Participles & Gerunds

Participles and gerunds are verb forms that function like adjectives and adverbs. In Russian, participles describe actions related to nouns, while

gerunds (деепричастия) express secondary or simultaneous actions performed by the subject.

Читающий студент внимательно слушает.The participle читающий describes the student who is reading.

Прочитав книгу, он пошёл спать.The gerund прочитав shows that after reading, he went to sleep.

Строимый дом будет большим.The participle строимый describes the house being built.

Она поёт, читая стихи.The gerund читая describes an action simultaneous with singing.

Notes

Participles agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case. Gerunds do not change and are indeclinable. Gerunds express secondary actions related to the main verb.

Introduction to participles and verbal adverbs (деепричастия) in Russian.

Gerunds (Деепричастия)

Gerunds are verbal adverbs that describe a secondary action related to the main verb, often simultaneous or preceding.

Examples

Practice Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the correct participle or gerund form:

Participles (Причастия)

Participles are verbal adjectives that describe the state or action of a noun. They have present and past forms, and active and passive voices.

Type	Meaning	Formation	Example	Translation
Present Active	Ongoing action performed by the noun	Verb stem + -ущ/-ющ (1st conjugation) or -ащ/-ящ (2nd conjugation)	читающий	reading (someone who is reading)
Past Active	Completed action performed by the noun	Past tense stem + -вш/-ш	прочитавший	who has read
Present Passive	Ongoing action done to the noun	Verb stem + -ем/-ом/-им	строимый	being built
Past Passive	Completed action done to the noun	Past passive participle endings	построенный	built

___ (читать) книгу, он улыбался.Gerund indicating simultaneous action: 'While reading the book, he smiled.' · answer: Читая

Это человек, ___ (прочитать) много книг.Past active participle describing 'the person who has read many books.' · answer: прочитавший

___ (строить) дом, они слушали музыку.Gerund indicating simultaneous action: 'While building the house, they listened to music.' · answer: Строя

___ (читать) книгу, она не слышала звонка.Gerund for simultaneous action: 'While reading the book, she did not hear the bell.' · answer: Читая

Type	Meaning	Formation	Example	Translation
Present Gerund	Simultaneous action	Verb stem + -я/-а	читая	while reading
Past Gerund	Completed action before the main verb	Past tense + -в/-вши/-ши	прочитав	having read