Breakdown of Исследование, в котором мы участвуем, описывает этот процесс.
мы
we
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
в
in / to (direction)
процесс
process
который
which / who / that (relative pronoun)
участвовать
to take part, to participate
описывать
to describe
исследование
research
Questions & Answers about Исследование, в котором мы участвуем, описывает этот процесс.
This lesson is about present passive participles (-ем-, -им-, -ом-). Is участвуем one of those?
No, despite the -ем at the end, участвуем is just the standard present-tense verb for 'we participate' (from участвовать). Present passive participles have the suffix -ем- followed by adjective endings (like -ый, -ая, -ое). It is very common to mix up the 'we' verb ending with the participle suffix!
Since we are learning passive participles, could we rewrite the phrase в котором мы участвуем using one?
Actually, no. Present passive participles are only formed from transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object, like 'read' or 'describe'). Участвовать (to participate) is intransitive. Also, Russian participles cannot easily replace relative clauses that rely on a preposition like в (in).
Why do we use котором here instead of another form?
The relative pronoun который (which) connects the two clauses. It has to match the noun it refers back to, исследование (research), which is neuter and singular. However, its case depends on its job in its own clause. Because it follows the preposition в (in), it must take the prepositional case: котором.
I always trip over verbs like участвовать. Why is it участвуем and not участвоваем?
Verbs ending in -овать (like участвовать) drop the -ова- and replace it with -у- or -ю- in the present tense. After making that change to the stem to get участву-, you just add the normal first-conjugation ending for мы, which is -ем.
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