Present Active Participle in -щ

The Present Active Participle

Level 4Sounds Like segašno deâtelno pričastie

Работещ, четящ, пътуващ mean working, reading, traveling. They work like adjectives: работещите родители (working parents).

How It Works

1. How to form it. Start from the present tense and add -щ. The vowel before -щ depends on the verb:

  • Verbs whose аз form ends in a stressed -а/-я take -ащ/-ящ: чета̀ → четя̀щ, вървя̀ → вървя̀щ, седя̀ → седя̀щ, пека̀ → печа̀щ (with the same к → ч change as in печѐш).
  • Other first and second conjugation verbs take -ещ: пѝша → пѝшещ, гово̀ря → гово̀рещ, ра̀ботя → ра̀ботещ, хо̀дя → хо̀дещ.
  • Third conjugation verbs (-ам/-ям) take -ащ/-ящ: чакам → чакащ, пътувам → пътуващ.

A quick check: the vowel before -щ is the same as in the аз form of the imperfect: четях → четящ, пишех → пишещ, чаках → чакащ, печах → печащ.

2. Agreement. The participle behaves exactly like an adjective: четящ (m), четяща (f), четящо (n), четящи (pl). With the article: четящият/четящия, четящата, четящото, четящите, following the rules for articles on adjectives.

3. Only imperfective verbs. Perfective verbs such as прочета or напиша have no present active participle. To talk about a completed action, use a relative clause: децата, които прочетат книгата (the children who read the book). This is part of the wider rule in participles formed only from imperfectives.

4. Where you meet it. Before a noun it is an ordinary description: плачещо дете (a crying child), работещите майки (working mothers). After a noun, with its own words, it forms a phrase set off by commas, typical of written style: Жената, седяща до прозореца, е моята учителка. In conversation people usually say Жената, която седи до прозореца, ... instead. See participial phrases.

5. Everyday words. Some participles are so common that they feel like plain adjectives or nouns: следващ (next), управляващите (those in power), учащите (students), пушещите (smokers).

Do not confuse it with the adverbial participle in -йки (четейки, while reading), which does not agree with anything.

Examples (6)

  1. Видях плачещо дете на улицата.

    I saw a crying child in the street.

    Плачещо is neuter to agree with дете.

  2. Пътуващите хора трябва да носят документите си.

    Traveling people must carry their documents.

    The plural definite form пътуващите takes the article like an adjective.

  3. Работещите родители нямат много свободно време.

    Working parents do not have much free time.

  4. Четящите деца пишат по-добре.

    Children who read write better.

    Чета has a stressed final -а, so the participle is четящ, not четещ.

  5. Следващата спирка е „Народен театър“.

    The next stop is National Theatre.

    Следващ comes from следвам (to follow) and is used as an everyday adjective.

  6. Жената, седяща до прозореца, е моята учителка.

    The woman sitting by the window is my teacher.

    A participial phrase after the noun is set off by commas and sounds written or formal.

Common Mistakes

  • Forming the participle from a perfective verb.

    Децата, прочетящи книгата, ще получат награда.
    Децата, които прочетат книгата, ще получат награда.

    Perfective verbs such as прочета have no present active participle. Use a който clause for a completed action.

  • Forgetting to make the participle agree with its noun.

    Видях плачещ дете.
    Видях плачещо дете.

    Дете is neuter, so the participle needs the neuter ending -о, just like an adjective.

  • Using -ещ where the verb needs -ящ.

    Четещите деца пишат по-добре.
    Четящите деца пишат по-добре.

    Чета has a stressed -а in the аз form, so its participle is четящ. Пиша, with unstressed -а, gives пишещ.

How It Connects

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

Present Active Participle in -щLevel 4The Present Active Participle

Learn This First

The present active participle needs aspect and agreement.