Unit 19: Education 273
‘closed’; открыть � – откры�тый ‘opened’; забы�ть – забы�тый ‘forgotten’;
уби�ть – уби�тый ‘killed’; вы�пить – вы�питый ‘drunk’; оде�ть – оде�тый
‘dressed’; взять – взя�тый ‘taken’; заня�ть – за�нятый ‘occupied’;
приня�ть – при�нятый ‘accepted’; начать – на�чатый ‘begun’.
Use of the past passive participle
All past passive participles, both -нный and -тый, decline like adjec-
tives ending in -ый and agree in number, gender and case with the
noun they describe. Past passive participles are the equivalent of the
participle in English which in regular verbs ends in -ed.
Examples: Я получи�л письмо�, напи�санное мое�й до�черью
‘I received a letter written by my daughter’. Пирожки�, ку�пленные
ва�ми вчера�, о�чень вку�сные ‘The pirozhki bought by you yesterday
are very tasty’. Мы живём в до�ме, постро�енном мои�м отцо�м ‘We
live in the house built by my father’.
These participles could be replaced using a clause introduced by
кото�рый: Я получи�л письмо�, кото�рое написа�ла моя� дочь ‘I
received a letter which my daughter had written’; Пирожки�, кото�рые
вы купи�ли вчера�, о�чень вку�сные ‘The pirozhki which you bought
yesterday are very tasty’; Мы живём в до�ме, кото�рый постро�ил
мой оте�ц ‘We live in the house which my father built’.
Short form of the past passive participle
The past passive participle also has a short form. Like the short adjec-
tive, the short participle has only four forms – masculine, feminine, neu-
ter and plural: прочи�танный – прочи�тан, прочи�тана, прочи�тано,
прочи�таны. Note that one -н- is dropped in the short form.
The short form of the past passive participle is used together with
the appropriate form of the verb ‘to be’ to form the passive voice of
the verb: Письмо� бу�дет по�слано ‘The letter will be sent’; Рабо�та
сде�лана ‘The work has been done’; Зако�н был при�нят ‘The law
was passed’.
Note that, like the short form adjective, the short form participle is
only used where the verb ‘to be’ comes between the noun (or pronoun)
and the participle in the English sentence.
Contrast: Зако�н был при�нят Сове�том ‘The law was passed by
the Soviet’ with Зако�н, при�нятый Сове�том, гаранти�рует свобо�ду
‘The law passed by the Soviet guarantees freedom’.