Participles as Adjectives

Level 5

A passive participle can describe a noun like an adjective and agrees in gender and number.

How It Works

The passive participle tells what has been done to something, and it can sit before a noun.

VerbParticiplePhrase
otvoritiotvorenotvoren prozor
napisatinapisannapisana knjiga
zatvoritizatvorenzatvorena vrata
pećipečenpečena riba

It agrees with its noun like any adjective: otvoren (m), otvorena (f), otvoreno (n), otvoreni (m pl).

Cookery uses many: kuhano jaje, pečeno meso, prženi krompir. Some participles have turned into ordinary adjectives and have special meanings, such as obrazovan (educated).

The same participle also forms the passive: Vrata su zatvorena. Whether you read it as passive or as a state, the form is the same.

Examples (4)

  1. Prozor je otvoren.

    The window is open.

    Otvoren agrees with masculine prozor.

  2. Na stolu je kuhano jaje.

    There is a boiled egg on the table.

    Kuhano agrees with neuter jaje.

  3. Volim pečenu ribu.

    I like baked fish.

    Pečenu is the accusative of pečena.

  4. Vrata su zatvorena.

    The door is closed.

    Zatvorena agrees with plural vrata.

Common Mistakes

  • Learners do not match the participle to the noun.

    otvorena prozor
    otvoren prozor

    Prozor is masculine, so the participle is otvoren.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Participles as AdjectivesLevel 5

Learn This First

Participles act as adjectives.

Words in This Pattern

otvorenotvoritinapisatizatvoriti