A participle is a word formed from a verb and is used as an adjective e.g. walking, shouting.
Here are examples of present active participles from the previous text “Dē Crocodīlō”:
- Rōbertus igitur, vidēns ¦ hunc stultum puerum ¦ ad flūmen ambulantem … │ Robert, therefore, seeing this foolish boy [who was] walking towards the river
- … et fīlium tertium ¦ in rīpā stantem ¦ longō baculō pulsāvit. │ …and, with a long stick, he beat the third son ¦ [who was] standing on the bank.
- Rōbertus … puerum ululantem audīvit. │ Robert … heard the boy howling.
Latin makes extensive use of participles and they are a major component in being able to read the Roman authors.
[A]
The man ¦ who is working in the garden ¦ is my friend. = [i] The man working in the garden is my friend.
- In the second sentence ‘working’ describes the man.
Did you see that man ¦ who was working in the garden? = [ii] Did you see that man working in the garden?
- In the second sentence ‘working’ still describes the man but does not change even though the action being referred to is in the past.
‘working’ in [i] and [ii] is expressed in Latin by the present active participle. The term ‘present’ does not refer to when the action is / was performed but that the action happens / happened at the same time as the main action.
I can hear a barking dog. / I can hear a dog barking. = I can hear a dog that’s barking.
I could hear a barking dog. / I could hear a dog
barking. = I could hear a dog that was barking.
[B]
While he was sitting on the riverbank, │ the boy completely forgot about the time.
= While sitting on the riverbank │ the boy …
= Sitting on the riverbank │ the boy …
Here, the English -ing can convey ‘as’ ‘while’ or ‘when’ somebody is / was doing something. Again, the Latin present active participle can convey this idea.
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Note! What Classical Latin does not do is use these to convey the English progressive tenses i.e. I am going, I was working, I shall be leaving. The present, imperfect and future tense in Latin are only ever used:
labōrō: I work or I am working
labōrābam: I was working
labōrābō: I shall work or I shall be working.
Mediaeval Latin can use participles to convey this idea, but not in the Classical Language.
Similarly, there are other constructions which use -ing in English but are not expressed by a Latin present participle and will be covered later e.g. [i] By giving him food, we saved him. [ii] Seeing is believing.’ Neither [i] nor [ii] are participles in Latin since they do not describe a noun.
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Here are other examples that show [A] and [B] above; translations can be flexible provided they convey the idea of two actions happening at the same time.
- Puellam lacrimantem videō. │ I see a girl ¦ crying / … who is crying.
- Puella ¦ multa carmina canēns ¦ cēnam parat. │ The girl ¦ [while] singing many songs ¦ prepares dinner.
- In silvā ambulāns ¦ mīles corpus vīdit. │[While] walking / as he was walking in the forest ¦ the soldier saw the body.
Image #1: The 15th century Christmas carol ‘The Boar’s Head Carol’ describes the ancient tradition of presenting a boar’s head at the Yuletide banquet.
reddō, -ere [3]: give back; deliver > reddēns, -entis: giving back; delivering
Caput aprī dēferō │ The boar’s head I bear
Reddēns laudēs Dominō │ While giving
back / As I give back praises to the Lord.
Because participles are adjectives, they agree in gender, number and case with the noun. The examples below show this.
[1]
- Rōbertus igitur, vidēns ¦ hunc stultum puerum ¦ ad flūmen ambulantem …
- Robert [nominative], therefore, seeing [nominative] ¦ this foolish boy [accusative] walking [accusative] towards the river …
[2]
- … et fīlium tertium ¦ in rīpā stantem ¦ longō baculō pulsāvit.
- …and, with a long stick, he beat the third son [accusative] ¦ standing [accusative] on the bank.
[3]
- Rōbertus … puerum ululantem audīvit.
- Robert … heard the boy [accusative] howling [accusative].
Over the next few posts we’ll look at what endings are used.
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