The active participle describes a noun by the action it does (present: "a reading student") or what it became (past: "yellowed leaves"). This page carries the central stylistic lesson of the whole participle family, because here Ukrainian and Russian sharply diverge. The present active participle (-чий / -ючий / -ачий) is, in productive use, considered un-Ukrainian — a calque from Russian — and standard usage rewrites it as a relative clause with який. The past active participle in -лий, by contrast, is genuine and alive, but only for a narrow class of intransitive change-of-state verbs. So this page has two jobs: teach you to recognize active participles when reading (you will meet them), and build the rewrite habit that keeps your own Ukrainian clean.
Two kinds, two verdicts
| Type | Endings | Example | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present active | -чий / -ючий / -ачий | чита́ючий 'reading', сидя́чий 'sitting' | Avoid as a productive form → rewrite as який-clause |
| Past active | -лий | пожо́вклий 'yellowed', посиві́лий 'greyed' | Fine — intransitive resultatives, adjective-like |
Keep these apart in your head, because the advice is opposite for each.
The present active participle: the form to avoid
A present active participle is built from the present stem plus -чий / -ючий / -ачий, and it agrees like an adjective: чита́ти → чита́ючий "reading," працюва́ти → працю́ючий "working," керува́ти → керу́ючий "managing." It looks tempting because it compresses "the X who is V-ing" into one word — and that is exactly what Russian does (читающий, работающий). But in Ukrainian this productive use sounds *bookish, bureaucratic, or outright Russian, and editors and prescriptive grammars flag it. The native solution is to unfold it into a relative clause with який or що:
| Avoid (active participle) | Prefer (relative clause) |
|---|---|
| чита́ючий студе́нт | студе́нт, яки́й чита́є — a student who is reading |
| працю́ючі ма́ми | ма́ми, які́ працю́ють — mothers who work |
| зроста́юча ціна́ | ціна́, що зроста́є — a price that is rising |
| відпочива́ючий на пля́жі тури́ст | тури́ст, яки́й відпочива́є на пля́жі — a tourist resting on the beach |
Студе́нт, яки́й чита́є в куто́чку, — мій сусі́д.
The student reading in the corner is my neighbour. (Natural Ukrainian rewrites 'the reading student' as a який-clause.)
Лю́ди, що говоря́ть пра́вду, не за́вжди подо́баються.
People who tell the truth are not always liked. (що + finite verb — never *говоря́чі лю́ди.)
Тури́ст, яки́й відпочива́є на пля́жі, не помі́тив, що почина́ється прили́в.
The tourist resting on the beach didn't notice the tide coming in. (rewrite of *відпочива́ючий тури́ст.)
The survivors: frozen -чий adjectives and nouns
The ban is on the productive participle. A number of -чий forms have frozen into ordinary adjectives or nouns long ago, and those are completely standard — they no longer feel like participles at all:
| Frozen form | Meaning | Now functions as |
|---|---|---|
| лежа́чий | lying (e.g. лежа́чий полісме́н 'speed bump') | adjective |
| сидя́чий | seated (сидя́чі місця́ 'seats') | adjective |
| блиску́чий | brilliant, shiny | adjective |
| квіту́чий | blooming, flourishing | adjective |
| працю́ючий | working (as in 'a working pensioner') | adjective (tolerated) |
| керівни́к | manager, head (not *керу́ючий) | noun |
У по́тязі лиши́лися ті́льки сидя́чі місця́.
Only seats (seated places) were left on the train. (сидя́чі — frozen adjective, fully standard.)
Це була́ блиску́ча іде́я — шкода́, що не моя́.
It was a brilliant idea — a pity it wasn't mine. (блиску́ча — frozen, no longer felt as a participle.)
The test: if the word names a permanent property or a thing (a seat, a manager, a brilliant idea) rather than a live, in-progress action, it has lexicalized and you may use it. If it is doing the job of "the one currently V-ing," rewrite it.
The past active participle in -лий: this one is fine
Now the good news. The past active participle in -лий is genuine, native, and common — but it is restricted to intransitive verbs of change of state. It describes the result of a process the noun itself underwent ("turned yellow," "went grey," "wilted"), and it has effectively become an adjective:
| Verb | -лий participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| пожо́вкнути | пожо́вклий | yellowed |
| посиві́ти | посиві́лий | grey-haired (gone grey) |
| зів’я́нути | зів’я́лий | wilted |
| опа́сти | опа́лий | fallen (of leaves) |
| засо́хнути | засо́хлий | withered, dried up |
| замерзну́ти | заме́рзлий | frozen |
| змарні́ти | змарні́лий | gaunt, wasted away |
Пожо́вкле ли́стя вкрива́ло сте́жку в па́рку.
