Participles and Gerunds in Ukrainian

In Brief

Ukrainian distinguishes дієприкметники, verb-based adjectives that describe a noun (написана книга, “a written book”), from дієприслівники, unchanging forms that add a second action (читаючи, “while reading”; прочитавши, “having read”). Passive participles are common; many mechanically formed active participles in -учий/-ючий sound less natural than a clause with який. An adverbial participle normally has the same doer as the main verb.

Overview

A participle is a form built from a verb but used like an adjective—a describing word attached to a person or thing. Ukrainian calls it a дієприкметник. In написаний лист (“a written letter”), написаний comes from написати (“to write”), but it describes лист. It therefore changes its ending to match that noun in gender, number, and case (the form showing a noun’s role in the sentence).

A дієприслівник is different. It adds a background or preceding action to the main verb: Читаючи листа, вона усміхалася (“While reading the letter, she smiled”). It does not change its ending. English grammar often calls this an adverbial participle or converb. “Gerund” appears in some course titles, but do not confuse this Ukrainian form with the English noun-like -ing form in “Reading helps me relax.” Ukrainian normally uses an infinitive or a verbal noun for that meaning: Читати корисно (“Reading is useful”), читання (“reading”).

At B2, these forms help you understand news, essays, instructions, and compact written narratives. Their interpretation depends heavily on verbal aspect: imperfective verbs present an action as ongoing or repeated, while perfective verbs present it as a complete event. That contrast gives читаючи the usual sense “while reading” and прочитавши the usual sense “after/having read.”

How It Works

The two systems at a glance

Form	What it modifies	Does it change?	Typical function	Example
Дієприкметник	a noun	Yes: gender, number, case	identifies or describes a person or thing	відчинене вікно — an open window
Дієприслівник	the event expressed by the main verb	No	adds a simultaneous or earlier action	відчинивши вікно — having opened the window

Passive participles: the result of an action

A passive participle describes the person or thing that receives the action. In лист, написаний Оленою (“the letter written by Olena”), the letter is what was written. Common suffixes include -н-, -ен-/-єн-, and -т-; the dictionary-style masculine ending is usually -ий:

Infinitive	Participial form	Phrase	Meaning
написати	написаний	написаний лист	a written letter
прочитати	прочитаний	прочитана стаття	a read article / an article that has been read
зробити	зроблений	зроблена робота	completed work
запросити	запрошений	запрошені гості	invited guests
відкрити	відкритий	відкрите вікно	an open/opened window
забути	забутий	забута обіцянка	a forgotten promise

Many useful forms contain stem changes, so suffix rules alone do not predict every participle: зробити → зроблений, запросити → запрошений. Learn frequent participles with their verb and check unfamiliar forms in a dictionary.

Perfective verbs commonly produce result-focused participles, but aspect and meaning must be learned together. Some participles have also become ordinary adjectives: відкритий may describe the result “opened” or the state “open,” and освічений usually means “educated.”

Like other adjectives, a participle agrees with its noun. Here is the basic nominative pattern for написаний:

Noun type	Ending	Example
masculine singular	-ий	написаний лист
feminine singular	-а	написана книга
neuter singular	-е	написане повідомлення
plural	-і	написані відповіді

It also declines for case. Compare написаний лист (“a written letter,” nominative), написаного листа (“of the written letter,” genitive), and у написаному листі (“in the written letter,” locative). The entire participial phrase follows the noun’s grammar.

A passive participle can stand directly beside a noun or form part of a predicate with бути (“to be”):

• Документ підписаний директоркою. — “The document is/has been signed by the director.”
• Документ був підписаний учора. — “The document was signed yesterday.”
• Документ буде підписаний завтра. — “The document will be signed tomorrow.”

The doer may be expressed in the instrumental case (the form often used for an instrument or agent): написаний авторкою (“written by the author”). Often it is omitted because the result matters more than the doer.

Active participles: grammatically possible, stylistically restricted

An active participle describes a noun as performing an action. Forms in -учий/-ючий and -ачий/-ячий occur: працюючі люди (“working people”), спляча дитина (“a sleeping child”), лежачий пацієнт (“a bedridden patient”). They agree like adjectives.

However, modern standard Ukrainian does not freely use a present active participle for every English -ing adjective. A relative clause—a clause beginning with “who/which”—is often more natural:

Tempting compact form	Often more natural Ukrainian	English
читаючий студент	студент, який читає	a student who is reading
людина, працююча в банку	людина, яка працює в банку	a person who works at a bank
зростаючі ціни	ціни, що зростають / зростання цін	rising prices

This does not make every form in these suffixes wrong. Established adjectives and conventional terms are common, including лежачий, сплячий, and context-dependent працюючий. The safe learner strategy is lexical: use forms you have encountered in reliable Ukrainian, but prefer який/що + finite verb when inventing a new description.

