Gerunds are verbal adverbs. They possess characteristics of both of these parts of speech.
- Adverbial characteristics:
(a) Gerunds never change. They have no gender, number, or case.
(b) Gerunds answer the same types of questions as adverbs, i.e. когда, как, почему, etc.
2. Verbal characteristics:
(a) Gerunds, as indicated above, have two aspects.
| IMPERFECTIVE | читая газету | (while) reading the paper |
| PERFECTIVE | прочитав газету | having read the paper |
(b) They are formed from transitive and intransitive verbs, and express correspondingly a transitive or intransitive action.
| TRANSITIVE | читая книгу | (while) reading the book |
| INTRANSITIVE | сидя в кресле | (while) sitting in an armchair |
(c) They govern the same case as the verb from which they are formed.
| VERB | командовать полком (instr.) | to command a regiment |
| GERUND | командуя полком (instr.) | (while) commanding a regiment |
(d) In certain constructions, gerunds call for the same preposition as the verb from which they are formed.
| VERB | играть в шахматы | to play chess |
| GERUND | играя в шахматы | (while) playing chess |
Formation of Present Gerunds
Present gerunds are formed from the third person plural, present tense, by dropping the endings –ут, –ют or –ат, –ят and adding –я or -a to the stem. The ending -ais added to stems ending in -ж, -ч, -ш, -щ.
| жить | живут | живя |
| читать | читают | читая |
| держать | держат | держа |
| сидеть | сидят | сидя |
Irregular Formation
1. The group of verbs ending in -вать preceded by да-, зна- or стa- form their gerund from the infinitive.
| давать | (дают) | давая |
| вставать | (встают) | вставая |
2. Present gerunds may end occasionally in -учи or -ючи. This is usually limited to colloquial speech, folksongs or set expressions.
Examples:
| едучи | going, driving (the only form used) |
| “Через поле идучи,
Русу косу плетучи.” |
“Walking through the field,
Braiding (her) blond braids.” |
| жить припеваючи | to live in easy street, to be in clover (lit.: to live and sing along) |
Note: Only будучи, the present gerund of “быть”, belongs entirely to literary Russian.
3. From many verbs, the present gerund is either not formed at all, or practically never used. To these belong:
(a) The verbs with no vowel in the stem of the present tense, such as: ждать (to wait) – жду, ждёшь; врать (to tell lies) – вру, врёшь.
(b) The verbs ending in –чь, such as: мочь – to be able; жечь – to burn (transitive).
(c) The verbs with the suffix –нуть, such as: гибнуть – to perish; мокнуть – to get wet.
(d) The verbs below, and a few others:
| бежать | to run |
|
лезть | to climb |
| бить | to beat | мазать | to daub, to spread | |
| вить | to twine, to spin | петь | to sing | |
| вязать | to tie; to knit | писать | to write | |
| лить | to pour | плясать | to dance | |
| казаться | to seem, to appear | пить | to drink | |
| шить | to sew | чесать | to scratch |
Formation of Past Gerunds
Past gerunds are formed from the past tense in the following ways:
1. When the stem of both the infinitive and the past ends in a vowel, -л is dropped from the past and -в is added to the stem:
| написать (to write) | написал | написав |
| спросйть (to ask) | спросил | спросив |
The alternate forms написавши, спросивши, etc. are seldom used.
2. When the stem of the infinitive ends in a vowel, and the stem of the past ends in a consonant other than -л, the ending -ть is dropped from the infinitive and -в is added to the stem.
| запереть (to lock) | запер | заперев |
| привыкнуть (to get used to) | привык | привыкнув |
Irregular Formation
1. A few verbs form their past gerunds from the perfective future, third person plural. To these belong:
(a) The compounds of идти
| прийти (to come) | придут | придя |
| зайти (to drop in) | зайдут | зайдя |
| перейти (to cross) | перейдут | перейдя |
| найти (to find) | найдут | найдя |
These gerunds resemble the present gerunds by form, that is by the ending –я. The parallel forms in -ши (пришедши, нашедши, etc.) are used less frequently.
(b) A few verbs which have the following past gerund forms:
| привести (to lead to, to bring to) | приведут | приведя |
| принести (to bring) | принесут | принеся |
| услышать (to hear) | услышат | услышав |
| увидеть (to see) | увидят | увидев |
| предвидеть (to foresee) | предвидят | предвидя |
Note: Прочесть forms the gerund прочтя (of the same meaning as прочитав – which is formed from прочитать).
2. Finally, the past gerund in -a or –я is encountered in a few set expressions.
| положа руку на сердце | frankly, honestly (lit. “with the hand on the heart”) |
| спустя рукава | carelessly (lit. “with sleeves down”) |
| сидеть сложа руки | to do nothing (lit. to sit with arms folded) |
These adverbialized forms are limited to the expressions given above. Otherwise, the ending is regular: положив деньги в карман (having put the money in the pocket), сложив платок (having folded a handkerchief), etc.
Gerunds Formed from Verbs Ending in -ся
Gerunds are formed from reflexive verbs according to the basic rules given above. Two additional rules follow:
All reflexive gerunds end in –сь.
Past reflexive gerunds are formed with the suffixes -вши and -ши (not -в).
| Present Gerund: | одеваться | одеваются | одеваясь |
| Past Gerunds: | одеться | оделся | одевшись |
| запереться | заперся | запершись |