Breakdown of Соглашение подписывается обеими сторонами.
соглашение
the agreement
подписывать
to sign
обе
both
сторона
the party
Questions & Answers about Соглашение подписывается обеими сторонами.
What type of voice and aspect is подписывается in this sentence?
Подписывается is an imperfective passive form (often called the “-ся passive”). It describes an action being done to the subject (the agreement) rather than the subject doing the action. Because perfective verbs do not have a present‐tense form in Russian, you use the imperfective here to express either a general fact or an ongoing process.
What does the suffix -ся do in подписывается?
The suffix -ся turns an active verb into a passive‐voice form. Instead of “someone signs” (active), you get “it is signed” (passive). This reflexive‐looking ending is the standard way to build the passive for imperfective verbs in modern Russian.
Why is there no preposition like кем (“by”) before обеими сторонами?
In Russian passive constructions formed with -ся, the agent (the “doer”) is simply put into the instrumental case without a preposition. So обеими сторонами means “by both sides” even though there is no separate word for “by.”
What case is обеими сторонами, and why is that case used?
Обеими сторонами is in the instrumental plural. In passive sentences in Russian, the agent is marked by the instrumental case. Here it tells us who performs the action of signing.
Why обеими, and not some other form of “both”?