PushkinPushkin Grammar Reference
Gerunds and Participles


Related exercises are available

Gerunds Participles

Gerunds

Related exercises are available

Up to previous headingIntro - Formation - Use

GERUNDS are often referred to as VERBAL ADVERBS because

like VERBS

they

like ADVERBS

they

and may also have

  • a complement = a direct or indirect object, for example:
    • читая КНИГУ
      '[while] reading a book'
    • живя В КИЕВЕ
      '[while] living in Kiev'

  • a modifier = adverbial expression which answers the questions как? когда?, for example:
    • БЫСТРО читая
      '[while] reading fast'
    • написав  СЕГОДНЯ письмо
      'having written the letter today'
 are unchangeable

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TENSE and ASPECT

IMPERFECTIVE GERUND
formed from the imperfective verb набирать

refers to the present

PERFECTIVE GERUND
formed from the perfective verb набрать

refers to the past

Медленно набирая номер телефона, Владимир думал о Марии.

[While] slowly dialling the phone number, Vladimir was thinking about Maria.

Быстро набрав номер телефона, Владимир повесил трубку.

Having quickly dialled the phone number, Vladimir hung up.

 

Номер is a COMPLEMENT (here: a direct object). This is what gerunds have in common with the active verbs, for example: набирать\набрать номер.

Медленно and быстро are adverbial MODIFIERS of manner which answer the question как? каким образом?. This is what gerunds have in common with verbs, for example: медленно\быстро набирать\набрать номер телефона 'to dial the phone number slowly\quickly'

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Up to previous headingFORMATION OF GERUNDS

SUMMARY

Suffixes used to form gerunds:

IMPERFECTIVE

PERFECTIVE

- Я

- В, - ВШИ, - Я
(-ШИ )


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THE IMPERFECTIVE GERUND

is formed from imperfective verb and qualifies an action SIMULTANEOUS to that of the main verb:

infinitive

3rd person plural

suffix

gerund

встречать

встреча –[ют]

-Я

встреча – Я

любить

люб – [ят]

-Я

люб – Я

 

Participles formed from REFLEXIVE verbs follow the same pattern:

заниматься

занима – [ют] – ся

-Я

занима – Я – сь

находиться

наход – [ят] – ся

-Я

наход – Я – сь

 

The verbs ending with –АВАТЬ, - СТАВАТЬ, - ЗНАВАТЬ do not lose - ВА:

infinitive

suffix

gerund

дава – ть

- Я

дава – Я

встава – ть

- Я

встава – Я

 

There are however some exceptions:

быть

будучи


Verbs ending in -ЧЬ and –УТЬ such as мочь and гнуть and some other common Russian verbs such as бежать, бить, ехать, ждать, петь, писать, пить, хотеть, etc. do not have an imperfective gerund.

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THE PERFECTIVE GERUND

is formed from perfective verb and qualifies an action PRECEDING that of the verb:

infinitive

past tense

suffix

gerund

прочитать

прочита – [л]

- В-

прочита – В

полюбить

полюби – [л]

- В-

полюби – В

 

Participles formed from REFLEXIVE verbs take suffix – ВШИ:

вернуться

верну – [л] – ся

- ВШИ -

верну – ВШИ –сь

согласиться

согласи – [л] – ся

- ВШИ -

согласи – ВШИ – сь

 

Gerunds formed from verbs ending in – ЗТИ and - СТИ and from verbs which follow the pattern of идти take suffix -Я

infinitive

3rd person plural

suffix

gerund

вывезти

вывез – ут

- Я ( - ШИТ )

вывез – Я (вывез – ШИ)

вынести

вынес – ут

- Я ( - ШИ)

вынес – Я (вынес – ШИ)

прийти

прид – ут

- Я

прид – Я

 

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USE OF GERUNDS

IMPERFECTIVE GERUNDS

are used to describe the background SIMULTANEOUS action, i.e. to modify the main action expressed by the verb, irrespective of the tense or aspect of that verb.

The imperfective gerund remains unchangeable, irrespective of the tense or aspect of the main verb, for example:

PRESENT

Набирая номер телефона, Владимир думает о Марии.

[While] dialling the phone number, Vladimir is thinking about Maria.

PAST

Набирая номер телефона, Владимир думал (=imperfective)\подумал (=perfective) о Марии.

[While] dialling the phone number, Vladimir was thinking\thought about Maria.

FUTURE

Набирая номер телефона, Владимир будет думать (=imperfective)\подумает (=perfective) о Марии.

[While] dialling the phone number, Vladimir will be thinking\will think about Maria.

 

Imperfective gerunds may replace an adverbial clause of time introduced by a relative

pronoun, КОГДА for example:

Sentence with КОГДА Sentence with gerund
Adverbial clause of time with КОГДА includes active verb, and subjects are the same in both clauses (e.g. Владимир and он). Adverbial clause of time КОГДА and active verb are replaced with gerund, and the subjects are the same in both clauses (e.g. он and Владимир).

КОГДА Владимир набирал номер телефона, он думал о Марии.

