Present Active Participles
(Hart, pp. 99-101)
The present active participle is formed by removing the final -इ of the 3rd person plural active present form of the verb. All present active participles except class III end in -अन्त्. They are declined just like possessives in -वन्त् except that their nom. singular masculine is in -अन् rather than -आन्. Weak endings and pāda endings are added to -अत् while strong endings are added to -अन्त्. Class III verbs’ present active participles end in -अत् because their 3rd person plural active present ends in -अति not अन्ति. For Class III both strong and weak forms are -अत्-. All masculine/neuter present active participles are declined like पद्.
Rules for the formation of the feminine, present active participles:
- Thematic conjugations add -ई to the strong stem of the participle (e.g. -अन्ती)
- Athematic conjugations add -ई to the weak stem of the participle (e.g. -अती)
- Class VI optionally can make feminine by adding -ई to the weak stem of the participle
- Class II that end in -आ can make feminine by adding -ई to the strong stem of the participle
- They are all declined like नदी.
Examples of the Present Active Participle
The following table lists the verbs class, its root, its present participle masculine, and the feminine form of the present participle
| Class | Root | Present Act. Part. | Feminine |
| 1 | भू | भवन्त् | भवन्ती |
| 1 | स्था | तिष्ठन्त् | तिष्ठन्ती |
| 4 | पश् | पश्यन्त् | पश्यन्ती |
| 6 | विश् | विशन्त् | विशन्ती [or विशती] |
| 6 | प्रच्छ् | पृच्छन्त् | पृच्छन्ती [or पृच्छती] |
| 10 | चुर् | चोरयन्त् | चोरयन्ती |
| 2 | हन् | घ्नन्त् | घ्नाती |
| 2 | अस् | सन्त् | सती |
| 2 | स्ना (bathe) | स्नान्त् | स्नाती [or स्नान्ती] |
| 3 | धा | दधत्* | दधती |
| 3 | दा | ददत्* | ददती |
| 3 | भृ | बिभ्रत्* | बिभ्रती |
| 5 | श्रु | शृण्वन्त् | शृण्वती |
| 7 | युज् | युञ्जन्त् | युञ्जती |
| 8 | कृ | कुर्वन्त् | कुर्वन्ती |
| 9 | क्री | क्रीणन्त् | क्रीणती |
Present Participles Declined Like -वन्त् (like नदी)
(Hart, pp. 99-102) The present participles are built from removing the final इ from the 3rd person plural, active, present tense. Thus, “being” is भवन्त्. These are conjugated the same as possessives ending in -वन्त् with the following exceptions:
- The masculine singular ends in -अन्. Thus, भवन् instead of भवान्
- Thematic classes form the feminine by adding ई to the strong stem (-अन्त्), e.g. भवन्ती, except some class VI verbs that use the weak stem.
- Athematic classes use the weak stem (-अत्), e.g. युञ्जती, except for some class II verbs whose root ends in -आ that use the strong stem.
- Class III verbs’ present participles end in -अत् not -अन्त्. Both strong and weak stems use -अत्-. Thus, class III nom. sing. masc and nom. and acc. singular plural end in -अत्, e.g. ददत्.
Masculine
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| Nom. | वदन् | वदन्तौ | वदन्तः |
| Acc. | वदन्तम् | वदन्तौ | वदतः |
| Instr. | वदता | वदद्भ्याम् | वदद्भिः |
| Dat. | वदते | वदद्भ्याम् | वदद्भ्यः |
| Abl. | वदतः | वदद्भ्याम् | वदद्भ्यः |
| Gen. | वदतः | वदतोः | वदताम् |
| Loc. | वदति | वदतोः | वदत्सु |
| Voc. | वदन् | वदन्तौ | वदन्तः |
Neuter
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| Nom. | वदत् | वदन्ती | वदन्ति |
| Acc. | वदत् | वदन्ती | वदन्ति |
Feminine
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
| Nom. | वदन्ती | वदन्त्यौ | वदन्त्यः |
| Acc. | वदन्तीम् | वदन्त्यौ | वदन्तीः |
| Instr. | वदन्त्या | वदन्तीभ्याम् | वदन्तीभिः |
| Dat. | वदन्त्यै | वदन्तीभ्याम् | वदन्तीभ्यः |
| Abl. | वदन्त्यः | वदन्तीभ्याम् | वदन्तीभ्यः |
| Gen. | वदन्त्यः | वदन्त्योः | वदन्तीनाम् |
| Loc. | वदन्त्याम् | वदन्त्योः | वदन्तीषु |
| Voc. | वदन्ती | वदन्त्यौ | वदन्त्यः |
Present Middle Participles
(Hart, p. 105)
Thematic verbs (Classes I, IV, VI, and X) make their present middle participle by adding -मान to the 3rd plural present middle minus the -न्ते. Athematic verbs (Classes II, III, V, VII, VIII, IX) make it by adding -आन to the 3rd plural present middle minus the -अते. The participles are declined like देव in the masculine, फलम् in the neuter, and सेना in the feminine.
