Present participle in Italian

What is the present participle (participio presente) in Italian?

The participio presente  is the present tense of one of the most important impersonal moods in the Italian language, the participle mood (modo participio).

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How to conjugate and use the present participle in Italian

The Italian present participle is used usually to specify the author of the action described by the verb.

It has usually a nominal value, infrequently a verbal value. With its nominal function, it could be used as an adjective, too.

Its conjugation is therefore comparable to the adjectives' one; indeed, the participle uses singular endings like:

• -ante (for I conjugation verbs) or -ente (for II and III conjugation verbs) replacing the infinitive endings (-are, -ere, -ire);
• -anti and -enti for the plural forms.

Some examples of the Italian present participle main uses

As we said, the participio presente  in Italian can have both a verbal than a nominal value.

The nominal value is the most typical of the present participle. It is used in particular as:

• an adjective, with comparative and superlative forms;
• a noun.

Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that:

• when the participio presente has a verbal value, it conveys always an active meaning;