Italiano — Present participle
The present participle ends in -ante (1st conjugation) or -ente (2nd/3rd). Today it rarely works as a true verb; instead it lives on as an adjective (un libro avvincente) or a noun (i partecipanti), and can replace a relative clause meaning "that … -es".
How it works
Form it by replacing the infinitive ending: parlare → parlante, credere → credente, dormire → dormiente. It agrees only in number (-ante/-anti, -ente/-enti), never in gender. As an adjective it qualifies a noun — un discorso commovente, acqua bollente; as a noun it names the person or thing doing the action — il cantante, un dipendente; and it can compress a relative clause: le persone abitanti in città = le persone che abitano in città.
Examples
| Form (from verb) | Function | Meaning / use |
|---|---|---|
| avvincente (avvincere) | adjective | gripping, captivating — un libro avvincente |
| bollente (bollire) | adjective | boiling — acqua bollente |
| il cantante (cantare) | noun | the singer (the one who sings) |
| i partecipanti (partecipare) | noun | the participants (those taking part) |
| un dipendente (dipendere) | noun | an employee (a dependent person) |
| abitanti in città (abitare) | relative-clause substitute | = le persone che abitano in città (that live in the city) |
Good to know
The relative-clause use (le persone abitanti in città) is formal and literary; in everyday Italian prefer the full clause le persone che abitano in città. Note also -iente after a vowel (ubbidire → ubbidiente, nutrire → nutriente) and irregular forms that lost verbal force, like proveniente (provenire) — many participles survive only as fixed adjectives or nouns.