365–367 Gerunds 385

-нно, -нны ‘hide-bound’ (adj.), рассян, -а, -о, -ы ‘dispersed’ (part.) and
рассян, -нна, -нно, -нны ‘absent-minded’ (adj.).

366 Impersonal function of short-form participles

(1) The neuter short forms of the perfective passive participles of certain
verbs can be used impersonally:
— Здесь знято? Is this place occupied?
За всё заплчено Everything has been paid for
В ваг"не б$ло битк"м наб то The carriage was packed
В зле нак)рено The hall is smoke-filled
Кшать п#дано Dinner is served
С доск стёрто The board has been cleaned
С вчера не )брано б$ло со The table had not been
стол (Rasputin) cleared since the previous
evening
Вам откзано в пр"сьбе Your request has been refused
(2) Imperfective participles of this type are found in colloquial speech
(mainly in the negative):
Давн" не т#плено
The heating has not been on for a long time
Compare Пол не мыт ‘The floor has not been washed’, Бельё не
глжено ‘The washing has not been ironed’.

Note
Impersonal usage in Прикзано остться ‘We have been instructed to
stay’, Ком Iто скзано? ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’, and
the phrase Скзано — сдлано ‘No sooner said than done’.

Gerunds

367 The gerund. Introductory comments

(1) Gerunds (or ‘verbal adverbs’) are indeclinable forms of the verb that
substitute for co-ordinate or adverbial clauses in ‘and’, ‘when’, ‘since’,
‘by’, ‘without’ etc.
386 The Verb 367–368

(2) Gerunds, like active participles, have English equivalents in ‘-ing’, but
participles are adjectival in form, agree in gender, case and number with
the noun they qualify and replace relative clauses in кот#рый (see 360),
while gerunds are invariable. Compare the use of the participle in
the weeping boy (= the boy who is weeping): плчущий мльчик
with the use of the gerund in
he sits weeping (= and weeps): он сидт, плча
(3) There are imperfective and perfective gerunds.

368 Formation of the imperfective gerund

Most imperfective gerunds are formed by adding -я (-а after ж, ч, ш or

щ) to the present-tense stem of the verb (see 212):
говорт говор- говор ‘speaking’
д$шат дыш- дыш ‘breathing’
нест нес- нес ‘carrying’
плчут плач- плча ‘weeping’
трбуют требу- трбуя ‘demanding’
читют чита- читя ‘reading’

Note
(a) Давть and compounds, compounds of -знавть, -ставть form
gerunds as follows: вставя ‘rising’, давя ‘giving’:
— Извинте, у мен дел, — сказл Нештов, вставя со стла
(Grekova)
‘Excuse me, I have something to attend to’, said Neshatov, getting up
from his chair
(b) The gerund from махть ‘to wave’ has alternative forms: махя and
маш. Similarly бр1згать, бр1зжа ‘playing’ (of a fountain),
бр1згая ‘sprinkling’ (water on ironing etc.). Кпать ‘to drip’ has
кпая, с1пать ‘to strew’ has с1пля.
(c) Быть has the gerund б)дучи ‘being’:
Он прихал в Л"ндон давн", ещё б)дучи солдтом
He arrived in London long ago when he was still a soldier
(d) :дучи from хать ‘to travel’ is sometimes found in poetic or folk
speech; припевючи is used in the phrase жить припевючи ‘to live
in clover’.
 368–370 Gerunds 387

(e) Imperfective gerunds from reflexive verbs take the ending -сь:
жлуясь from жловаться ‘to complain’.

369 Stress in the imperfective gerund

Stress in the gerund is normally as in the first-person singular:

голосовть ‘to vote’ голосю ‘I vote’ голос)я ‘voting’
держть ‘to hold’ держ ‘I hold’ держ ‘holding’
курть ‘to smoke’ кур ‘I smoke’ кур ‘smoking’
смотрть ‘to look’ смотр ‘I look’ смотр ‘looking’
шептть ‘to whisper’ шепч ‘I whisper’ шепч ‘whispering’

Note
Глдя ‘looking’, лёжа ‘lying’, с дя ‘sitting’ and ст#я ‘standing’ have
stem stress despite end stress in conjugation: Барабнов, ст#я на
одн"м колне, дошнур"вывал бтсы (Vanshenkin) ‘Barabanov was
kneeling to finish lacing his boots’.

