Deverbal adverbs.

Deverbal adverbs, also known as gerunds, are adverbs formed from verbs. (An adverb, we remind you, is a word that answers the questions when (today), where (here), in what manner (playfully) and so forth.) The implied subject of a deverbal adverb is, normally, the subject of the entire sentence. In Онђ познакћмилась с нќм, рабћтая в ЗЂГСе ‘She met him (while) working in the Bureau of Vital Statistics’ the meaning is that she, not he, worked in the bureau.

There are two suffixes, А and В(ШИ) that form deverbal adverbs, and correspondingly, there are two kinds of adverbs: adverbs in А and adverbs in В(ШИ). Adverbs in А are also called present adverbs, and adverbs in В(ШИ) past adverbs. Usually, any given verb has only one adverb; which suffix to add, А or В(ШИ) depends in most cases on whether the verb is Perfective or Imperfective.

Deverbal adverbs from Imperfective verbs.

All deverbal adverbs from Imperfective verbs are adverbs in А (present adverbs). To form the deverbal adverb from an Imperfective verb add А to the stem and use the rule of likes and unlikes: if the stem ends in a vowel, this vowel drops out before А. If the consonant before the vowel changes in all the non-past forms, it changes in the deverbal adverb also; otherwise it is soft if it can be. As far as spelling is concerned, the deverbal adverb from an Imperfective verb always ends in -я, except after the letters ж, ш, ч, and щ.

Deverbal adverbs of the да-вай-, -ста-вай-, -зна-вай verbs keep the -ва- part that is dropped in the non-past forms:

Some groups of stems do not have deverbal adverbs from Imperfective verbs. These groups are:

• НУ and (НУ) stems;
• Г and К stems;
• А stems in which the consonant before the А is с, з, or д (писђть, вязђть, глодђть).
• most no-vowel stems: Р stems (МР, ПР, ТР, СТР); the five stems of verbs like пќть (ПЙ, ЛЙ, БЙ, ВЙ, ШЙ); no-vowel А stems, except those that insert a vowel in the non-past:

The position of stress in the deverbal adverb in -А depends on the stress pattern of the verb in the non-past. If the verb has constant stem stress (S stress), then it will be stressed on the stem in the deverbal adverb also; otherwise (E or M stress), the adverb will be stressed on its suffix -А:

Deverbal adverbs from Perfective verbs.

Most deverbal adverbs from Perfective verbs are adverbs in В(ШИ) (past adverbs). For the vast majority of verbs the rule for forming this adverb is very simple: take the infinitive and replace -ть with -в:

If the verb is a -ся verb, then -вши-, rather than just -в, is required:

Problems arise with those stems that do not end in л in the masculine singular past: obstruent stems in Б, З, С, Г, К, stems in Р, and stems in (НУ). These stems used to form deverbal adverbs in -ши:

These forms, common in 19th century literature, are now obsolete, except for the adverbs from -ся verbs, which are still common. For verbs without -ся the picture is fluid and complicated. Verbs in (НУ) and verbs in Р increasingly form their past adverbs according to the general rule:

Stems in Г, К practically do not have adverbs formed from Perfective verbs.

Some Perfective verbs in Б, З, С form them in the same way adverbs from Imperfective verbs are formed:

Some Perfective verbs in Д, Т, especially verbs of motion, also form adverbs in -А; some of them have parallel forms:

In other groups also there are isolated Perfective verbs having parallel forms of the adverb: in -А and in -В(ШИ):

The position of stress in the В(ШИ) deverbal adverb is almost always the same as in masculine singular past tense form (see section on stress). The only exceptions are those non-suffixed verbs with prefixes in which the stress shifts to the prefix in the past tense: the В(ШИ) adverb of such verbs is stressed on the root: