Ongoing Processes: The Reflexive Passive
When describing an ongoing process, a routine, or a general fact without emphasizing who is doing the action, Russian uses the reflexive passive.
To form this, take an imperfective verb and add the reflexive particle -ся or -сь. This structure is excellent for casual descriptions or talking about work that is actively underway.
Official Results: The Short Participle Passive
When you write a press release, an official report, or want to emphasize a successfully completed result, you should switch registers. Formal business Russian relies on the short passive participle for these finished actions.
These are formed from perfective verbs. They act like short adjectives, agreeing with the subject in gender and number. The typical endings are masculine -н (or -т), feminine -на, neuter -но, and plural -ны.
By itself, the short passive participle describes a present state of completion (something is developed). To place these formal results in the past or future, add the matching past or future form of быть (был, была, будет, etc.).
While the passive voice is great for official documents, the active voice remains the best choice when you want to directly highlight exactly who is doing the work!