370 Verbs with no imperfective gerund

Many verbs have no imperfective gerund. These include the following:

(1) Бежть ‘to run’, бить ‘to strike’, вить ‘to twine’, врать ‘to lie’, гнить
‘to rot’, драть ‘to flay’, есть ‘to eat’, хать ‘to travel’ (see, however, 368
note (d)), жждать ‘to hunger for’, жать ‘to press’, ждать ‘to wait’, лгать
‘to lie’, лезть ‘to climb’, лить ‘to pour’, мять ‘to crumple’, петь ‘to sing’,
пить ‘to drink’, рвать ‘to tear’, слать ‘to send’, стонть ‘to groan’, ткать
‘to weave’, хотть ‘to want’, шить ‘to sew’.

Note
Gerunds from some other verbs are rarely used: бер from брать ‘to
take’, гон from гнать ‘to drive’, зов from звать ‘to call’, плыв
from плыть ‘to swim’. Нос from ность ‘to carry’ and ход from
ходть ‘to go’ are rarely found; cf., however, compound принос
‘bringing’ etc.
(2) First-conjugation consonant-stem verbs with с:ш, з:ж mutation (e.g.
писть ‘to write’, рзать ‘to cut’, see 217 (2)).
(3) Verbs in -чь.
388 The Verb 370–372

(4) Verbs in -ереть.

(5) Verbs with the suffix -ну- (гснуть ‘to go out’ etc.).

371 Compensation for the lack of an imperfective gerund

(1) If a primary verb has no imperfective gerund it is often possible to

form one from its synonym. Thus, мочь ‘to be able’ has no gerund, but
быть в состонии ‘to be capable of’ does: б)дучи в состонии ‘being
able to’. Likewise, хотть ‘to want’ has no gerund, but желть ‘to wish’
does (желя ‘wishing, wanting’):
Желя скоре ухать, он тороплся зак"нчить раб"ту
Wishing to get away as soon as possible he hastened to finish his
work
(2) Other primaries with no gerund have a synonymous secondary
imperfective from which a gerund may be formed:
Primary Secondary Gerund
verb imperfective
есть съедть съедя ‘eating’
хать проезжть проезжя ‘travelling’
ждать ожидть ожидя ‘waiting’
жечь сжигть сжигя ‘burning’
петь распевть распевя ‘singing’
пить выпивть выпивя ‘drinking’
рвать разрывть разрывя ‘tearing up’
слать посылть посыля ‘sending’
тереть вытирть вытиря ‘wiping’
К"стя Пимурз весь извёлся, ожидя нас (Nikolaev)
Kostya Pimurzya suffered agonies waiting for us

372 The perfective gerund: formation (verbs in -nm, -cnm

(l-stems))

(1) The perfective gerund is formed from verbs in -ть by replacing the
perfective infinitive ending by -в:
написв having written
постр#ив having built
 372–375 Gerunds 389

пром#кнув having got soaked

(2) Likewise gerunds from verbs in -сть (д-stems only: приссть ‘to sit
down for a while’, укрсть ‘to steal’, упсть ‘to fall’):
присв having sat down for a while

373 Reflexive perfective gerunds

Reflexive perfective gerunds have the ending -вшись:

верн)вшись having returned
ум1вшись having washed

Note
Оперш сь from оперться ‘to lean on’ (cf. figurative usage: опервшись
на инициатву масс ‘relying on the initiative of the masses’); similarly
вт#ргшись ‘having invaded’ from вт"ргнуться, в1тершись ‘having dried
oneself’, заперш сь ‘having locked oneself in’.

