35 



B Past Gerunds are distinguished by the signals -B_ or -sum in final position. A 

 limited number of verbs have the signal -him for the past gerund; such gerunds 

 are listed in a reference sheet(REFERENCE). In the examples below infinitive 

 forms are cited , since they provide the best 'point of departure' in the formation 

 of the past gerunds. 



CBBJia-B ) (cflBJia-Tb) "having done, after having done" 



CflBJia-BIHH j 



MMB-B \ (mmB-Tl) "having had, after having had" 



WMe-BniM / 



SaHMMa-BfflH-Cb (saHMMa-TbCfl) "having studied, after having studied" 



npoquTaB CTaTbH), OH flaJI " After he read the article, he gave it to [his] 



B*e HGJIJlBrB. colleague." 



NOTE: The characteristic signals of the past gerund are -bZ-bdim, -inw plus or 

 minus the reflexive signal -Cb- — — 



Translation of Gerunds 



Regardless of the terms: "present" or "past", the English translation of the gerunds 

 is basically determined by the aspect of verb used. If the gerund represents a verb of 

 imperfective aspect, the action or status signified by the verb is taking place at the same 

 time as that of the principal verb of the sentence, e.g. "while living in the city, he 

 studied Russian". If the aspect is perfective, the meaning of the gerund applies to a 

 prior time, e.g. "having left the city /after he had left the city, he took up the study of 

 Russian". 



Participles and Gerunds of Reflexive Verbs 



On page 27 it was stated that the reflexive signal -oh occurs in verb forms after a 

 consonant, while -Cb. is used after a vowel. Though this statement is valid for gerunds, 

 an exception must be made for participles, which use only the signal -CHjno matter 

 what the preceding letter is. Actually, this situation(that participles may nave only - ca 

 while gerunds use only -cb)is helpful to the student in distinguishing forms which are 

 quite similar, e.g. 



saHMMaBIIIMCB = Past Gerund 



SaHHMaBmMeCfl = NA-pl. of Past Active Participle 



WORD ORDER 



Russian word order seems remarkably free to a speaker of English, who 

 is habituated to the rigid patterns of word sequence in the English language. If care is 

 exercised in identifying grammatical signals( "endings"), the beginner should have no 

 trouble, even with such sentences as the following: 



Bojiee BKOHOMHtlHyW HOHCTpyKUWIO HMBKT TB qHHJIimeCKWe yCHOpMTBJIH, ... 

 ( A more economical construction[< A] have[3rd.pl. ] those cyclical accelerators[NA-pl, ]. . . 



Those cyclical accelerators, ..., have a more economical construction." 



B03M0)KH0, tlTO SflBCb OCHOBHyK) pOJlb 6yflyT MPpaTb paflWGJIOKaUMOHHHe MBTOflH. 

 ("It is possible, that here the basic role will play radio-location methods.") 



"It is possible, that radio-location methods will play the basic role here." 



