The Past Passive Participles

The Form

The past passive participle is derived exclusively from perfective verb stems and is the most complex of all the Russian participles; by the same token, it is perhaps the most frequently used. Unlike other participles but very much like regular adjectives, they have a long and a short form. The rules for forming the past passive participle are these:

1. Stems ending on either a or ай receive the ending -н in the short form which is extended by -ный in the long form. All spelling rules and rules of combination, of course, apply.

"written"

"done, made"

Notice that the accent on these participles always falls on the syllable preceding the ан regardless of the type of stem accent.

2. Stems ending on fixed consonant stems (all consonants except й в н and м) and on front vowel stems (и and е) form the past passive partciples via the suffix -ён which is also extended by -ный in the long form. Notice that the rules of palatalization apply before this suffix but only to stems ending on и.

"brought, carried to"

"left (behind)"

3. All other stems take the suffix -т(ый) to form their past passive particples. These include stems on removeable consonants, i. e. й unless preceded by a (see сделай- above), в, м and н), stems ending on р or л, and those ending on rounded back vowels (о and у):

"drunk (up)"

"locked"

"moved"

The Function

The past passive participle indicates an action which has been carried out on the noun it modifies in the past. It often corresponds to a который clause, one in which the noun modified by the participle is the direct object, not the subject.

стол, который сделали в Москве the table that they made in Moscow	стол сделанный в Москве the table made in Moscow
письмо, которое написали мне the letter that they wrote me	написанное мне письмо the letter written to me

However, it is also used to make perfective passive sentences in which it serves as the main verb. Perfective passive sentences, of course, are passive sentences referring to action already completed.

Стол сделали в Москве. They made the table in Moscow.	Стол сделан в Москве. The table was made in Moscow.
Телевизор уже включили. They've already turned the TV on.	Телевизор уже включён. The TV is already on.

Imperfective passive sentences, indicating that the action of the verb is still in progress or is being repeated, are constructed with 3rd person impersonal verbs or reflexive verbs like these:

Столы делают в Москве.
They make tables in Moscow.

Столы делаются в Москве.
The tables are made in Moscow.

Some Examples

машина, которую произвели в России the car that was produced in Russia	машина, произведённая в России the car produced in Russia
о сцене, которую описали в книге about the scene, which was described in the book	о сцене описанной в книге about the scene described in the book
Его вид озаботил ее. His appearance worried her.	Она была озабочена его видом She was worried by his appearance.
Его чистота поразила ее. His cleanliness shocked her.	Она была поражена его чистотой. She was shocked at his cleanliness.

Now Try a Few Yourself

Type in the correct form of the participle below, then push the button to check your answer. Click here for font information.

Основа	Ваш ответ	Проверьте	Правильно?
Образец: сделай- (сделать)	Type your answer here	...then push here

прочитай- (прочитать)
произвёд- (произвести)
отрази- (отразить)
связа- (связать)
исправи- (исправить)
отнёс- (отнести)
упомяну- (упомянуть)
с(о)т(ё)р- (стереть)
выпьй- (выпить)
написа- (написать)


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