§158. Participles

The Participles are used as follows:—

a. The Present Participle (ending in -ns) has commonly the same meaning and use as the English participle in -ing; as, vocāns, calling; legentēs, reading. (For its inflection, see egēns, § 118.)

b. The Future Participle (ending in -ūrus) is oftenest used to express what is likely or about to happen: as, rēctūrus, about to rule; audītūrus, about to hear.

c. The Perfect Participle (ending in -tus, -sus) has two uses:—

• It is sometimes equivalent to the English perfect passive participle: as, tēctus, sheltered; acceptus, accepted; ictus, having been struck; and often has simply an adjective meaning: as, acceptus, acceptable.
• It is used with the verb to be ( esse) to form certain tenses of the passive: as, vocātus est, he was (has been) called.

d. The Gerundive (ending in -ndus), has two uses:—

• It is often used as an adjective implying obligation, necessity, or propriety (ought or must): as, audiendus est, he must be heard.
• In the oblique cases the Gerundive commonly has the same meaning as the Gerund (cf. § 159. a), though its construction is different. (For examples, see § 503 ff.)