Present Active Participle -antis
Present Active Participle
Start from the present tense: dirba → dirbantis (working), tiki → tikintis (believing). Skaitanti mergaitė is a girl who is reading.
How It Works
1. Making it. Start from the he/she form of the present tense:
- -a verbs add -ntis: dirba → dirbantis, dirbanti (working); verda → verdantis (boiling)
- -o verbs change -o to -antis: skaito → skaitantis, skaitanti (reading); žino → žinantis (knowing)
- -i verbs add -ntis: tiki → tikintis, tikinti (believing); stovi → stovintis (standing)
2. Case forms. Most forms have č before the ending: masculine dirbantis, dirbančio, dirbančiam, dirbantį, plural dirbantys, dirbančių; feminine dirbanti, dirbančios, dirbančiai, dirbančią. See Adjective Case Agreement.
3. Describing a noun. Verdantis vanduo (boiling water), skaitanti mergaitė (a girl who is reading), lietuviškai kalbantys turistai (tourists who speak Lithuanian). A longer phrase can also follow the noun, with commas: vyras, stovintis prie durų (the man standing by the door). See Participle Phrases Before a Noun.
4. Not for "while doing". English walking home, I met a friend uses -ing for a second action of the subject. Lithuanian uses the -damas form for that: Eidamas namo sutikau draugą. The -antis form here describes a noun; it also has other uses, such as reported speech.
5. Other forms. The short form dirbąs belongs to bookish style and reported speech; see Reported Mood With Participles. Unprefixed reflexive verbs often use be-: besimokantys studentai (students who are studying); see Reflexive -si- in Nouns and Participles. For an earlier action or its resulting state, see the past active participle.
Examples (6)
- Dirbantis žmogus neturi daug laisvo laiko.
A working person doesn't have much free time.
Dirba gives dirbantis, which agrees with the masculine noun žmogus.
- Prie lango sėdi skaitanti mergaitė.
A girl who is reading is sitting by the window.
Skaito gives skaitanti, feminine to match mergaitė.
- Neliesk verdančio vandens!
Don't touch the boiling water!
After the negative verb, both the noun and the participle are in the genitive.
- Ar pažįsti tą vyrą, stovintį prie durų?
Do you know that man standing by the door?
Stovi gives stovintis. The accusative stovintį agrees with vyrą.
- Lietuviškai kalbančių užsieniečių vis daugėja.
There are more and more foreigners who speak Lithuanian.
The genitive plural kalbančių agrees with užsieniečių.
- Mano senelė yra labai tikintis žmogus.
My grandmother is a very religious person.
The participle agrees with žmogus, which is masculine, even when it refers to a woman.
Common Mistakes
Using the -antis participle for a second action of the subject.
Einantis namo sutikau draugą.Eidamas namo sutikau draugą.For the intended accompanying action by the same subject, use eidamas. Einantis is the noun-describing form in this contrast.
Not making the participle agree in gender.
Prie lango sėdi skaitantis mergaitė.Prie lango sėdi skaitanti mergaitė.Mergaitė is feminine, so the participle is skaitanti.
Not making the participle agree in case.
Ar pažįsti tą vyrą, stovintis prie durų?Ar pažįsti tą vyrą, stovintį prie durų?The participle takes the same case as its noun. Vyrą is accusative, so the participle is stovintį.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The present active participle uses a present stem and agrees with the noun it describes.
Related Patterns
- Past Active Participle: -ęs, -usiPast Active Participle
The past active participle can describe an earlier action or its resulting state.
Level 4 - Half-Participle -damasWhile Doing: -damas
Used instead of -antis for the subject's own action at the same time.
Level 5 - Present Passive Participle -masPresent Passive Participle
The passive partner: something that is being done.
Level 5 - Participle Phrases Before a Noun
Shows how whole participle phrases describe a noun.
Level 5 - Relative kuris / kuriRelative Clauses with Kuris
A kuris clause says the same thing with a full verb.
Level 3 - Reflexive -si- in Nouns and Participles
Explains reflexive participles such as besimokantis.
Level 5
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Present Active Participle -antis in Bubblegum
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