Yellowed leaves covered the path in the park. (пожо́вкле — past active -лий, from пожо́вкнути; fully natural.)
З війни́ він поверну́вся посиві́лим і змарні́лим.
He came back from the war grey-haired and gaunt. (посиві́лим, змарні́лим — instrumental, predicative -лий participles.)
Засо́хла троя́нда все ще стоя́ла у ва́зі.
The withered rose still stood in the vase. (засо́хла — -лий participle, adjective-like.)
Why does this one survive while the present active participle doesn't? Because -лий verbs are intransitive resultatives — they describe a state the noun has settled into, which is precisely what an adjective does. There is no agent, no ongoing action, nothing that competes with a relative clause. The form has fully crossed over into the adjective system, so it raises none of the calque worries that the active "the one doing X" participle does.
A note on -чий and the gerund-adjective trap
Be careful not to confuse the present active participle -чий (avoided) with the verbal adverb in -чи (alive and standard — see imperfective verbal adverbs). They look similar but do opposite jobs:
- чита́ючий (participle, -чий) — an adjective: "a reading (student)." Agrees with a noun. → rewrite as a clause.
- чита́ючи (verbal adverb, -чи) — an adverb: "while reading." Modifies the verb, invariant. → perfectly standard.
Чита́ючи нови́ни, я зрозумі́в, що ситуа́ція серйо́зна.
Reading the news, I realized the situation was serious. (чита́ючи — verbal adverb, correct; NOT the avoided participle чита́ючий.)
One letter apart, opposite verdicts. The participle agrees (-чий, -ча, -че); the verbal adverb is frozen (-чи).
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, English freely uses "-ing" as an adjective ("a reading student," "a working mother," "rising prices"). Ukrainian does not let you do this with the present active participle in normal style — you must unfold it: студе́нт, яки́й чита́є; ма́ми, які́ працю́ють; ціна́, що зроста́є. So an English "-ing" adjective almost always becomes a Ukrainian який/що-clause. The English "-ed/-en" resultative adjective ("wilted, fallen, frozen") does map onto the Ukrainian -лий participle, which is fine.
For a Russian speaker, this is a pure stylistic correction, not a grammatical one. Russian uses present active participles (читающий, работающий, растущий) constantly and correctly. In Ukrainian these are the surest sign of a Russian calque, and good writers replace them with який/що-clauses. The reflex to break: every time a Russian -ущий/-ющий/-ащий springs to mind, render it as a relative clause in Ukrainian. The -лий past actives transfer fine.
Common Mistakes
❌ Чита́ючий студе́нт сиді́в у куто́чку. (productive present active participle)
Un-Ukrainian (a Russian calque) — rewrite as a clause: Студе́нт, яки́й чита́в, сиді́в у куто́чку.
✅ Студе́нт, яки́й чита́в, сиді́в у куто́чку.
The student who was reading sat in the corner — the natural relative-clause version.
❌ Це проблема, потребу́юча ува́ги. (active participle for 'requiring')
Un-Ukrainian — use a clause: Це пробле́ма, яка́ потребу́є ува́ги.
✅ Це пробле́ма, яка́ потребу́є ува́ги.
This is a problem that requires attention.
❌ Зростаючі ціни лякають людей, працюючих за мінімалку. (two stacked active participles)
Un-Ukrainian — both become clauses: Ціни, що зроста́ють, ляка́ють люде́й, які́ працю́ють за мініма́лку.
✅ Ціни, що зроста́ють, ляка́ють люде́й, які́ працю́ють за мініма́лку.
Rising prices scare people who work for the minimum wage.
❌ Чита́ючий лист, я запла́кав. (participle used where a verbal adverb is meant)
Wrong form — for 'while reading' use the verbal adverb -чи, not the participle -чий: Чита́ючи лист, я запла́кав.
✅ Чита́ючи лист, я запла́кав.
Reading the letter, I burst into tears — verbal adverb -чи.
