Passive Participles in Russian

Overview

Passive participles are verbal adjectives describing the object of an action -- the thing being done to. At the B1 level, passive participles are essential for understanding formal Russian and for using the passive voice. The past passive participle in particular is one of the most frequently used grammatical forms in Russian writing.

Russian has present passive participles (less common, mainly literary) and past passive participles (extremely common). Past passive participles in their short form (написан, сделан, открыт) function as the primary way to express completed passive actions and resultant states in Russian.

The distinction between long and short forms matters: long forms (написанный, сделанный) function as attributive adjectives before nouns, while short forms (написан, сделана) function predicatively and are the standard way to express passive voice in Russian.

How It Works

Present Passive Participles (Rare, Literary)

Formation: 1st person plural stem + -ем- (1st conj.) or -им- (2nd conj.) + adjective endings

Verb	Participle	Meaning
уважать	уважаемый	respected
любить	любимый	beloved, favorite
читать	читаемый	being read

Past Passive Participles (Very Common)

Formation depends on the infinitive ending:

Infinitive ending	Suffix	Example
-ать/-ять	-нн-	написать → написанный
-ить	-енн-	построить → построенный
-еть	-енн-	увидеть → увиденный
-нуть, -ыть, -оть	-т-	открыть → открытый

Short Forms

Long Form	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
написанный	написан	написана	написано	написаны
построенный	построен	построена	построено	построены
открытый	открыт	открыта	открыто	открыты

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
любимая книга	beloved/favorite book	Present passive as adjective
уважаемый профессор	respected professor	Present passive, formal address
написанное письмо	a written letter	Past passive, long form
Работа сделана.	The work is done.	Short form, predicative
Магазин открыт.	The store is open.	Short form as state
Книга была написана в 1900 году.	The book was written in 1900.	Past passive + было
построенный дом	a built house	Long form, attributive
сломанный стул	a broken chair	Long form
Вопрос решён.	The question is resolved.	Short form
Он был удивлён.	He was surprised.	Short form, masculine

Common Mistakes

Confusing long and short forms

• Wrong: Работа сделанная. (long form as predicate without comma)
• Right: Работа сделана. (short form as predicate)
• Why: Short forms are used predicatively (after the noun as complement); long forms are used attributively (before the noun) or in detached clauses.

Wrong stress on short feminine forms

• Wrong: Most feminine short forms shift stress: за́нята instead of занята́
• Right: написана́, открыта́, сделана (stress varies by verb)
• Why: Feminine short forms often have final stress. Check each verb individually.

Forming past passive participles from imperfective verbs

• Wrong: читанный (from imperfective читать -- rare/archaic)
• Right: прочитанный (from perfective прочитать)
• Why: Past passive participles are normally formed from perfective verbs only.

Practice Tips

• Practice converting active sentences to passive using short participles: Он написал письмо → Письмо написано.
• Learn common participle-adjectives that function as regular vocabulary: любимый, уважаемый, известный, закрытый, открытый.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice -- understand passive voice before studying participle details