Participles

A participle is a verbal adjective — it comes from a verb but describes a noun. Latin uses three participles at GCSE: the present active, the perfect passive, and the future active.

How they work

Present active participle

Formed from the present stem + -ns (genitive -ntis). It agrees with the noun it describes in case, number, and gender. Translate as "verb-ing" or "while verb-ing".

Example: servus cantāns = the singing slave / the slave singing.

Note: present participles decline like third-declension adjectives. The ablative singular ends in -nte (or -ntī when used as a pure adjective).

Perfect passive participle (PPP)

The fourth principal part of the verb. It agrees with the noun it describes in case, number, and gender. Translate as "having been verb-ed".

Example: captī (masculine plural nominative) = having been captured.

PPPs decline like first/second-declension adjectives (bonus, bona, bonum pattern).

Future active participle

Formed from the fourth principal part stem + -ūrus / -ūra / -ūrum. Agrees in case, number, and gender. Translate as "about to verb" or "intending to verb".

Example: redītūrus = about to return.

Worked examples

1. puer currentem canem spectābat.
The boy was watching the running dog. (present active participle — currentem agrees with canem)

2. mīlitēs captī ad urbem ductī sunt.
The captured soldiers were led to the city. (PPP — captī agrees with mīlitēs)

3. rēx moritūrus populō locūtus est.
The king, about to die, spoke to the people. (future active participle — moritūrus agrees with rēx)

4. fēmina in forō stāns verba audīvit.
The woman standing in the forum heard the words. (present active participle — stāns agrees with fēmina)

Exam tip: Check that the participle agrees in case, number, and gender with the noun it describes — not with the subject of the main verb. A participial phrase almost always sits immediately next to the noun it modifies.