Key Takeaways
- Present active participle (-чий/-ючий/-ачий: чита́ючий, працю́ючий, зроста́ючий) — in productive use it is a Russian calque; standard Ukrainian rewrites it as a який/що-clause (студе́нт, яки́й чита́є).
- A handful of frozen -чий forms have become ordinary adjectives/nouns (сидя́чий, блиску́чий, квіту́чий, керівни́к) and are fine.
- Past active participle in -лий (пожо́вклий, посиві́лий, зів’я́лий, опа́лий) is genuine and standard — but only for intransitive change-of-state verbs, where it works as an adjective.
- Don't confuse the participle -чий (adjective, avoid) with the verbal adverb -чи (adverb, чита́ючи 'while reading', standard).
- The rule of thumb: recognize active participles for reading; for your own writing, unfold present actives into relative clauses and keep only the -лий resultatives.
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- Participles and Verbal Adverbs: OverviewB1 — A map of Ukrainian's non-finite verb forms — and a stylistic warning: Ukrainian uses them LESS than Russian, preferring relative clauses (який…). The forms: passive participles (-ний/-тий: напи́саний, відкри́тий), the discouraged active participles (-чий/-лий), the verbal adverb (дієприслі́вник: -чи чита́ючи 'while reading', -вши прочита́вши 'having read'), and the idiomatic -но/-то impersonal predicate (напи́сано, зро́блено 'it has been done').
- Passive Past Participles (-ний / -тий)B1 — The passive past participle (паси́вний дієприкме́тник) — Ukrainian's main 'done/made/written' word. Formed from perfective transitive verbs in -ний/-ений (прочи́таний, напи́саний, зро́блений, побудо́ваний) or -тий (відкри́тий, забу́тий, розби́тий, ми́тий). It declines like an adjective and agrees in gender, number, and case (напи́саний лист, напи́сана запи́ска, напи́сані листи́), used attributively (зачи́нені две́рі) and predicatively (Две́рі зачи́нені). Crucially, Ukrainian reserves -ний for the resultant STATE and prefers the -но/-то impersonal (Две́рі зачи́нено) for the action itself.
- Relative Clauses (Який, Що, Хто)B1 — How Ukrainian builds 'the house we saw,' 'the woman I spoke with,' 'the city I was born in.' The relativizer який agrees with its antecedent in gender and number but takes its CASE from its role inside the relative clause, so one word points two ways at once; the comma before it is obligatory; prepositions front (з якою, в якому) and are never stranded; the invariant що is the colloquial subject/object option; and той, хто / те, що build headless relatives.
- Relative Pronouns (Який, Що, Хто)A2 — Ukrainian joins clauses with який 'which/who/that' — the main relativizer, which AGREES with its antecedent in gender and number but takes its CASE from its own clause (кни́га, яку́ я чита́ю), so one word carries two grammatical signals at once. The invariant що is the colloquial 'that'; хто and той, хто handle headless relatives. The comma before the relative clause is obligatory, and prepositions sit in front of який (з яко́ю, в яко́му), never stranded as in English.
- Written vs Spoken UkrainianB2 — Ukrainian has two codes that differ in grammar, not just vocabulary. Spoken Ukrainian drops pronouns, leans on particles (ну, же, от, та, ось), uses short coordinated clauses and explicit clauses with що, and repeats and fills freely. Written Ukrainian nominalizes heavily (вирішення проблеми 'the solving of the problem' instead of a clause), uses the agentless -но/-то passive (Проблему обговорено), packs information into participial phrases, and joins ideas with explicit connectors (отже, однак, таким чином). The insight English speakers miss: the written code restructures the sentence — clauses become nouns and the agent disappears — so 'they discussed the problem' is spoken Вони обговорили проблему but written Проблему було обговорено / Відбулося обговорення проблеми.
- Participial and Verbal-Adverb PhrasesB2 — The syntax of reduced clauses — and the strong Ukrainian preference to rephrase them. Passive-participle phrases modify a noun and put the agent in the INSTRUMENTAL (кни́га, напи́сана відо́мим а́втором). Verbal-adverb phrases compress a same-subject clause: прочита́вши листа́, він запла́кав ('having read…', perfective -вши = prior action) and йду́чи додо́му, я ду́мав про це ('walking home…', imperfective -ючи = simultaneous). Both are ALWAYS set off by commas, and the verbal adverb MUST share the main clause's subject — no dangling. Good Ukrainian rewrites active participles (чита́ючий) as який-clauses.