[4] The attributive participle is often, though not always,[5] used with the article (which can be either generic[6] or particular[7][8]); it functions as a common adjective, it can be in every tense stem, and it is on a par with – and thus often translated as – a relative clause.
[9] It shows agreement with a noun, present or implied, in a sentence, and can be assigned any syntactic role an adjective can hold.
Like any adjective it can be used substantively (or be nominalized) by omission of an understood noun (easily recoverable from the context): Many participles of this sort are equivalent to – and thus translated as – nouns, e.g.:[13] An adverbial notion may be inherent in an attributive participle; the usual notions are those of purpose or consequence (in the future tense), and condition (in all tense stems but the future, with negative particle μή).
However, with verbs like ὁράω "see", ἀκούω "hear", εὑρίσκω "find", there is another possible construction that does not involve indirect speech, but is a mere description of a sensory input: In the above sentences αὐτόν and Σωκράτους are second arguments of the verbs εἶδον and ἀκούω respectively, while the participles are added as their third arguments (in modern linguistic terms called (verbal) secondary predicates or small clauses).
Even further, with such verbs as ἀκούω, which normally take an object in the genitive denoting the source producing a sound, the distinction between the two types of construction is clear.
iii) It is the complement of verbs denoting commencement, continuation (patience, tolerance) or termination (fatigue) of an action, and it is always in the present tense stem; such verbs are: ὑπάρχω "begin, take the initiative in", ἄρχομαι "start, begin", παύω "cause to cease, stop from", παύομαι "cease, stop", λήγω "leave off, cease", ἀπαγορεύω "give up", κάμνω "be tired or weary", διαβιῶ "spend my whole life", διαμένω, διάγω, διαγίγνομαι, oὐ διαλείπω, διατελῶ "continue, keep up", ἀνέχομαι "tolerate", περιοράω "overlook".
iv) A supplementary participle can be used with verbs expressing passions of the soul, such as ἀγανακτῶ "be vexed", αἰσχύνομαι "be ashamed", ἥδομαι "be pleased", χαίρω "be happy", λυποῦμαι "be sorry", ὀργίζομαι "get angry".
v) Finally, it is used with some verbs not easy to classify: εὖ/καλῶς/κακῶς/δίκαια/δεινὰ ποιῶ "behave well, honourably, fairly, badly", χαρίζομαι "gratify, favour", ἀδικῶ "do wrong", νικῶ "defeat", περιγίγνομαι "prevail, survive", κρατῶ "have the better of", ἡττῶμαι "be worsted by", λείπομαι "be left behind, fall short".
It is added as a modifier to a noun or pronoun to denote the circumstance(s) under which the action of another verbal form (a finite verb or an infinitive/another participle) takes place.
In most of the cases it has the force of a dependent clause denoting time, cause, purpose, supposition, opposition, concession.
Nevertheless, it is also possible for a personal verb's participle to stand with its noun in the accusative absolute construction, if only it is preceded by the particles ὡς or ὥσπερ and expresses cause or conditional comparison respectively.