If you read the individual participle pages, you now know the parts: the passive past participle, the -но/-то impersonal, the active participle, and the verbal adverb. This page pulls them together into the one judgment that separates fluent written Ukrainian from a stiff translation: when does an English "-ing/-ed" modifier become a Ukrainian participle, and when must it become a relative clause? The answer is lopsided. Ukrainian embraces the passive participle (напи́саний лист), the -но/-то impersonal (зро́блено), and the verbal adverb (зроби́вши) — but it disfavours the productive present active participle (чита́ючий, працю́ючий), which is a Russian calque, and rewrites it as a який/що-clause (студе́нт, яки́й чита́є). Master this one stylistic reflex and your Ukrainian stops sounding translated.
The verdict at a glance
| Construction | Example | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passive past participle (-ний/-тий) | напи́саний лист, зачи́нені двері | Keep | genuine, adjective-like, describes a state |
| -но/-то impersonal | лист напи́сано, две́рі зачи́нено | Keep (preferred for the action) | the native agentless 'was done' |
| Verbal adverb (-чи / -вши) | чита́ючи, зроби́вши | Keep | same-subject reduction, fully standard |
| Past active participle (-лий, intransitive) | пожо́вклий, зів’я́лий | Keep | intransitive resultative, adjective-like |
| Present active participle (-чий/-ючий/-ачий) | чита́ючий, працю́ючий, зроста́ючий | Avoid → rewrite | Russian calque; use a який/що-clause |
Four greens and one red. The whole art is knowing that the red one — the present active participle — is the trap, and that its repair is always a relative clause.
Keep: the passive past participle (a state)
The passive participle in -ний / -тий is alive, native, and used attributively all the time. It describes the resulting state of a thing: a written letter, a closed door, a forgotten password. It agrees like an adjective in gender, number, and case.
На столі́ лежа́в розгорну́тий лист, напи́саний знайо́мим по́черком.
On the table lay an open letter, written in a familiar hand. (розгорну́тий, напи́саний — passive past participles, fully natural attributively.)
Зачи́нені двері не зупини́ли його́ — він зайшо́в че́рез вікно́.
A locked door didn't stop him — he came in through the window. (зачи́нені — passive participle, agreeing with двері.)
When you want to report the action rather than describe the state — "the letter was written (by someone)" — Ukrainian's idiomatic move is not the agreeing participle but the -но/-то impersonal: Лист напи́сано. So: напи́саний лист = a written letter (state, attributive); лист напи́сано = the letter was written (action, agentless).
Лист напи́сано й відпра́влено ще вчо́ра.
The letter was written and sent yesterday. (напи́сано, відпра́влено — the -но/-то form for the agentless action.)
Keep: the verbal adverb for same-subject reductions
When two clauses share a subject and one is backgrounded — "while doing X, the subject did Y" — Ukrainian compresses the backgrounded clause into a verbal adverb: -чи for simultaneous imperfective action (чита́ючи "while reading"), -вши/-ши for prior perfective action (зроби́вши "having done"). This is the idiomatic, native way to do what English does with an "-ing" clause — and crucially it is not the active participle, even though чита́ючи and чита́ючий look almost identical.
Чита́ючи нови́ни, я зрозумі́в, наскі́льки все серйо́зно.
Reading the news, I realized how serious it all was. (чита́ючи — verbal adverb, same subject as зрозумі́в; standard.)
Зроби́вши уро́ки, ді́ти ви́бігли надві́р.
Having done their homework, the kids ran outside. (зроби́вши — perfective verbal adverb, prior action.)
The verbal adverb has one firm requirement: the two clauses must share a subject. Reading the news, the situation became clear — different subjects — is a dangling construction in Ukrainian too; you must restore a full clause (Коли́ я чита́в нови́ни, ситуа́ція проясни́лася).
Avoid: the present active participle → rewrite as a який-clause
Here is the heart of the matter. English freely uses "-ing" as a modifier: a reading student, working mothers, rising prices, a problem requiring attention. The literal Ukrainian equivalent would be a present active participle (-чий/-ючий/-ачий): чита́ючий студе́нт, працю́ючі ма́ми, зроста́юча ціна́. In productive use these are considered *un-Ukrainian — a calque from Russian (Russian читающий, работающий, растущий), and editors flag them. The native repair is to unfold the participle into a relative clause with який or що.
| Avoid (active participle) | Prefer (relative clause) | English |
|---|---|---|
| чита́ючий студе́нт | студе́нт, яки́й чита́є | a student who is reading |
| працю́ючі ма́ми | ма́ми, які́ працю́ють | working mothers |
| зроста́юча ціна́ | ціна́, що зроста́є | a rising price |
| пробле́ма, потребу́юча ува́ги | пробле́ма, яка́ потребу́є ува́ги | a problem requiring attention |
| люди́на, керу́юча прое́ктом | люди́на, яка́ керу́є прое́ктом | the person managing the project |
Студе́нт, яки́й чита́є в куто́чку, — мій сусі́д по гурто́житку.
