Verbal Adverbs (Gerunds) in Russian

In Brief

A Russian деепричастие adds a secondary action to the action of the main verb. An imperfective form such as читая usually means “while reading,” whereas a perfective form such as прочитав usually means “having read.” Both actions must normally have the same doer, and the verbal-adverb phrase is set off with commas.

Overview

A verbal adverb is an unchanging verb form that describes an additional action: Читая книгу, он делал заметки means “While reading the book, he took notes.” Russian calls this form a деепричастие. English grammar sometimes calls a comparable form a “gerund” or “adverbial participle,” but the label can mislead: an English gerund often behaves like a noun, as in “Reading is useful,” while a Russian деепричастие behaves like an adverb and cannot serve as the subject of a sentence.

This topic is introduced around B1 because it combines familiar verb aspect (the choice between an ongoing/repeated action and a complete, bounded action) with sentence structure. Verbal adverbs let Russian compress clauses such as “while he was reading” or “after she had learned the news.” They are especially common in written narrative, instructions, journalism, and formal prose. Everyday conversation often prefers a full clause with когда, пока, or после того как.

The central rule matters more than the endings: the person or thing performing the secondary action must also be the subject (the doer named grammatically) of the main verb. In Узнав новость, она позвонила мне, она both learned the news and called. English sometimes tolerates loose introductory -ing phrases, but standard Russian is stricter about this connection.

How It Works

One subject, two actions

The basic pattern is:

verbal adverb phrase + comma + subject + main verb

• Выходя из дома, я проверил почту. — As I was leaving home, I checked the mail.
• Закрыв дверь, я пошёл к машине. — Having closed the door, I went to the car.

The verbal adverb does not change for gender, number, person, or tense. Читая remains the same with я, она, or они. Time is understood in relation to the main verb rather than expressed by a tense ending.

A verbal adverb keeps important properties of its verb. It keeps aspect, can take an object in the same case (the form a noun takes to show its role), and retains a reflexive -ся where required:

• читать книгу → читая книгу
• помочь другу → помогая другу
• улыбаться → улыбаясь

Imperfective: an action in progress or repeated

Imperfective verbal adverbs usually present the secondary action as simultaneous with the main action. Their most common ending is -я; after certain consonants the spelling is -а.

Infinitive	Present form	Verbal adverb	Typical meaning
читать	читают	читая	while reading
говорить	говорят	говоря	while speaking
сидеть	сидят	сидя	while sitting
дышать	дышат	дыша	while breathing
улыбаться	улыбаются	улыбаясь	while smiling

A useful practical method is to look at the third-person plural present form, remove -ут/-ют/-ат/-ят, and add -а/-я according to the resulting sound and spelling pattern. This is a guide, not a mechanical rule for every verb; sound changes and lexical restrictions occur.

Imperfective aspect can also express manner, cause, or a repeated accompanying action, not only literal “while”:

• Он отвечал, не задумываясь. — He answered without thinking.
• Каждый вечер она готовила, слушая радио. — Every evening she cooked while listening to the radio.

Important irregular or special forms should be learned as whole items:

Infinitive	Verbal adverb	Meaning
быть	будучи	being
идти	идя	while going/on foot
ехать	едучи	while travelling (rare or stylistically marked)

Not every imperfective verb has a natural modern verbal adverb. Dictionaries may omit a form or mark it as awkward. When uncertain, use a full clause: когда он ехал rather than forcing an unfamiliar form.

Perfective: a completed action

Perfective verbal adverbs usually show that the secondary action was completed before the main action. The common ending is -в, added to a past/infinitive stem ending in a vowel:

Infinitive	Verbal adverb	Typical meaning
прочитать	прочитав	having read
сделать	сделав	having done
узнать	узнав	having found out
открыть	открыв	having opened
вернуться	вернувшись	having returned

Reflexive forms commonly end in -вшись: одеться → одевшись, улыбнуться → улыбнувшись. Some verbs have -ши/-вши forms, but non-reflexive -вши is often literary, old-fashioned, regional, or associated with particular fixed usages; the neutral modern form in many ordinary verbs is -в.