Examples Present Middle Participles
Thematic:
| Root | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
| लभ् | लभमान | लभमानम् | लभमाना |
| मन् | मन्यमान | मन्यमानम् | मन्यमाना |
| वृत् | वर्तमान | वर्तमानम् | वर्तमाना |
Athematic
| Root | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
| विधा | विदधान | विदधानम् | विदधाना |
| युज् | युञ्जान | युञ्जानम् | युञ्जाना |
| आस् (irregular form) | आसीन | आसीनम् | आसीना |
Uses of Present Participles
(Hart, p. 102)
The present participle corresponds to the present participle in English that end in -ing, but it is not equivalent to gerunds (verbal nouns) that also end in -ing. That is, “The man running to town…” is a present participle, but not “I like running” (a gerund). Nor can it be used as in English for the present continuous tense: “He is running.”
All of the words construed with the participle must normally be placed before it in Sanskrit, while its antecedent normally immediately follows it. Thus, “the man running to the city” would be नगरं धावन्मनुष्यः… The exceptions to such ordering occur generally in poetry.
Like most adjectives in Sanskrit, the present participle can be used as a noun if no antecedent is given.
Uses of the present participle include:
- when the participial action is occurring at the same time as the main verb of the sentence: “Speaking in this manner, he came into the city” or इति ब्रुवन्स नगर अगच्छत्।
- when the participial action is an attendant circumstance to the main verb: “Dying in battle, he goes to heaven” or युद्धे नश्यन्स स्वर्गं गच्छति।
- to define the agent of the action: “He is Devadatta who sits studying” or यः पठन्न अस्ते स देवदत्तः।
- to indicate a general truth: “Men who die in battle go to paradise” or युद्धे नश्यन्तो [मनुष्याः] स्वर्गं गच्छन्ति।
- the prefix अ- (or before a vowelअन्-) can be used to negate the participle: “The king stands without entering battle” or युद्धमविशन्राजा तिष्ठत्येव।
Example of middle present participle usage:
इतिमन्यमानः स नगरागच्छत्। – “Thinking in this manner, he came into the city.”
Absolute Constructions
(Hart pp. 105-107)
An absolute construction is when the subject of the participle and the subject of main sentence are different. In English, an example is “The wind being favorable, the ship set sail.” There are two types of absolutes in Sanskrit: locative and genitive. In Sanskrit, an example of the locative absolute would be:
कस्तस्मिन्राज्ञि सति भूमिं जयेत। – “Who, while he is king, would conquer the earth?” Literally, “in him being king, who would conquer the earth?”
If the participial in the locative is “being” (e.g. सति), it may be left out. So “How could he fight when I am king?” could be either
मयि राज्ञि सति स कथं युद्धं कुर्यात्। or मयि राज्ञि स कथं युद्धं कुर्यात्।
The genitive absolute is used to show contempt or disregard or some kind of contrariness. Often translated as “in spite of the fact that” or “even though.” An example is:
पश्यतो राज्ञः शत्रुर्वीरंहन् – “Even though the king was looking, the enemy killed the hero.”
In general, the participle comes last in an absolute construction, preceded by all that it modifies. Occasionally, the subject of the participle can immediately follow it. Absolute constructions can also be made from past passive and past active participles.