The student reading in the corner is my dorm roommate. (яки́й чита́є — the natural rewrite of *чита́ючий студе́нт.)
Лю́ди, що працю́ють із землею́, відчува́ють зміну клі́мату пе́ршими.
People who work the land feel the climate change first. (що працю́ють — never *працю́ючі лю́ди in good style.)
Ціни́, що невпи́нно зроста́ють, ляка́ють пенсіоне́рів.
Prices that keep rising scare pensioners. (що зроста́ють — rewrite of *зроста́ючі ціни́.)
який or що — which relative word?
Both work; they differ slightly in register. який is the all-purpose relative, declines for gender/number/case, and is at home everywhere. що is invariable, a touch more colloquial and lighter, and is especially common in speech and with simple subjects. For a person you can also use хто in some frames. The relative clauses page covers the choice in full; for the purpose of killing an active participle, either is a correct repair.
The survivors: frozen -чий forms and -лий resultatives
The ban targets the productive participle. Some -чий forms long ago froze into ordinary adjectives or nouns and are completely standard — they no longer feel like participles: сидя́чий (сидя́чі місця́ "seats"), лежа́чий (лежа́чий полісме́н "speed bump"), блиску́чий "brilliant," квіту́чий "flourishing," and the noun керівни́к "manager" (not керу́ючий). And the *past active participle in -лий — restricted to intransitive change-of-state verbs — is genuine: пожо́вклий "yellowed," зів’я́лий "wilted," опа́лий "fallen," посиві́лий "gone grey."
У ва́зі стоя́ла одна́ зів’я́ла троя́нда серед опа́лих пелю́сток.
A single wilted rose stood in the vase among fallen petals. (зів’я́ла, опа́лих — -лий resultatives, fully natural.)
У по́тязі лиши́лися ті́льки сидя́чі місця́.
Only seats were left on the train. (сидя́чі — frozen adjective, standard.)
The test: if the -чий word names a permanent property or a thing (a seat, a manager, a brilliant idea), it has lexicalized and is fine. If it is doing the live job of "the one currently V-ing," rewrite it. The active participles page lists the survivors in full.
A worked rewrite
Watch a stiff, calqued sentence become clean Ukrainian. Original (over-translated): Зроста́юча кі́лькість компа́ній, працю́ючих онла́йн, наймає люде́й, що проживають у се́лах. Two stacked active participles drag it down. Repair each as a clause:
Дедалі бі́льше компа́ній, що працю́ють онла́йн, наймає люде́й, які́ живу́ть у се́лах.
A growing number of companies that work online hire people who live in villages. (Both active participles rewritten: зроста́юча кі́лькість → дедалі бі́льше; працю́ючих → що працю́ють.)
Notice the bonus: even зроста́юча кі́лькість ("a growing number") reads better as the everyday дедалі бі́льше ("more and more"). The participle-avoidance reflex often nudges you toward livelier phrasing, not just a clause.
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the mapping is asymmetric and worth memorizing. English "-ed/-en" resultative adjectives ("written, closed, fallen") map onto the passive participle (напи́саний, зачи́нений) or the -лий resultative (опа́лий) — keep them. English "-ing" adverbial clauses ("while reading, having finished") map onto the verbal adverb (чита́ючи, закі́нчивши) — keep them. But English "-ing" adjectival modifiers ("a reading student, rising prices, mothers working from home") do not become participles — they become який/що-clauses. So before you build a Ukrainian participle, ask: is this "-ing" describing the noun (→ rewrite as a clause) or describing the action of another verb (→ verbal adverb)?
For a Russian speaker, almost everything transfers except the one big thing: Russian uses present active participles (читающий, работающий, растущий) constantly and correctly, and they are the surest tell of a Russian calque in Ukrainian. The reflex to break: every time a Russian -ущий/-ющий/-ащий springs to mind, render it as a який/що-clause. The passive participle, the verbal adverb, and the -лий resultative all transfer fine; and remember the agentless action is the native -но/-то form (зро́блено, not the long было сделано calque).