Some perfective verbs, especially certain verbs with consonant-final stems or motion-related formations, use -я/-а instead:

Infinitive	Verbal adverb	Meaning
прийти	придя	having arrived
уйти	уйдя	having left
найти	найдя	having found
принести	принеся	having brought

Because perfective придя also ends in -я, the ending alone does not determine the meaning. Check the aspect of the source verb.

Negation and word order

Не normally stands directly before the verbal adverb: не зная, не заметив, не попрощавшись. Words required by the verb stay with it:

• Не зная адреса, мы позвонили Анне. — Not knowing the address, we called Anna.
• Не закончив работу, он ушёл. — Without finishing the work, he left.

The phrase can come before, after, or occasionally inside the main clause. Initial position often gives background or sequence; final position often adds manner or accompanying detail.

Commas

A single verbal adverb or a whole verbal-adverb phrase is normally separated by commas:

• Она, улыбаясь, открыла дверь.
• Она открыла дверь, улыбаясь.
• Улыбаясь, она открыла дверь.

With two coordinated verbal adverbs joined by a single и, the pair forms one unit: Он шёл, улыбаясь и насвистывая. More complex combinations may require additional punctuation according to their structure.

A small number of expressions have become adverb-like or fixed and may appear without the usual comma, especially when they express manner rather than a separate action. Examples include uses such as работать спустя рукава (“work carelessly”) and бежать сломя голову (“run headlong”). These are best learned as fixed expressions; do not generalize their punctuation to ordinary verbal adverbs.

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
Читая книгу, он заснул.	While reading a book, he fell asleep.	Imperfective, simultaneous background action
Сидя дома, я смотрел телевизор.	Sitting at home, I watched TV.	The same “I” performs both actions
Прочитав книгу, он закрыл её.	Having read the book, he closed it.	Perfective action completed first
Узнав новость, она обрадовалась.	Having learned the news, she was delighted.	The news causes the reaction
Она готовила ужин, слушая подкаст.	She cooked dinner while listening to a podcast.	Two actions in progress together
Подойдя к окну, Павел увидел снег.	On approaching the window, Pavel saw snow.	Perfective подойдя marks the first event
Не найдя ключей, мы вызвали мастера.	Not finding the keys, we called a locksmith.	Negated perfective form
Он ответил, не задумываясь.	He answered without thinking.	Manner; common negative phrase
Вернувшись домой, дети сразу поели.	Having returned home, the children ate at once.	Reflexive perfective form
Улыбаясь, преподаватель вошёл в аудиторию.	Smiling, the teacher entered the classroom.	Simultaneous accompanying action
Закончив встречу, директор позвонил клиенту.	After finishing the meeting, the director called the client.	Formal/written compression of a time clause
Будучи студентом, он жил в Казани.	When he was a student, he lived in Kazan.	будучи means “being/while being”
Она шла по парку, разговаривая по телефону.	She walked through the park while talking on the phone.	Ongoing simultaneous actions
Принеся документы, Олег сел ждать.	Having brought the documents, Oleg sat down to wait.	Irregular-looking perfective form in -я

Common Mistakes

Giving the two actions different doers

• Wrong: Подъезжая к станции, у меня упал телефон.
• Right: Когда я подъезжал к станции, у меня упал телефон.
• Why: In the wrong sentence, the grammatical structure absurdly suggests that the phone was approaching the station. A full когда clause clearly identifies я as the traveller.

Attaching the phrase to a passive construction

• Wrong: Прочитав рукопись, статья была исправлена редактором.
• Right: Прочитав рукопись, редактор исправил статью.
• Why: The main clause must give the shared doer a clear grammatical role as subject. In the passive version, статья is the subject, but it did not read the manuscript.

