-ший

Past Active Participles in -ший

Level 4Sounds Like dejstvitelʹnoe pričastie prošedšego vremeni na -šij

The past active participle in -ший is a formal way to say 'who/which did [action].' It is used specifically for verbs whose past tense stem ends in a consonant (like нёс or погиб) or for the verb идти.

How It Works

Past active participles describe a person or object that performed an action in the past. Unlike present active participles, they can be formed from both imperfective and perfective verbs. Morphologically, the suffix is -ш- followed by the adjectival endings -ий (masculine), -ая (feminine), -ее (neuter), or -ие (plural). As a general rule, if the past tense stem ends in a vowel, you use -вший (e.g., читал → читавший). The -ший suffix is used in the following specific environments:

  • Consonant Past Tense Stem: If the past tense stem ends in a consonant, use -ший. Examples: расти (рос) → росший (who was growing); нести (нёс) → нёсший (who was carrying). Verbs like везти (вёз → вёзший) or спасти (спас → спасший) do not restore a д/т because their root already ends in з or с, which is preserved in the past tense.
  • Verbs in -чь: Verbs ending in -чь (like беречь, печь) use this suffix because their past tense stem ends in a consonant (берёг, пёк). Example: берёгший (who was protecting).
  • Dropped -ну- Verbs: Verbs where the -ну- suffix disappears in the past tense. Examples: привыкнуть (привык) → привыкший (having gotten used to). Note: Some verbs like увянуть have a past tense with -л (увял) but still restore their root consonant and take -ший (увядший - having withered).
  • Verbs in -ереть: Verbs ending in -ереть drop the -л in the masculine singular past tense and use -ший. Examples: умереть (умер) → умерший (having died); запереть (запер) → заперший (having locked).
  • Restored д/т: If a verb ends in -сти and drops the д or т in the past tense (e.g., вести → вёл), the consonant is restored before -ший. To find which consonant is restored, look at the present/future tense stem (e.g., they lead = ведут → ведший; they sweep = метут → мётший). Note the spelling and pronunciation distinction: participles like мётший and плётший are spelled and stressed with ё, whereas ве́дший and цве́тший are spelled and stressed with е. Note: Verbs ending in -сть (e.g., сесть, класть) take the standard -вший suffix because their past tense stem ends in a vowel (се-, кла-), which is why they take the standard past tense marker -л (сел, клал).
  • The verb 'идти': Uses the stem шед-. Example: шедший (who was walking) or пришедший (having arrived).

Stress: Stress usually remains on the same syllable as the masculine past tense, but there are unpredictable exceptions where it shifts (e.g., у́мер → уме́рший, but за́пер → за́перший).

Reflexive Note: Reflexive participles always use the suffix -ся, never -сь, even after vowels. Example: ошибиться (ошибся) → ошибшаяся (having made a mistake - feminine).

Punctuation: If a participial phrase (причастный оборот) comes after the noun it modifies, it must be set off by commas.

Examples (6)

  1. Дуб, росший у берега много лет, был очень старым.

    The oak tree that had grown by the shore for many years was very old.

    Word by Word: Oak, growing by shore many years, was very old.

    Here, 'расти' (past tense: рос) becomes 'росший'.

  2. Вчера студент, ведший дискуссию, выступил блестяще.

    Yesterday the student who led the discussion performed brilliantly.

    Word by Word: Yesterday student, leading discussion, performed brilliantly.

    The verb 'вести' (stem вед-) restores the 'д' to form 'ведший' because the past tense 'вёл' dropped it.

  3. Человек, всегда берёгший свои вещи, не потерял билет.

    The person who always took care of their things didn't lose the ticket.

    Word by Word: Person, always protecting his things, not lost ticket.

    For verbs in -чь like 'беречь', the past tense ends in a consonant (берёг), so we add -ший to get 'берёгший'.

  4. Мы встретили друга, привыкшего к холодной погоде.

    We met a friend who had gotten used to the cold weather.

    Word by Word: We met friend, having-gotten-used to cold weather.

    The verb 'привыкнуть' drops '-ну-' in the past tense ('привык'), so it takes the suffix '-ший'.

  5. Девушка, пришедшая на концерт, была очень рада.

    The girl who came to the concert was very happy.

    Word by Word: Girl, having-come to concert, was very happy.

    The verb 'прийти' uses the special stem 'шед-' for its past active participle, forming 'пришедший' (here in the feminine form 'пришедшая').

  6. Студент, ошибшийся в ответе, исправил свою ошибку.

    The student who made a mistake in the answer corrected his mistake.

    Word by Word: Student, having-erred in answer, corrected his mistake.

    Reflexive verbs like 'ошибиться' form the participle 'ошибшийся', always keeping the '-ся' particle.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -вший to a consonant stem.

    нёсвший человек
    нёсший человек

    If the past tense stem ends in a consonant (like 'нёс'), you must use -ший, not -вший.

  • Incorrect case agreement with the noun.

    Я видел человека, пришедший вчера.
    Я видел человека, пришедшего вчера.

    The participle must agree with the noun it modifies ('человека' is Accusative) in gender, number, and case.

How It Connects

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-шийLevel 4Past Active Participles in -ший

Learn This First

To learn past active participles ending in -ший, you first need to know how to form the past tense of verbs, as the participle stem is derived from it. Since participles act as verbal adjectives, you must also be comfortable with adjective endings and agreement. Finally, understanding how to use the relative pronoun 'который' provides the conceptual foundation for describing nouns through actions.