Unit 20: Siberia 287
Грамма�тика
Verbal adverbs (gerunds)
In Russian, gerunds are verbal adverbs. Like some participles, they are
the equivalent of an English form ending in -ing. Unlike participles, they
are not used to replace adjectival clauses. Gerunds are used to replace
adverbial clauses.
Example:
Она� сиде�ла в саду�, слу�шая ра�дио
‘She was sitting in the garden, listening to the radio’. Слу�шая,
‘listening’, replaces ‘while she was listening’.Imperfective gerund
Formation of the imperfective gerund
To form the imperfective gerund, take the third person plural (они� form)
of the present tense, remove the last two letters and replace by -я:
чита�ть – чита�ют – чита�я ‘reading’; говори�ть – говоря�т – говоря�
‘saying, speaking’.
Stress is usually the same as the first person singular: смотре�ть –
смотрю� – смотря� ‘looking’. But note: сиде�ть – сидя�т – си�дя
‘sitting’.
The imperfective gerund of reflexive verbs ends in -ясь: встречаться – �
встреча�ются – встреча�ясь ‘meeting’.
Because of the spelling rules, some gerunds end in -а rather than
-я: слы�шать – слы�шат – слы�ша ‘hearing’.
Verbs ending in -авать have a present gerund ending in –авая:
дава�ть – даю�т – дава�я ‘giving’.
Some verbs have no imperfective gerund. These include monosyl-
labic verbs, e.g. пить, петь, and many irregular 1st conjugation verbs,
e.g. писа�ть, е�хать.
Use of the imperfective gerund
Imperfective gerunds are used to describe another action performed
at the same time and by the same person as the main verb in the
sentences.