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Lesson 46: Participles — Partizip I and Partizip II

Vocabulary: Business German

Completing this lesson will add to your overall progress:

VocabularyA2+1%B1+3%B2+2%C1+0.5%
GrammarA2+0.5%B1+3%B2+2%

How to work with this lesson

  1. Read the rule — understand the logic (5 minutes)
  2. Translate the exercises in writing — check against the key
  3. Say it out loud — slowly, consciously, watching every participle ending
  4. Speed up — drill the matrix until it flies out on autopilot

You now own Konjunktiv II, Passiv, paired conjunctions, complex subordinate clauses. Time to lay the last brick before the test — participles. Partizip I and Partizip II turn whole clauses into elegant adjectives. This is B2 territory — the language of newspapers, science, business documents.

Part 1: What a participle is and why you need it

"The reading student", "the written letter" — those are participles. A verb acting as an adjective. Exactly the same in English.

German has two:

  • Partizip I — action happening right now: "reading" (der lesende Student)
  • Partizip II — action completed: "written" (der geschriebene Brief)

You already know Partizip II from Perfekt. All that's left is to learn how both work as adjectives.

Cognate alert: Partizip = participle. Partizip I = English "-ing" adjective (laughing, reading). Partizip II = English "-ed" / past participle adjective (written, boiled). Same job in both languages.

Part 2: Partizip I — the formula

Partizip I = Infinitiv + d

That's it. No exceptions. No irregular forms.

InfinitivPartizip IEnglish
lesenlesendreading
fahrenfahrenddriving
schlafenschlafendsleeping
lächelnlächelndsmiling
wachsenwachsendgrowing
brennenbrennendburning

Partizip I = active meaning. The action happens now, simultaneously with the main verb.

Der schlafende Hund liegt auf dem Sofa. — The sleeping dog lies on the sofa.

Part 3: Partizip II — quick reminder

You've built Partizip II since lesson 27: ge-mach-t, ge-schrieb-en, organisier-t, ein-ge-laden. Same rules.

Partizip II = passive meaning. The action is completed, someone did it.

Das geschriebene Buch liegt auf dem Tisch. — The written book lies on the table.

Someone wrote the book (completed action). Now it lies there.

Part 4: Participle as adjective — declension

Here's the key move. When a participle stands in front of a noun, it behaves like a regular adjective. Which means — it takes the same endings you learned in lesson 37.

CaseP I: der lesende MannP II: das geschriebene BuchP II: die organisierte Reise
Nom.der lesende Manndas geschriebene Buchdie organisierte Reise
Akk.den lesenden Manndas geschriebene Buchdie organisierte Reise
Dat.dem lesenden Manndem geschriebenen Buchder organisierten Reise
Gen.des lesenden Mannesdes geschriebenen Buchesder organisierten Reise
  1. Participle + adjective ending. No new table to memorize — reuse what you already know.
  2. Partizip I = active, ongoing. Der lachende Mann = the man who is laughing (right now).
  3. Partizip II = passive, completed. Der eingeladene Gast = the guest who has been invited (already).

Trap! Don't mix up the meanings. "Der fahrende Zug" = the train that is moving (Partizip I, active). "Der angekommene Zug" = the train that has arrived (Partizip II, completed). One is literally in motion, the other is parked.

Part 5: Extended participle phrases (erweiterte Partizipialattribute)

In German you can cram a whole clause between the article and the noun. The principle: everything that modifies the participle sits between the article and the participle.

die von dem Professor geschriebene Arbeit = the paper written by the professor

More examples:

Extended phraseEnglish
der in Berlin lebende Kollegethe colleague living in Berlin
die gestern eingereichte Bewerbungthe application submitted yesterday
das von allen erwartete Ergebnisthe result expected by everyone
der gut vorbereitete Lebenslaufthe well-prepared CV

Trap! Read these constructions from the end: find the noun, then the participle in front of it, then everything else — modifiers of the participle. "die von dem Professor geschriebene Arbeit" — Arbeit (what?) — geschriebene (which? written) — von dem Professor (by whom? the professor).

Next up: Lesson 47 — Plusquamperfekt (past perfect). You'll learn how to say "I had already done this before something else happened" — two pasts, one earlier than the other. Perfect cognate of English past perfect.

Lesson 46: Participles — Partizip I and Partizip II · Deutsch · Glottos Matrix