Common Mistakes
❌ Зроста́ючі ціни́ турбу́ють бага́тьох. (productive present active participle)
Un-Ukrainian (a Russian calque) — rewrite as a clause: Ціни́, що зроста́ють, турбу́ють бага́тьох.
✅ Ціни́, що зроста́ють, турбу́ють бага́тьох.
Rising prices worry many people — the natural relative-clause version.
❌ Я поба́чив чита́ючого студе́нта. (active participle declined as an attribute)
Un-Ukrainian — use a clause: Я поба́чив студе́нта, яки́й чита́в.
✅ Я поба́чив студе́нта, яки́й чита́в.
I saw a student who was reading.
❌ Чита́ючий лист, я запла́кав. (active participle where a verbal adverb is meant)
Wrong form — for 'reading the letter' 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.
❌ Робо́ту було́ зро́блене вча́сно. (agreeing participle for the agentless action)
For the agentless completed action use the invariant -но form: Робо́ту зро́блено вча́сно (or було́ зро́блено for past-perfect).
✅ Робо́ту зро́блено вча́сно.
The work was done on time — the -но/-то impersonal for the action.
Key Takeaways
- Keep the passive participle (напи́саний лист — a state), the -но/-то impersonal (лист напи́сано — the agentless action), the verbal adverb (чита́ючи, зроби́вши — same-subject reduction), and the -лий resultative (зів’я́лий, опа́лий).
- Avoid the productive present active participle (-чий/-ючий/-ачий: чита́ючий, працю́ючий, зроста́ючий) — it is a Russian calque.
- The repair is always a relative clause with який or що: студе́нт, яки́й чита́є; ціни́, що зроста́ють.
- Don't confuse -чий (participle, avoid) with -чи (verbal adverb, чита́ючи — standard); they are one letter apart with opposite verdicts.
- Frozen -чий forms (сидя́чий, блиску́чий, керівни́к) are fine; the -лий intransitive resultatives are fine.
- The reflex that fixes most translated prose: an English adjectival "-ing" → a який/що-clause, never a present active participle.
Now practice Ukrainian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Active Participles (and Why to Avoid Them)B2 — Active participles describe a noun by what it DOES (present, -чий/-ючий/-ачий: чита́ючий 'reading', сидя́чий 'sitting') or what it BECAME (past, -лий: пожо́вклий 'yellowed', посиві́лий 'greyed', опа́лий 'fallen'). The present active participle is widely considered un-Ukrainian, a calque from Russian — standard usage rewrites студе́нт, чита́ючий кни́гу as a relative clause студе́нт, яки́й чита́є кни́гу. The intransitive -лий resultative (зів’я́лий 'wilted', змарні́лий) is genuine and adjective-like. This page teaches recognition for reading and the rewrite habit for writing good Ukrainian.
- 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.
- The -но / -то Impersonal PassiveB1 — The -но/-то predicative (безособо́ва фо́рма на -но/-то) is a hallmark of authentic Ukrainian that Russian lacks. Built from the passive-participle stem (прочи́тано, напи́сано, зро́блено, збудо́вано, відкри́то, забу́то), it is INVARIANT — it never agrees with anything — and forms an agentless, subjectless past passive: Кни́гу прочи́тано 'the book has been read', Робо́ту ви́конано 'the work has been completed', Вхід заборо́нено 'entry forbidden'. The logical object stays in the ACCUSATIVE (Кни́гу, not Кни́га), there is no grammatical subject, and було́ can be added for a past-perfect nuance (Робо́ту було́ ви́конано). This is the natural Ukrainian passive — everywhere in signs, news, and formal writing.
- 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.
- Verbal Adverbs: Imperfective (-чи / -ючи)B1 — The imperfective verbal adverb (дієприслі́вник недоко́наного ви́ду) is formed from the present stem + -чи/-ючи/-ачи (чита́ючи 'while reading', ідучи́ 'while walking', говоря́чи, сидя́чи) and -чись for reflexives (посміха́ючись). It expresses an action SIMULTANEOUS with the main verb and shares its subject: Ідучи́ додо́му, я зустрі́в дру́га 'walking home, I met a friend'. It is invariant (no agreement). The same-subject rule is strict: the doer of the verbal adverb must be the main clause's subject, exactly the English dangling-participle rule (no *Поверта́ючись додо́му, пішо́в дощ).
- 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').