Participles as adjectives: das lachende Kind, die gekochten Eier

Das lachende Kind sitzt neben den frisch gebackenen Brötchen.The laughing child is sitting next to the freshly baked rolls.

German can put a verb straight in front of a noun as an adjective: Partizip I (lachend) for an action that is going on, Partizip II (gebacken) for one that is finished. Either way it takes the normal adjective endings.

Quick shortcut: Partizip I = infinitive + -d → active, "…-ing" (das schlafende Kind). Partizip II = the past participle you know from the Perfekt → completed, usually passive (die geschlossene Tür). Then add the ending the noun's gender, case and article call for.

Partizip I: the "-ing" one

Build it from the infinitive + -d: lachen → lachend, schlafen → schlafend, kochen → kochend, steigen → steigend. It describes something the noun is doing at the relevant time, as an ongoing process:

• das weinende Baby (the crying baby)
• ein bellender Hund (a barking dog)
• kochendes Wasser (boiling water)
• die steigenden Preise (the rising prices)

It's active and unfinished — the baby is crying, the water is boiling. sein and haben have no everyday Partizip I.

Partizip II: the completed one

This is the same participle as in the Perfekt — gekocht, gebacken, geschrieben, gebraten, repariert. Its meaning depends on the verb:

• From a transitive verb → passive and completed: die gekochten Eier (the eggs that have been boiled), der geschriebene Brief, das reparierte Auto.
• From an intransitive sein-verb → active and completed: der angekommene Zug (the train that has arrived), das gefallene Blatt, die eingeschlafenen Kinder.

So die kochenden Eier would mean eggs that are boiling; the everyday phrase is die gekochten Eier (eggs that have been boiled).

Endings — just like any adjective

A participle in front of a noun is an adjective and takes the same endings as gut, klein, neu — the set depends on the article, exactly as in the articles on adjective endings after der-words, after ein-words and with no article:

The participle itself never changes; only the ending after it does.

A shortcut for a relative clause

An attributive participle often packs a whole relative clause into one word:

• das Kind, das schläft → das schlafende Kind
• die Eier, die gekocht wurden → die gekochten Eier
• der Zug, der angekommen ist → der angekommene Zug

Add modifiers and it grows into an extended participial attribute (das von mir gelesene Buch) — that's its own topic.

Predicative use is different

After sein, the two participles behave differently:

• Partizip II after sein = the statal passive: Die Tür ist geschlossen. (a state)
• Partizip I after sein is not the normal way to say "is …-ing". German has no continuous tense: for a plain ongoing action say Das Kind lacht. Das Kind ist lachend exists but sounds marked or literary.

Lexicalised participles

Some participles have hardened into ordinary adjectives and are used freely, including after sein:

• from Partizip I: spannend, aufregend, dringend, entscheidend — Der Film war spannend.
• from Partizip II: bekannt, verliebt, begeistert, erfahren — Sie ist sehr erfahren.

Common mistakes

• ❌ das lachend Kind → ✅ das lachende Kind (an attributive participle always takes an ending)
• ❌ die gekochte Eier → ✅ die gekochten Eier (plural after die → -en)
• ❌ ein schlafende Kind → ✅ ein schlafendes Kind (neuter after ein → -es, just like any adjective)
• ❌ das geschriebene Kind for "the writing child" → ✅ das schreibende Kind (Partizip I for the active, ongoing sense)
• ❌ der angekommte Zug → ✅ der angekommene Zug (it's the normal Partizip II angekommen + ending)

Quick check

Turn each relative clause into an attributive participle with the right ending.

1. der Mann, der singt → der ___ Mann
2. die Blätter, die gefallen sind → die ___ Blätter
3. ein Problem, das wächst → ein ___ Problem
4. die Rechnung, die bezahlt wurde → die ___ Rechnung
5. mit dem Auto, das repariert wurde → mit dem ___ Auto

Key takeaways

• Partizip I = infinitive + -d, active and ongoing (das schlafende Kind); Partizip II = the Perfekt participle, completed (die gekochten Eier).
• Partizip II from a transitive verb is passive (der geschriebene Brief); from an intransitive sein-verb it's active (der angekommene Zug).
• An attributive participle takes the normal adjective endings for the article, gender, case and number.
• It's a compact stand-in for a relative clause.
• German has no continuous tense; Partizip I after sein (ist lachend) is possible but marked — for "is …-ing" just say Das Kind lacht.
• Many participles (spannend, bekannt) have become plain adjectives you can also use predicatively.