Word
Потеряв стипендию, он решил пойти работать.
Meaning
Having lost the scholarship, he decided to go to work.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Потеряв стипендию, он решил пойти работать.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
работать
to work
пойти
to go (perfective, on foot) / to start (of rain, snow)
решить
to decide (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Потеряв стипендию, он решил пойти работать.
How exactly is the word потеряв formed?
It is a perfective verbal adverb, meaning 'having lost.' To form it, take the past tense of the perfective verb потерять (to lose), drop the -л from the masculine form (потеря-), and add the suffix -в.
Why is there a comma after стипендию?
In Russian, verbal adverb phrases must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. This is a strict punctuation rule, regardless of where the phrase appears in the sentence.
Could I just say После того как он потерял стипендию instead of using потеряв?
Yes! Using после того как (after) with the standard past tense is the most natural way to express this in everyday spoken Russian. Verbal adverbs like потеряв are much more common in literature and formal writing.
Why does he decide пойти работать (perfective then imperfective) instead of using two perfective verbs?
Пойти (to set off / to go) is perfective because it marks a single, completed action. However, the activity he is going to do there is work, which is a continuous, ongoing routine. Therefore, работать naturally takes the imperfective aspect.