Choosing aspect from the English translation alone

• Wrong: Читая книгу, он вернул её в библиотеку when you mean “After reading the book, he returned it.”
• Right: Прочитав книгу, он вернул её в библиотеку.
• Why: читая presents reading as ongoing; прочитав presents it as completed before the return.

Making the form agree with the subject

• Wrong: Прочитавшая книгу, она написала отзыв.
• Right: Прочитав книгу, она написала отзыв.
• Why: прочитавшая is an active participle, an adjective-like form that agrees with a noun. The verbal adverb прочитав never changes for a feminine subject.

Omitting commas

• Wrong: Закончив работу он выключил компьютер.
• Right: Закончив работу, он выключил компьютер.
• Why: An ordinary verbal-adverb phrase is separated from the main clause by a comma.

Forcing a form that speakers avoid

• Wrong: Creating an unfamiliar form by applying an ending mechanically.
• Right: Check a dictionary, or write когда/пока + finite verb.
• Why: Formation is productive but not universal. Some theoretically possible forms are rare, dated, or unnatural in current usage.

Usage Notes

Verbal adverbs are neutral and useful in careful writing, but a dense chain of them can sound bureaucratic or literary. Spoken Russian often unpacks the same idea:

• More compact: Придя домой, я сразу позвонил ей.
• More conversational: Когда я пришёл домой, я сразу ей позвонил.

The form does not itself specify an exact logical relation. Context can make it temporal (“while/after”), causal (“because”), conditional, or descriptive. Поняв ошибку, он извинился naturally suggests both sequence and cause: he understood the mistake, then apologized because of that realization.

Position changes emphasis more than basic meaning. An initial phrase sets the scene; a final phrase may describe how the main action was performed. In speech, intonation marks this separation, while writing uses commas.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Imperfective does not always mean strictly simultaneous

Aspect gives a viewpoint, not a stopwatch. Imperfective forms commonly overlap with the main event, but they can describe a continuing circumstance, habitual accompaniment, manner, or reason. Conversely, perfective forms usually indicate priority, yet their practical translation may be “once,” “after,” “when,” or “by.” Translate the relationship that makes sense rather than replacing every form with the same English phrase.

Impersonal sentences require care

A verbal adverb can occur with an infinitival or modal impersonal construction when the same understood person is clearly responsible for both actions, especially in instructions: Переходя улицу, нужно смотреть по сторонам (“When crossing the street, you must look both ways”). Such patterns are accepted in many contexts, but constructions with no possible shared agent remain faulty. If the sentence feels ambiguous, give the person an explicit subject and finite verb.

Participles and verbal adverbs do different jobs

The related active participle describes a noun and changes its ending; the verbal adverb describes the circumstances of another action and does not change:

Function	Russian	English
Active participle	читающий студент	the student who is reading
Verbal adverb	Читая, студент делал заметки.	While reading, the student took notes.

This contrast is especially useful when editing. If the form answers “which person or thing?”, a participle may be needed. If it answers “when, how, or under what circumstances did the main action happen?”, a verbal adverb is likely.

Fixed expressions can lose their literal action meaning

Phrases such as судя по (“judging by”), начиная с (“starting from”), and несмотря на (“despite”) behave partly like prepositions or discourse markers. Their punctuation and grammar depend on the whole construction, not simply on the ordinary rule for a free verbal adverb. Treat them as established expressions and consult a current reference when punctuation is important.

Practice Tips

1. Build aspect pairs in context. Write two sentences with one lexical idea: Читая письмо, она улыбалась and Прочитав письмо, она ответила. Say aloud whether the added action is ongoing or already complete.
2. Run the “same person?” test. Underline the subject of the main verb, then ask whether that exact person or thing can logically perform the verbal-adverb action. If not, rewrite with когда, пока, or после того как.
3. Transform full clauses. Change Когда Олег закончил работу, он ушёл into Закончив работу, Олег ушёл, then reverse the transformation. This trains both compact written style and natural conversational alternatives.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Active Participles — compare adjective-like participles that modify nouns with unchanging verbal adverbs that modify actions.