374 Perfective gerunds with alternative forms in -z /-f

(1) Some perfective gerunds have alternative forms in -в and -я/-а, the
forms in -в generally being preferred in written styles:
замтив/замтя having noticed
ув дев/ув дя having seen
(2) The forms in -я-/-а are common with reflexive verbs: возвратсь/
возврат вшись (верн)вшись) ‘having returned’, встртясь/встртившись
‘having met’, прищ)рясь/прищ)рившись ‘screwing up one’s eyes’:
Я ждал, прислонсь к стен (Granin)
I waited, leaning against a wall
Возврат вшись к себ на квартру, он сла в своё любмое
крсло у окн. (Litvinova)
Returning to her flat, she sat in her favourite armchair by the window

375 Gerunds from perfective verbs in -nb and -cnm

Gerunds from most perfective verbs in -ти and (except for д-stems, see
372) -сть are formed by replacing the final two letters of the third-person
plural of the verb by -я:
390 The Verb 375–377

пройд-т пройд- ‘having passed’

сойд-т сойд- ‘having descended’
Likewise изобрет ‘having invented’ from изобрест, подмет
‘having swept’ from подмест, принес ‘having brought’ from
принест, разбредсь ‘having wandered off in different directions’
from разбрестсь (cf. also учт ‘having taken into consideration’ from
учсть):
Принес самовр и заварв чай, Дрья наконц заговорла
(Rasputin)
Having brought in the samovar and made the tea Darya finally began
to speak

Note
Compounds of грест, паст, раст and цвест have perfective
gerunds in -ши: в1росши ‘having grown up’ from в$расти, расцвтши
‘having blossomed’ from расцвест, сгрёбши ‘having raked together’ from
сгрест, спсши ‘having saved’ from спаст.

376 Gerunds from perfective verbs in -xm and -pnm

Gerunds from perfective verbs in -чь and -зть are formed by adding -ши
to the masculine past tense of the verb: в1лезши ‘having climbed out’
from в$лезть, испёкши ‘having baked’ from испчь, сжёгши ‘having
burnt’ from сжечь.

377 Functions of the gerunds

Gerunds replace co-ordinate clauses or adverbial clauses of time, manner,

cause, condition etc. They are found mainly in written Russian, co-
ordinate or adverbial clauses (English equivalents enclosed in parentheses
in the following examples) being preferred in speech.

(1) Imperfective gerunds

The imperfective gerund denotes an action which is simultaneous to the
action of the main verb. Either the two actions run in parallel or one interrupts
the other. The following meanings are conveyed by the gerund:
Он сидт, читя
He sits reading (= and reads)
 377 Gerunds 391

Он бежт, тяжел" дыш

He is running along, breathing (= and breathes) heavily.
Читя, запсываю незнак"мые слов
When reading (= when I read) I make a note of words I do not
know
Поднимясь по лстнице, он упла
While going up (= when/while/as she was going up) the stairs, she fell
Занимясь аэр"бикой, укрепл здор"вье
By doing aerobics (= if I do) I shall improve my fitness
Бось гроз$, я поспешл дом"й
Fearing (= since I feared) a thunderstorm I hurried home
На стнции, когд дври раскр$лись, он в$скочила и побежла
по платф"рме, не переставя кричть (Litvinova)
At the station, when the doors opened, she jumped out and ran along
the platform, shouting all the time
(2) Perfective gerunds
(i) The perfective gerund describes an action which is completed prior to
the action denoted by the main verb:
Написв письм", он лёг спать
Having written (= when, after he had written) the letter he went to bed
Не понв вопр"са, он растерлась
Not having understood (= since she had not understood) the question
she got confused
Примен в н"вый мтод, бригда см"жет перев$полнить н"рму
By using (= if it uses) the new method, the work-team will be able to
over-fulfil its norm
(ii) The perfective gerund may also denote a state resulting from the
completion of an action:
Он сидл, в1тянув н"ги
He sat, stretching out (= having stretched out) his legs

Note
Care must be taken to resolve English ambiguity in rendering verb forms
in -ing. Compare
Stepping (= as she was stepping) off the pavement she tripped and fell
Сход (imperfective gerund) с тротура, он споткнлась и упла
392 The Verb 377–378

and

Stepping (= having stepped) off the pavement she crossed the road
Сойд (perfective gerund) с тротура, он перешл дор"гу

378 Special features of constructions with gerunds

Certain features are characteristic of constructions with gerunds:

