm happy to teach you :-)
See you soon! Nina
D. O.
Sehr Gut lesson. We read some german news, worked on konjugations. Learned new vocab and really worked on pronunciation.
Nina V.
Hello!
My name's Eleonora. I am from Ukraine. I am a qualified teacher and a Russian native speaker.
In 2007 I graduated from pedagogical university and since that time I work as a teacher. I love my job and always ready to share my knowledge with everyone.
If you want to improve your Russian, English or German or start learning them you will definitely like my lessons. My classes are developed for each student according to their level, interests and needs.
I try to make lessons various and use different kinds of teaching methods, exercises and technologies. My lessons include:
vocabulary enlargement and usage;wide grammar practicereading activities (from texbooks, at higher levels original texts);practicing oral speech.My schedule is quite flexible so contact me and we'll arrange the time for lessons.
See you!
A. .
Eleonora is very friendly and methodological teacher, perfectly adapting to students needs. I have enjoyed my every class learning.
Eleonora K.
Hallo :) I'm a German language teacher with a Bachelor and Master degree in German and with many years of teaching experience.
I was born and lived in Switzerland for many years and grew up in a bilingual family, because of that I speak German, Swiss German, Croatian and English :)
- ABOUT THE CLASS -
I offer German language lessons for A1, A2, B1, B2 level and they include everything you need: grammar, speaking, listening audio, reading, writing and for some fun: games and role plays :)
This is ideal for students who want actively participate and speak more, learn new words and exercise the grammar.
All learning materials and exercises are included and will be provided during the lesson.
The learning material is from various books: Schritte International, Menschen, Sicher im Alltag und Beruf, Begegnungen, ....
If you wish to have only conversational lessons, I can arrange this also for you (only available for B1 and B2 level).
* IMPORTANT: coLanguage shows only my general availability, if you want to book a lesson, please sent me a message with your availability and language level, and I will contact you as soon as possible with more informations :)
M. C.
Mihaela is very professional, punctual and well organised. She plans the lessons well with relevant materials based on the student interests and level. She is very flexible about rescheduling classes and always available for any doubts or requests.
Mihaela S.
Thank you very much Marilena :)
Hello =)
My name is Karolin and since the beginning of 2017, while I was still living in Chile, I've been giving online classes. I really enjoy my work and it gives me the privilage to get to know people from all around the world, which is amazing.
Both in English and in German, I teach classes for beginners and advanced students. I speak Spanish fluently, but as I lived in Chile for around 5 years, both my pronounciation and my choice of words are influenced by that. I learned and teach the european Spanish but only for beginners (A1/A2). But if you don't mind the chilenean influence, I do teach to a higher level as well.
If you'd like to get to know me and my teaching methods, just contact me and we will do a free trial lesson (please do NOT by a lesson before the trial lesson, not every teacher is good for every student).
See you soon!
R. D.
I am so happy to be taking German lessons with Karolin. She is an amazing teacher, I honestly cannot believe how much I have improved in the 6 months I have been taking lessons with her. She made me feel confortable from the very beginning, she is always on time and somehow makes me look forward to every lesson. Thanks for everything Karo!
Karolin G.
I am a native German speaker and am teaching English and German as foreign languages. I have got a teaching degree and have been teaching English and German for more than two years to all levels and age groups.
I personally prefer to speak in the learning language as much as possible and to focus on all four skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Moreover, I like to cover practical topics that can be used in your everyday life and make classes as diverse and dynamic as possible. Nevertheless, I am always open-minded to suggestions coming from students.
Concerning materials I like to use a course book and in addition worksheets, audios, videos, etc.
In case you have got any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me :)
O. I.
Anna is a very well prepared and good teacher. She is a good teacher, dedicated to teach you. Would recommend her for everyone who would like to learn German.
Anna A.
Hello!
Are you worried that you can't tackle the big journey of learning Russian or English? I would be really happy to help you and do my best to be your guide on that path!
I have a bachelor's degree with honors in teaching foreign languages and linguistics and I have been working as a tutor for 3 years.
With me it doesn't matter, where you are coming from, what your language level is and why you decided to pick up a language. Be sure that at every lesson I will create a very friendly and supportive a friendly environment with individual materials for your needs.
Your goals will be my goals. If you have any doubts, feel free to book a trial lesson (it's free anyway) and I will be happy to answer to all your questions.
A. S.
Katya is a Russian/English teacher who's had experience with beginners in the past. So if you're looking to start learning Russian this is a good option to do so. She has a large variety of learning materials including games and grammar practice and seems to know how to communicate online.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
Katsiaryna S.
Thank you so much!
My interest in learning foreign languages has arisen since I was a young girl. At 13 I made up my mind to attend the foreign language high school where I graduaded with proficiency. After a few years I got my University degree.