Imperfective adverbial participles: simultaneous action

An adverbial participle from an imperfective verb normally describes an action simultaneous with, or forming the background to, the main action. Frequent endings are -учи/-ючи and -ачи/-ячи.

A practical formation clue is the present-tense third-person plural form: remove -ть and add -чи.

Infinitive	3rd-person plural	Adverbial participle	Usual meaning
читати	читають	читаючи	while reading
працювати	працюють	працюючи	while working
іти	ідуть	ідучи	while going/walking
говорити	говорять	говорячи	while speaking
сидіти	сидять	сидячи	while sitting
стояти	стоять	стоячи	while standing

This is a useful pattern, not permission to create every possible form without checking usage. The form is invariable: читаючи remains the same whether the understood doer is я, вона, or вони.

Perfective adverbial participles: completed action first

A perfective adverbial participle normally marks an action completed before the main action. The frequent ending is -вши after a vowel in the past-tense stem, while -ши occurs after a consonant:

Infinitive	Related past form	Adverbial participle	Usual meaning
прочитати	прочитав	прочитавши	having read / after reading
зробити	зробив	зробивши	having done
дізнатися	дізнався	дізнавшись	having found out
прийти	прийшов	прийшовши	having arrived/come
принести	приніс	принісши	having brought

Reflexive verbs retain -ся in the form, normally realized as -сь after the adverbial-participle suffix: усміхатися → усміхаючись, ознайомитися → ознайомившись. Because irregular stems occur, learn common forms as units.

The aspect contrast is often a timeline contrast:

• Читаючи листа, він робив нотатки. — the reading and note-taking overlap.
• Прочитавши листа, він написав відповідь. — he finishes reading, then writes.

The same-subject rule

The implied subject—the doer—of a дієприслівник should normally be the subject of the main clause:

• Повертаючись додому, я зустрів сусідку. — I was returning; I met her.
• Закінчивши роботу, ми пішли вечеряти. — we finished; we went.

English also warns against “dangling participles,” but English sometimes tolerates loose introductory phrases. Standard Ukrainian requires a particularly clear connection. If the two actions have different doers, use a full clause with коли, поки, після того як, or another connector.

Position and punctuation

An adverbial-participial phrase may precede or follow the main clause. It is generally separated by a comma:

• Вийшовши з дому, Марко зателефонував мені.
• Марко зателефонував мені, вийшовши з дому.

A single дієприслівник is also commonly set off: Вона, усміхаючись, відчинила двері. In fixed or strongly manner-like expressions, punctuation can depend on meaning and convention, so imitate edited examples rather than treating every isolated form mechanically.

Examples in Context

Ukrainian	English	Note
На столі лежала написана від руки записка.	A handwritten note lay on the table.	Passive participle agrees with feminine записка.
Ми обговорили результати, отримані минулого тижня.	We discussed the results obtained last week.	Post-noun participial phrase.
Двері були зачинені зсередини.	The door was locked from the inside.	Predicate with past були.
Запрошені гості вже зібралися.	The invited guests have already gathered.	Plural passive participle.
У прочитаній статті було кілька помилок.	There were several errors in the article I had read.	Locative feminine agreement.
Працюючі люди потребують часу на відпочинок.	Working people need time to rest.	Context example with an active participle.
Люди, які працюють уночі, мають інший графік.	People who work at night have a different schedule.	A relative clause is often more natural.
Читаючи книгу, я виписую нові слова.	While reading a book, I write down new words.	Simultaneous imperfective action.
Вона слухала подкаст, готуючи вечерю.	She listened to a podcast while making dinner.	The two actions overlap.
Ідучи на роботу, він купив каву.	On his way to work, he bought coffee.	Same subject: він both walked and bought.
Прочитавши листа, Олена одразу відповіла.	Having read the letter, Olena replied at once.	Completed action before the reply.
Закінчивши зустріч, ми повернулися до офісу.	After finishing the meeting, we returned to the office.	Perfective sequence.
Дізнавшись про зміну розкладу, вони подзвонили нам.	Having learned about the schedule change, they called us.	Reflexive form in -вшись.
Не знаючи адреси, я не міг надіслати посилку.	Not knowing the address, I could not send the parcel.	Negation precedes the form.
Усміхаючись, дитина простягнула мені малюнок.	Smiling, the child handed me a drawing.	Reflexive imperfective form.

