Participles and Gerunds in Ukrainian

Overview

Ukrainian has two types of verbal adjectives (participles) and two types of verbal adverbs (adverbial participles/gerunds). At the CEFR B2 level, understanding these forms is important for reading literary and formal texts, and for producing more sophisticated written Ukrainian.

Active participles (-учий/-ючий) and passive participles (-ний/-тий) function as adjectives derived from verbs. Adverbial participles (дієприслівники) function as adverbs: imperfective (-учи/-ючи) describe simultaneous actions, while perfective (-вши/-ши) describe completed prior actions.

Ukrainian usage of these forms differs from Russian -- active participles are less common in Ukrainian, and adverbial participles are the preferred participial form in both literary and colloquial registers.

How It Works

Passive Participles (-ний/-тий)

Verb	Participle	Meaning
написати	написаний	written
зробити	зроблений	done/made
відкрити	відкритий	opened
прочитати	прочитаний	read

These decline like adjectives: написана книга, зроблений стіл.

Active Participles (-учий/-ючий) -- Limited Use

Verb	Participle	Meaning
працювати	працюючий	working
читати	читаючий	reading

Note: Active participles are less common in Ukrainian than in Russian. Relative clauses with який are preferred.

Adverbial Participles (Gerunds)

Type	Formation	Example
Imperfective	-учи/-ючи	читаючи (while reading)
Perfective	-вши/-ши	прочитавши (having read)

Examples in Context

Ukrainian	English	Note
читаючи книгу	while reading a book	Simultaneous action
прочитавши листа	having read the letter	Prior completed action
написана книга	a written book	Passive participle
працюючі люди	working people	Active participle
Ідучи додому, зустрів друга.	Walking home, I met a friend.	Adverbial, simultaneous
Закінчивши роботу, пішов.	Having finished work, he left.	Adverbial, completed
зроблений вчора	done yesterday	Passive + time
Сидячи тут, чекаю.	Sitting here, I wait.	Simultaneous
відкрита книга	an open book	Passive as adjective
Дізнавшись новину, зрадів.	Having learned the news, he rejoiced.	Prior action

Common Mistakes

Using Russian-style active participles

• Wrong: читающий, пишущий (Russian forms)
• Right: що читає, який пише (relative clause) or читаючий (Ukrainian form)
• Why: Ukrainian prefers relative clauses over active participles for most contexts.

Wrong adverbial participle aspect

• Wrong: Читавши книгу, слухав музику. (perfective for simultaneous)
• Right: Читаючи книгу, слухав музику.
• Why: Simultaneous actions use imperfective adverbial participle (-учи/-ючи).

Dangling participle

• Wrong: Прочитавши книгу, було цікаво. (no clear subject)
• Right: Прочитавши книгу, я вважаю її цікавою.
• Why: The subject of the adverbial participle must match the subject of the main clause.

Usage Notes

Adverbial participles are widely used in both written and spoken Ukrainian. The imperfective form (-учи/-ючи) describes an action happening at the same time as the main verb. The perfective form (-вши/-ши) describes an action completed before the main verb.

Active participles are considered somewhat bookish in Ukrainian. In everyday speech, relative clauses with який replace them: "люди, які працюють" is preferred over "працюючі люди."

Practice Tips

1. Passive participle adjectives: Practice using passive participles as adjectives with nouns of different genders.
2. Simultaneous vs prior: Practice matching adverbial participle aspect to the temporal relationship.
3. Rewriting with clauses: Convert adverbial participle phrases to full clauses and vice versa.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Verbal Aspect -- aspect determines participle form
• Next steps: Advanced Participle Usage -- literary and formal participle patterns