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### The Golden Rule of Verbal Adverbs

Verbal adverbs (деепричастия) let you connect a background action to a main action, condensing your sentences. They translate roughly to English phrases like "while reading" or "having closed."

In Russian, there is one unbreakable rule for using them: **the main verb and the verbal adverb must share the exact same grammatical subject.** If the subject of the main verb is "he," then "he" must also be the one performing the background action. You cannot say "Walking down the street, my phone rang" in Russian, because the phone was not walking.

### Simultaneous Actions (-я)

To describe a background action that happens at the *same time* as the main action (perfect for describing multitasking), use an imperfective verbal adverb. These are formed from imperfective verbs and usually end in **-я** (or sometimes **-а**).

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### Consecutive Actions (-в)

To describe a background action that was *completed before* the main action began (meaning "having done X, the subject did Y"), use a perfective verbal adverb. These are formed from perfective verbs and typically end in **-в** (or occasionally **-вши**).

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### Punctuation and Placement

Unlike in English, where comma rules for "-ing" phrases can sometimes be flexible, Russian punctuation here is very strict. A verbal adverb and any words attached to it (a деепричастный оборот) must **always** be set off from the rest of the sentence by commas, no matter where the phrase appears in the sentence.

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Verbal adverb subjects (-я, -в)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Question	Answer
to perform	выполнять
simultaneously	одновременно
productivity	продуктивность
Performing two tasks simultaneously, you lose productivity.	Выполняя две задачи одновременно, ты теряешь продуктивность.
feed	лента
Reading the feed, he simultaneously tried to work.	Читая ленту, он одновременно пытался работать.
notification	уведомление
to get distracted (perfective)	отвлечься
Having received a notification, he immediately got distracted.	Получив уведомление, он сразу отвлёкся.
to concentrate	сконцентрироваться
Ignoring notifications, you will be able to concentrate.	Игнорируя уведомления, ты сможешь сконцентрироваться.
background	фоновый
Performing this task, we listened to background music.	Выполняя эту задачу, мы слушали фоновую музыку.
Instead of resting, she works, performing someone else's project.	Вместо отдыха она работает, выполняя чужой проект.
Listening to background music, I got engrossed in reading and forgot about the time.	Слушая фоновую музыку, я зачитался и забыл о времени.
to scan	просматривать
Scanning social networks, we lose productivity.	Просматривая социальные сети, мы теряем продуктивность.
Maintaining productivity, he worked without a break.	Сохраняя продуктивность, он работал без перерыва.
Scanning the feed, I got engrossed looking at beautiful photos.	Просматривая ленту, я засмотрелся на красивые фотографии.
We have to read a lot, therefore, scanning the feed, I look for news.	Нам приходится много читать, поэтому, просматривая ленту, я ищу новости.
to delve into	вникать
Delving into the project, she noticed nothing around.	Вникая в проект, она не замечала ничего вокруг.
Without delving into the details, he made a decision.	Не вникая в детали, он принял решение.
Having closed the door, I tried to concentrate on the task.	Закрыв дверь, я попытался сконцентрироваться на задаче.
Having heard a loud sound, the students got distracted from the lecture.	Услышав громкий звук, студенты отвлеклись от лекции.