§490. Participles

The Present Participle has several of the special uses of the Present Indicative. Thus it may denote—

• An action continued in the present but begun in the past (§ 466):

  • quaerentī mihiiam diū certa rēs nūlla veniēbat in mentem (Fam. 4.13). though I had long sought, no certain thing came to my mind.

• Attempted action (§ 467):—

  • C. Flāminiō restitit agrum Pīcentem dīvidentī (Cat. M. 11), he resisted Flaminius when attempting to divide the Picene territory.

• Rarely (in poetry and later Latin) futurity or purpose, with a verb of motion:—

  • Eurypylumscītantemōrācula mittimus (Aen. 2.114), we send Eurypylus to consult the oracle. [Cf. § 468.]