present participle

English

Noun

present participle (plural present participles)

1. (grammar) A nonfinite verb form that indicates an ongoing action or state and which can function as an adjective.

   Synonyms: (abbreviations) pres. part., pres.part., p.pr.

   Hypernyms: participle, < form

   Coordinate terms: past participle, p. p., p.p., pp., pp; future participle

Usage notes

Present participles of English verbs are always formed with the suffix -ing. The English progressive (continuous) verb aspect is periphrastic — a phrase comprising a finite inflection (for the person, number and tense) of the auxiliary verb be followed by the full verb’s present participle. (The progressive can combine with other aspects; the perfect progressive aspect is periphrastically constructed with a finitely inflected auxiliary verb have + present participle of be (i.e., being) + past participle of the full verb.)

When a participle functions as a noun, it is called a gerund. A participle may also function as an adjective (that is, a participial adjective), especially in attributive use. It can evolve to become either a true noun or a true adjective, or both, with a shift in meaning, sometimes substantial. To see examples, look for words ending in “-ing” in Category:English adjectives and Category:English nouns.

Related terms

• active participle
• passive participle
• perfect passive participle
• present participial

Translations

verb form that indicates an ongoing action

• Afrikaans: teenwoordige deelwoord, onvoltooide deelwoord
• Catalan: participi present m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 現在分詞 / 现在分词 (zh) (xiànzài fēncí)

• Czech: příčestí přítomné n
• Danish: præsens participium (da) n or c, lang tillægsform c
• Dutch: onvoltooid deelwoord (nl) n, tegenwoordig deelwoord (nl) n
• Faroese: nútíðar lýsingarháttur m
• Finnish: partisiipin preesens (fi)
• French: participe présent (fr) m
• German: Mittelwort der Gegenwart n, Partizipium präsentis n, Partizip Präsens (de) n, Partizip I (de) n
• Greek: μετοχή του ενεστώτα f (metochí tou enestóta)
• Hungarian: folyamatos melléknévi igenév (hu)
• Icelandic: lýsingarháttur nútíðar (is) m
• Japanese: 現在分詞 (ja) (げんざいぶんし, genzai bunshi)
• Latin: participium praesentis m or n
• Norman: participe présent m (Jersey)
• Portuguese: particípio presente (pt) m
• Romanian: participiu prezent n
• Russian: прича́стие настоя́щего вре́мени (ru) n (pričástije nastojáščevo vrémeni)
• Spanish: participio presente (es) m
• Swedish: presensparticip (sv) c
• Welsh: rhangymeriad presennol m

See also

• gerund
• gerundive
• periphrastic