I have been teaching for a few years privately via Skype Italian mainly to German adult students. My method is based to consolidate the grammar knowledge if previuosly done or to base it by catching their attention on interesting topics. I provide my students all material needed to plan a valuable lesson and for this reason I have gathered fulfilling reviews on other teaching platforms
About Italian students studying German with me, most of them are interested in deeping topics dealt at school or being prepared to get a certification.
I look forward to hearing from you
Maria Grazia
A. M.
Very interesting and useful lessons. Maria Grazia always punctual and precise, we worked very well and she was always very kind
Maria Grazia L.
Being a native English speaker with a 120-hour premier TEFL certificate and a double major in communications, my lessons deliver value that help you reach your language goals.
Having worked in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, my classes come with an international flavor. My students have described my teaching style as being nurturing and effective.
Sign up for your trial lesson today!
V. F.
Gaurav is an experienced and professional teacher. He always customize the lesson and the teaching material according to the student's needs. He is very available and friendly. Highly recommended!
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
Gaurav H.
Hello,
my name is Veronika and I am a student in Florence at the academy of fine arts. I have been in Italy for three years and I really like the Italian language. In school i learned english and during journeys i used to speak a lot of english so i'm also able to teach in english.
I am from Germany so I am a German native speaker. I have already taught German to some of my friends and would love to teach my language to more people as well. At the beginning I would like to do grammar lessons and the most used words to deepen the basic knowledge of the language. Then I will continue to have conversations in German to increase vocabulary and to give confidence in dialogue and in any case in speaking the language in real scenarios. The most important thing by learning a new language is to learn it through hearing and speaking. Being difficult at first to formulate sentences will then become easier and easier and thus you arrive at a fluent and confident way to speak the new language.
For myself I learned Italian three years ago with this method so I also know what it is like to learn a language and I can help you with my teaching to learn German that way.
I can not wait to start!
greetings Veronika
J. C.
Veronika is a really nice teacher. She is well prepared ahead of the class, she brings the teaching material in a intelligent and helpful manner for each session. She is assertive and can help you understand complex topics in a supportive way. We discussed initially about my goals and have been working systematically towards successfully taking the TELC B1 certificate. I really recommend her to anyone!
Veronika N.
Thank you, Josè !! Congratulations on passing the exam!
INSEGNANTE DI TEDESCO
S. B.
Always a sheer pleasure to learn from Fiorina: full of positive energy, well prepared, full of resources... and with a smile!
Fiorina D.
German individually for each level
M. I.
I am thrilled by my teacher Dani. She is nice, positive and does a great job.
Dani K.
Hallo :) I'm a German language teacher with a Bachelor and Master degree in German and with many years of teaching experience.
I was born and lived in Switzerland for many years and grew up in a bilingual family, because of that I speak German, Swiss German, Croatian and English :)
- ABOUT THE CLASS -
I offer German language lessons for A1, A2, B1, B2 level and they include everything you need: grammar, speaking, listening audio, reading, writing and for some fun: games and role plays :)
This is ideal for students who want actively participate and speak more, learn new words and exercise the grammar.
All learning materials and exercises are included and will be provided during the lesson.
The learning material is from various books: Schritte International, Menschen, Sicher im Alltag und Beruf, Begegnungen, ....
If you wish to have only conversational lessons, I can arrange this also for you (only available for B1 and B2 level).
* IMPORTANT: coLanguage shows only my general availability, if you want to book a lesson, please sent me a message with your availability and language level, and I will contact you as soon as possible with more informations :)
H. Z.
Lessons with Mihaela are always well organised. She is undoubtedly proficient in German and can give useful tips. There is plenty of study materials provided. It is always possible to look at these materials even after the lesson since Mihaela writes downs every vocabulary that is discussed. She is always happy to tailor the lesson according to student's wishes/needs. I'm very satisfied.
Thank you very much Hana :)
Hallo :) I'm a German language teacher with a Bachelor and Master degree in German and with many years of teaching experience.
I was born and lived in Switzerland for many years and grew up in a bilingual family, because of that I speak German, Swiss German, Croatian and English :)
- ABOUT THE CLASS -
I offer German language lessons for A1, A2, B1, B2 level and they include everything you need: grammar, speaking, listening audio, reading, writing and for some fun: games and role plays :)
This is ideal for students who want actively participate and speak more, learn new words and exercise the grammar.
All learning materials and exercises are included and will be provided during the lesson.
The learning material is from various books: Schritte International, Menschen, Sicher im Alltag und Beruf, Begegnungen, ....
If you wish to have only conversational lessons, I can arrange this also for you (only available for B1 and B2 level).
* IMPORTANT: coLanguage shows only my general availability, if you want to book a lesson, please sent me a message with your availability and language level, and I will contact you as soon as possible with more informations :)
As always, her lessons are great! She takes time to prepare in advance the lesson and pesonalised material for your needs.
Mihaela S.