German Participles

7.2: German Participles

After all this, we come to German participles. What is a participle? A participle is a word which can take on a different form. This depends on the context of the sentence or what the situation is all about. Let us take a closer look.

German is a fun language to learn. It has a great ring to it along with crisp clear words. However, there are a few obstacles which we will all inevitably run into along the way. What are these obstacles? They are the obstacles of participles.

German participles are words which can be used in more than one way. They can cause problems if you do not know when to use them. A headache in the least! Words such as halt, nur, aber, and schon are included in the troublemakers. Why so much error though? There is so much error because these words must be used in different situations.

Translation is a difficult aspect of some participles. I mentioned earlier in these lessons that not all words translate correctly. That is true of some participles. The word just does not translate correctly. These words are just misfits, plain and simple.

Please note that there are no present participles which are used like the "ing" endings in English. There is no present progressive tense in German and this is the reason why. So do not use participles in this tense. Not even the German dictionary helps with dealing with participles. A little ironic wouldn't you think?

Did you know that a past participle can also be used as an adjective? The real difference between the usage of participles in English and German is that German requires certain endings on the participle if it precedes a noun. Make sure you know what form of participle to use though. Past participles can also be used as an adverb.

A common form of endings for the present participles in German is the "end" ending. This is somewhat similar to the "ing" ending in English. These types of participles can be used as an adverb or perhaps an adjective. Again it depends on the context of the sentence. Try to remember that endings must match the grammar of the sentence. Everything is sort of "grouped" together. Present participles are used more in writing than in speaking. Why is this so? Perhaps tradition, or just the way the language originated.

German Pronouns >>

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