(1) The subject of the gerund and the subject of the main clause are the
same:

Верн)вшись дом"й, он поствил самовр

Having returned home he put on the samovar

Возвращясь дом"й, я попл под дождь

While returning home I got caught in the rain

Note
(a) In this example the main clause could not be replaced by the
synonymous Мен застг дождь ‘I got caught in the rain’, since
this would involve a change in subject.
(b) The gerund is not normally used in conjunction with an impersonal
phrase; thus one should write not *Подход к лсу, мне стло
х"лодно, but Когд я подходл к лсу, мне стло х"лодно
‘As I approached the forest I felt cold’. Impersonal constructions
involving infinitives may, however, sometimes combine with
gerunds: Выполня Iто упражнние, м#жно п#льзоваться
словарём ‘When doing this exercise you may use a dictionary’.
(Note, however, that an alternative rendering: Выполня Iто
упражнние, обращйтесь к словар ‘When doing this
exercise, consult the dictionary’ observes the principle of identity
of subject in both clauses.)
(c) A gerund should be avoided when the subject of the main clause
appears in a passive construction, since in such cases the
grammatical subject of the main clause is not the logical subject.
Thus Пbсле тог" как он перелз (rather than Перелзши)
через заб"р, он был задржан сторожми ‘Having climbed
over the fence, he was detained by guards’.

(2) A comma separates the main clause from the clause in which the gerund
appears:
 378–380 Gerunds 393

Он говор л, старясь сохранть хладнокр"вие

He spoke, trying to retain his composure
Прочитв письм", он спртал ег" в щик
Having read the letter he hid it in a drawer
(3) The verb in the main clause may be in any tense and either aspect:
Возвращясь с зав"да, я встречл/встртил/встречю/б)ду
(чсто) встречть/встрчу ^ру
When returning from the factory I used to meet/met/meet/will (often)
meet/will meet Ira
Вернвшись дом"й, он ствил/поствил/ствит/б)дет ствить/
поствит самовр
Returning home, he used to put on/put on/puts on/will put on the
samovar
Compare
Он просыплся по утрм и, откр1в ф"рточку, начинл в ртме
размхивать рукми (Trofimov)
He would wake up in the morning and, opening the casement window,
begin rhythmically to swing his arms

Note
The use of the perfective gerund откр1в shows that the actions of
opening the window and swinging the arms were sequential (imperfective
открывя would suggest that they were simultaneous).

379 Reversal of the sequence of actions expressed by main

verb and gerund

Occasionally the action denoted by the verb in the main clause precedes
that denoted by the gerund:
Он в$шел, хл#пнув дврью He went out, slamming the door
This construction should not, however, be regarded as the norm.

380 Gerunds as other parts of speech

Some gerunds or former gerunds also function as other parts of speech,

in particular prepositions and adverbs.
394 The Verb 380

(1) Imperfective:
благодар thanks to (+ dat.; cf. благодар as gerund + acc.)
исключя excluding, except for
крдучись stealthily
м#лча silently
не считя not counting
не теря врмени without delay
с)дя по judging by (cf. gerund суд)

Note
(a) Some phrases are compounded with the gerund говор: откровнно
говор ‘frankly speaking’, стр#го говор ‘strictly speaking’, не говор
уж ‘let alone, to say nothing of’ etc.:
Wбщество предоставлет им библиотки, музи, не говор уж
о тетрах и кин" (Kovaleva)
Society puts at their disposal libraries and museums, to say nothing of
theatres and cinemas
(b) Other phrases include отвечть не зад)мываясь ‘to answer without
hesitation’, говорть заикясь ‘to stammer’, не покладя рук
‘tirelessly’, не спеш ‘unhurriedly’, нхотя ‘reluctantly’.
(2) Perfective (mainly in set phrases involving gerunds in -я/-а; see 374):
слшать раз ня рот to listen open-mouthed
сказть полож рку н сердце to say hand on heart
раб"тать спуст рукав to work in a slipshod fashion
согласться скреп срдце to agree reluctantly
сидть слож рки to sit twiddling one’s thumbs
Note also the preposition спуст: недлю спуст ‘a week later’. See
439 (2)(i).