Reference · module 29
Participles as adjectives
Everything this module explains, on one page.
das lesende Kind
Turn an action into a description of who is doing it.
- Add -d to any infinitive and you have an adjective: lesen becomes lesend, schlafen becomes schlafend, laufen becomes laufend. One rule, no exceptions.
- It means doing it right now, and the noun is the one doing it: das lesende Kind is the child that is reading.
- Then it takes ordinary adjective endings: das lesende Kind, ein lesendes Kind, mit dem lesenden Kind. Nothing new to learn there.
The mistake you are about to make
das lesend Kind
das lesende Kind
English -ing forms never take an ending — the reading child. Lesend is only half-built: in front of a noun it needs the adjective ending as well.
das gelesene Buch
Describe something by what was done to it.
- The participle you already use for the Perfekt works as an adjective too: das gelesene Buch, die reparierte Uhr, ein gekochtes Ei.
- This one is passive and finished. das gelesene Buch is the book that has been read — the book did not do anything.
- So the pair splits cleanly: -d is doing it now, ge- has had it done. das kochende Wasser is boiling; das gekochte Ei is boiled.
The mistake you are about to make
das gekochte Wasser (water that is boiling)
das kochende Wasser
English -ed and -ing sit close together, and "boiled water" can mean water that has boiled. German splits them cleanly: kochendes is boiling, gekochtes is done.
The long attribute
Read a sentence with five words between the article and the noun.
- Written German packs whole clauses in front of a noun: der gestern in Berlin unterschriebene Vertrag. Everything between der and Vertrag describes it.
- The trick to reading it is to find the article, jump to the noun, then unpack backwards: the contract that was signed in Berlin yesterday.
- It belongs to law, journalism and technical writing. In speech it is unusable, and Germans unpack it into a relative clause exactly as you would.
The mistake you are about to make
der Vertrag gestern in Berlin unterschrieben
der gestern in Berlin unterschriebene Vertrag
English can only put this after the noun — the contract signed in Berlin yesterday. German packs it in front, between article and noun, and it has to carry an ending.
The zu participle
Read the form that means must be done.
- die zu lösende Aufgabe means the task that has to be solved. zu in front of the -d participle turns description into obligation.
- It is the compact form of die Aufgabe, die gelöst werden muss. Officials love it and nobody says it aloud, which by now is a familiar pattern.
The mistake you are about to make
die lösende Aufgabe
die zu lösende Aufgabe
Without the zu it says the task is doing the solving. The zu flips it round: die zu lösende Aufgabe is the task that has to be solved.