Belarusian has a far smaller participle system than Russian, and the present active participle in -учы is not part of the living standard. Knowing what to write instead is the point of this topic.
I can use the past passive participle correctly and rewrite any other participle as a relative clause.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Ліст ужо напісаны і адпраўлены.
The letter is already written and sent.
Чалавек, які чытае кнігу, - мой сусед.
The man reading a book is my neighbour.
Гэта зробленая праца, а не абяцанне.
This is work that has been done, not a promise.
Студэнты, якія жывуць у інтэрнаце, плацяць менш.
Students living in the hostel pay less.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
The academic grammar lists the participle suffixes as -уч- (-юч-), -ач- (-яч-) for the present and -ш-, -ўш-, -т-, -н- for the past. Listing them is not the same as recommending them, and this is where Belarusian parts company with Russian.
| Type | Status in Belarusian | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past passive, in -н- / -т- | fully alive | напісаны, зроблены, адкрыты |
| Past active, in -ўш- / -ш- | rare, bookish | напісаўшы |
| Present active, in -уч- / -ач- | outside the living norm | чытаючы as an adjective |
| Present passive, in -ем- / -ім- | essentially absent | - |
The past passive participle is ordinary Belarusian and declines like an adjective:
Its short form makes the passive predicate: Ліст напісаны. - The letter has been written.
Where Russian would use a present active participle, Belarusian uses a relative clause with які. This is not a stylistic preference - it is what the language does:
| Instead of a participle | Belarusian writes |
|---|---|
| the man reading a book | чалавек, які чытае кнігу |
| a student living in Minsk | студэнт, які жыве ў Мінску |
| the woman who wrote the letter | жанчына, якая напісала ліст |
The clause is longer and it is correct. Reaching for a participle here is one of the most reliable markers of Russian-influenced Belarusian.
A number of them have become plain adjectives and are used without hesitation: былы former, мінулы past, наступны next, адпаведны corresponding. Nobody parses these as participles any more.
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: building a present active participle on the Russian model and using it as a modifier. Rewrite it as a relative clause with які.
Building a present active participle on the Russian model
Rewrite as a clause: чалавек, які чытае, not чытаючы чалавек.
Preferring participles to relative clauses generally
Belarusian prefers the clause; the participle system is much narrower than Russian's.
Leaving the past passive participle uninflected
It declines like an adjective: напісаны ліст, зробленая праца, адкрытыя дзверы.
Using the long form as a predicate
The predicate takes the short form: Ліст напісаны.
Ліст ужо напісаны і адпраўлены.
The letter is already written and sent.
Short-form past passive participles as predicates - the living part of the system.
Чалавек, які чытае кнігу, - мой сусед.
The man reading a book is my neighbour.
Where Russian has a present active participle, Belarusian uses a clause with які.
Гэта зробленая праца, а не абяцанне.
This is work that has been done, not a promise.
A declined past passive participle used as an ordinary modifier.
Студэнты, якія жывуць у інтэрнаце, плацяць менш.
Students living in the hostel pay less.
Plural relative clause where Russian would use a participle.
У мінулым годзе былы дырэктар адкрыў новы аддзел.
Last year the former director opened a new department.
<em>Мінулы</em> and <em>былы</em> began as participles and are now plain adjectives.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B1 course exercises
The current academic reference grammar; the linked edition serves the full text. Cited for its verb section, which treats the infinitive, transitivity and reflexivity before the conjugation paradigms, and gives the participle suffixes -уч- (-юч-), -ач- (-яч-) and -ш-, -ўш-, -т-, -н- alongside the gerund suffixes -ўшы, -шы and -учы (-ючы), -ачы (-ячы).