How to Use Present and Past Participles in Ukrainian

What Are Participles in Ukrainian?

Participles in Ukrainian are verb forms that function as adjectives or parts of compound verb tenses. They describe actions related to a noun, similar to English participles like "running" or "written." Ukrainian has two main types of participles: present participles and past participles.

Present Participles in Ukrainian

The present participle in Ukrainian describes an ongoing action related to the noun. It is formed from the imperfective aspect of the verb and agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it modifies.

Formation of Present Participles

To form the present participle, take the third person plural form of the verb in the present tense, remove the ending -ть, and add the suffix -чий (masculine), -ча (feminine), or -че (neuter). For plural, use -чі. For example:

• писати (to write) → вони пишуть → пишучий (masc.)
• читати (to read) → вони читають → читаючий (masc.)

Usage of Present Participles

Present participles are used to describe a noun performing an action currently. For example, пишучий студент means "the student who is writing." They are less common in everyday speech but appear in literary and formal contexts.

Past Participles in Ukrainian

Past participles describe completed actions related to a noun. They are formed from the perfective aspect of the verb and also agree in gender, number, and case with the noun.

Formation of Past Participles

To form the past participle, take the past tense masculine singular form of the verb, remove the ending -в or -ла, and add the suffix -ний (masculine), -на (feminine), or -не (neuter). For plural, use -ні. For example:

• написати (to write) → він написав → написаний (masc.)
• прочитати (to read) → вона прочитала → прочитана (fem.)

Usage of Past Participles

Past participles are commonly used to describe nouns that have undergone an action. For example, написаний лист means "the written letter." They are frequently used in passive constructions and formal writing.

Examples of Present and Past Participles in Sentences

• Пишучий автор працює над книгою. (The writing author is working on a book.)
• Прочитана книга була дуже цікавою. (The read book was very interesting.)
• Читаючі діти сидять у парку. (The children who are reading are sitting in the park.)
• Написані документи підписані директором. (The written documents are signed by the director.)

Tips for English Speakers Learning Ukrainian Participles

English speakers should remember that Ukrainian participles agree with the nouns they modify in gender, number, and case, which is different from English. Also, participles are more commonly used in formal and literary Ukrainian than in everyday speech.