Common Mistakes

Treating every English -ing form as a Ukrainian active participle

• Unnatural: дівчина, читаюча біля вікна
• Better: дівчина, яка читає біля вікна
• Why: Ukrainian often prefers a relative clause for a currently performed action. English uses attributive -ing forms more freely.

Giving the adverbial participle a different doer

• Wrong: Повертаючись додому, почався дощ.
• Right: Коли я повертався додому, почався дощ.
• Why: The wrong sentence grammatically suggests that the rain was returning home. The full коли clause gives “I” its own subject.

Ignoring aspect and reversing the timeline

• Wrong for “after reading”: Читаючи листа, вона відповіла.
• Right: Прочитавши листа, вона відповіла.
• Why: Imperfective читаючи presents overlapping activity; perfective прочитавши presents completed reading before the reply.

Forgetting participle agreement

• Wrong: написаний книга; запрошений гості
• Right: написана книга; запрошені гості
• Why: A дієприкметник behaves like an adjective and matches its noun. A дієприслівник, by contrast, never agrees.

Translating an English gerund with a дієприслівник

• Wrong: Читаючи корисно for “Reading is useful.”
• Right: Читати корисно or Читання корисне.
• Why: Читаючи needs a main event and means roughly “while reading.” A noun-like activity is expressed with the infinitive читати or the verbal noun читання.

Dropping the reflexive element

• Wrong: дізнавши про новину; усміхаючи
• Right: дізнавшись про новину; усміхаючись
• Why: The source verbs are reflexive (дізнатися, усміхатися), and the adverbial forms retain that element as -сь.

Usage Notes

Participles and adverbial participles make sentences compact, but compact is not always natural. Passive participles are normal in everyday and formal Ukrainian: зачинені двері, підписаний документ, приготовлена вечеря. Longer participial phrases are especially frequent in news, academic, administrative, and literary writing.

Adverbial participles occur in both speech and writing, but a long chain can sound bookish. In conversation, speakers often unpack it: Після того як я прочитав листа, я відповів instead of Прочитавши листа, я відповів. The clause is also preferable whenever the doer might be unclear.

Be cautious when a form resembles a direct copy of Russian bureaucratic style. Ukrainian often replaces freely productive active present participles with relative clauses, nouns, or established adjectives. There is no single suffix-only test: context and accepted usage matter. A good Ukrainian dictionary or a corpus of edited Ukrainian is more reliable than translating English or Russian one word at a time.

Word order changes emphasis rather than the core timeline. An initial phrase sets the scene—Вийшовши з метро, ми побачили площу. A final phrase often adds how or when the action happened—Ми обговорювали план, повертаючись додому. Keep the implied subject easy to identify in either position.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

A participle may have its own dependents, producing a participial phrase: лист, написаний учора моєю сестрою (“the letter written yesterday by my sister”). When such a phrase follows the noun, it is commonly set off with commas: Лист, написаний учора, уже надіслано. Punctuation depends on position, meaning, definiteness, and how closely the phrase identifies the noun, so advanced learners should study participial phrases as sentence structures, not only as individual word forms.

Ukrainian also has impersonal result forms in -но/-то, such as лист написано (“the letter has been written”) and двері зачинено (“the door has been closed”). These are not agreeing participles: написано does not change to match лист or книгу. Compare:

Agreeing participle	Impersonal result form	Difference
Лист був написаний учора.	Листа було написано учора.	The first predicates a state/result of лист; the second presents the completed action impersonally.
Двері були зачинені.	Двері було зачинено.	Зачинені agrees in the first; зачинено stays fixed in the second.

Some adverbial participles acquire specialized discourse meanings. Говорячи про це means “speaking of this,” and враховуючи обставини means “considering the circumstances.” Even in such expressions, edited prose favors clear logical attachment. At C1, the main challenge is not producing longer strings of forms but controlling style: choosing among a participial phrase, a relative clause, an adverbial clause, and an impersonal construction.

Practice Tips

1. Build aspect pairs into timelines. Write pairs such as читаючи — прочитавши and make two sentences: one where actions overlap and one where the first action is complete.
2. Run the “who did both?” test. For every дієприслівник, underline the subject of the main verb. If that person or thing did not perform both actions, rewrite with коли or після того як.
3. Collect forms by phrase, not suffix. Save natural combinations such as підписаний документ, запрошені гості, дізнавшись про новину. When you meet an active form in -учий/-ючий, also note whether native writing prefers a який/що clause.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Verbal Aspect — explains the imperfective/perfective contrast behind читаючи and прочитавши.
• Next step: Advanced Participle Usage — develops literary and formal constructions, stylistic choices, and restrictions on active participles.