German Participles (Partizip I & II)

German Grammar

German Participles (Partizip I & II)

German has two participles: Partizip I (present participle) and Partizip II (past participle). Each has distinct formations and uses in German grammar.

Example:

• Partizip I: das schlafende Kind (the sleeping child)
• Partizip II: Ich habe geschlafen. (I have slept.)

Partizip I (Present Participle)

The Partizip I is formed by adding -d to the infinitive. When used as an adjective, it takes regular adjective endings.

Infinitive + -d + adjective ending

Infinitive	Base Partizip I	With Article	Example
schlafen	schlafend	das schlafende Kind	the sleeping child
laufen	laufend	der laufende Mann	the running man
lesen	lesend	die lesenden Studenten	the reading students
arbeiten	arbeitend	die arbeitende Frau	the working woman

Special Cases: sein and tun

Two verbs form their Partizip I differently:

Infinitive	Partizip I	Example
sein	seiend	das seiende Problem (the existing problem)
tun	tuend	die tuende Arbeit (the doing work)

→ Learn more about Adjective Endings

Usage of Partizip I

1. As an Adjective

When used before a noun the Partizip I acts as an adjective:

Examples

• Ein weinendes Kind (A crying child)
• Die brennende Kerze (The burning candle)
• Mit klopfendem Herzen (With beating heart)

2. For Simultaneous Actions

When included in a sentence with a different main verb, the Partizip I describes an action happening at the same time:

Examples

• Singend geht sie zur Arbeit. (She goes to work singing.)
• Lächelnd nimmt er das Geschenk an. (He accepts the gift smiling.)
• Er verlässt pfeifend das Haus. (He leaves the house whistling.)

Partizip II (Past Participle)

Partizip II is crucial for forming perfect tenses (Perfekt, Plusquamperfekt, Futur II) and the passive voice. Its formation depends on whether the verb is regular, irregular, or mixed.

Regular Verbs

If the verb is regular (also called "weak"), the participle is formed like so:

ge- + stem + -t

For stems ending in -d, -t, add an extra -e- before the ending:

Infinitive	Partizip II	Example
machen	gemacht	Ich habe es gemacht.
lernen	gelernt	Sie hat Deutsch gelernt.
arbeiten	gearbeitet	Wir haben gearbeitet.
warten	gewartet	Er hat lange gewartet.

Irregular (Strong) Verbs

Irregular verbs form their past participle with:

ge- + stem with changed vowel + -en

Since the verbs are irregular, you have to memorize the vowel changes, but here are a few patterns that you can memorize. Sometimes, even though the verb is strong, the vowel does not change in the past participle and it only changes in the simple past tense.

→ Learn more about irregular verbs

Pattern	Infinitive	Partizip II	Example
ei → ie	schreiben	geschrieben	Er hat einen Brief geschrieben.
i → u	trinken	getrunken	Ich habe Kaffee getrunken.
i → u	finden	gefunden	Sie hat den Schlüssel gefunden.
e → o	nehmen	genommen	Wer hat mein Buch genommen?
e → a	gehen	gegangen	Er ist nach Hause gegangen.
no change	rufen	gerufen	Er hat ihren Namen gerufen.

Mixed Verbs

Mixed verbs are a combination of strong and weak. They pair the stem vowel change of strong verbs with the endings of weak verbs.

ge- + stem (with vowel change) + -t

Here are some examples:

Stem Change	Infinitive	Partizip II	Example
e → a	kennen	gekannt	Er hat mich gekannt.
i → u	wissen	gewusst	Wir haben es gewusst.
enk → ach	denken	gedacht	Ich habe gedacht.

Special Cases

Separable Verbs

For separable verbs the ge- goes between the prefix and the stem:

→ Learn more about separable verbs

• aufmachen → aufgemacht
• anrufen → angerufen
• mitkommen → mitgekommen

Inseparable Verbs

Verbs with inseparable prefixes (be-, emp-, ent-, er-, ge-, miss-, ver-, zer-) have NO ge-:

• besuchen → besucht (visited)
• erzählen → erzählt (told)
• verstehen → verstanden (understood)
• empfehlen → empfohlen (recommended)

Verbs ending in -ieren

These verbs (mostly borrowed from French) have no ge-:

• studieren → studiert (studied)
• telefonieren → telefoniert (phoned)
• fotografieren → fotografiert (photographed)