• like adjectives, can modify nouns and will agree with those nouns in gender, number and case. Because participles are adjectives, they may also be used substantively (i.e., as nouns).
  • e.g. "The driving passion of Quincy's life is the pursuit of squirrels."
    • driving: is a present active participle formed from the verb "to drive"
    • driving: is an adjective modifying the noun "passion"
  • e.g. "Those paying the piper call the tunes."
    • The participle (nom, plural form) is being used as a noun (the subject of the verb "call"). Because it is a participle, it can also take an object (the piper).
• like verbs
  • have tense and voice
  • can take objects (direct, indirect) and other verbal constructions
  • e.g.: Listening to their professor, the Latin 101 students were struck with awe.
    • Listening is a a present active participle which modifies the noun, "students" and takes the noun "professor" as its indirect object.

The tense of a participle is used to describe the time during which the verbal action of the participle takes place relative to the main verb of the sentence.

• Present participles indicate actions which take place at the same time as the main verb
  • e.g., Hearing their professor's explanation, the Latin 101 students immediately understood the grammatical function of participles.
    • the understanding (main verb - note it's in the past) and the hearing (participle, adjective modifying the noun students, taking the noun "explanation" as its object) are simultaneous.
• Perfect participles indicate actions that take place before the action of the main verb
  • e.g., The homework, having been assigned, was promptly completed by the students.
    • The assigning was done before the completing (note completed is in the past tense which means the assigning occured even further in the past.
• Future participles indicate actions that will take place after the action of the main verb is completed.
  • e.g. The students, who are about to take a test, wish that they had studied more.
    • The students will take the test after they are done wishing they had studied more.
  • NB: English doesn't really have a future participle and as a consequence, when you translate these constructions you will use phrases like, "about to x," "going to x" [ about to be x'ed, going to be x'd in the passive voice].

Sacerdötës, pressï ab ducibus, petïverunt mïlitem.

• The priests, having been pursued by the generals, beseeched the soldier.
• The priests, who had been pursued by the generals, beseeched the soldier.
• After they were pursued by the generals, the priests beseeched the soldier.
• Although they were pursued by the generals, the priets beseeched the soldier.