When Vladimir dialled the phone number, he was thinking about Maria.

Набирая номер телефона, Владимир думал о Марии.

[While] dialling the phone number, Vladimir was thinking about Maria.


Imperfective gerund cannot be used if the subjects in the subjects in the main and embedded clauses are different; it renders the sentence ungrammatical (=*) in Russian and nonsensical in English, for example:

Sentence with КОГДА Sentence with gerund
Adverbial clause of time with КОГДА includes active verb, but the subjects are different in the main and embedded clauses (e.g. студенты and музыка). Adverbial clause of time КОГДА and active verb are replaced with gerund, but the subjects are different in the main and embedded clauses (e.g. студенты and музыка).

Когда балерина танцевала на сцене, играла музыка.

When the ballerina was dancing on the stage, the music played.

*Танцуя на сцене, играла музыка.

*(When/while) was dancing on the stage, the music played.


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PERFECTIVE GERUNDS

are used to describe an action, which PRECEDES the action expressed by the main verb, irrespective of the tense or aspect of that verb.

The perfective gerund remains unchangeable, irrespective of the tense or aspect of the main verb.

PRESENT

Набрав номер телефона, Владимир думает, как начать разговор.

Having dialled the phone number, Vladimir is thinking how to start a conversation.

PAST

Набрав номер телефона, Владимир думал (=imperfective)\подумал (=perfective), как начать разговор.

Having dialled the phone number, Vladimir was thinking\thought how to start a conversation.

FUTURE

Набрав номер телефона, Владимир будет думать (=imperfective)\подумает (=perfective), как начать разговор.

Having dialled the phone number, Vladimir will be thinking\will think how to start a conversation.

 

Perfective gerunds also may replace an adverbial clause of time introduced by a relative pronoun КОГДА.

However, the presence of КОГДА does not change the temporal relationship between the main verb and the gerund, i.e. the action qualified by the gerund PRECEDES that expressed by the main verb, for example:

Sentence with КОГДА clause Sentence with gerund
Adverbial clause of time with КОГДА includes active verb, and the subjects are the same in both clauses (e.g. Мария and она).

Adverbial clause of time КОГДА and active verb are replaced with gerund, and the subjects are the same in both clauses (e.g. она and Мария).

КОГДА Мария написала письмо, она начала мечтать о любви.

When Maria wrote the letter, she started dreaming about love.

Написав письмо, Мария начала мечтать о любви.

Having written the letter, Maria started dreaming about love.


A perfective gerund cannot be used if the subjects in the main and embedded clauses are different; the resulting sentence is ungrammatical (=*) in Russian and nonsensical in English, for example:

Sentence with КОГДА clause Sentence with gerund
Adverbial clause of time with КОГДА includes active verb, but the subjects are different in the main and embedded clauses (e.g. Мария and такси).

Adverbial clause of time КОГДА and active verb are replaced with gerund, but the subjects are different in the main and embedded clauses (e.g. Мария and такси).

Когда Мария написала письмо, приехало такси.

When Maria wrote the letter, the taxi arrived.

*Написав письмо, приехало такси.

*Having written the letter, the taxi arrived.

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PUNCTUATION

Constructions with gerunds must always be separated from the main clause by commas.

 

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Participles

Up to previous headingIntro - Formation - Use

PARTICIPLES are often referred to as VERBAL ADJECTIVES because

like VERBS they have

like ADJECTIVES they must agree with the modified noun in

- tense (present or past)

- gender (masculine, feminine or neuter)

- aspect (imperfective or perfective)

- number (singular or plural)

- voice (active or passive)

- case (one of six)

they may have

  • a complement = a direct or indirect object, for example:
    • читающая КНИГУ студентка
      a female student who is reading the book
    • живущий В КИЕВЕ гений
      a genius who lives in Kiev

  • a modifier = adverbial expression which answers the questions как? когда?, for example:
    • БЫСТРО читающая студентка
      a female student who is reading fast
    • написанное СЕГОДНЯ письмо
      a letter which has been written today

they may have

long or short forms

  • A LONG FORM answers the question какой? какая? какое? какие? and is used attributively, i.e. to modify a noun, for example:
    • закрытый директором ресторан
      a restaurant closed by a director
    • закрытая студентом книга
      a book which is closed by a student
    • закрытое братом окно
      a window which is closed by a brother
    • закрытые водителем двери
      doors which are closed by a driver
  • A SHORT FORM is used as a part of a predicate.

    PREDICATE =
    the link verb БЫТЬ in the past or future tense
    +
    a meaningful element

    or also PREDICATE =
    just a meaningful element in the present tense

    for example:
    • Ресторан был закрыт
      A restaurant was closed
    • Ресторан будет закрыт
      A restaurant will be closed
    • Ресторан закрыт
      A restaurant is closed


    The predicate combines with the subject, usually expressed by a noun (here - Ресторан), to make up the complete sentence, i.e.

    Subject + Predicate = Sentence


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TENSE - PRESENT or PAST

Present participle formed from the verb
любить
Past participle formed from the verb любить

Кинорежиссер, ЛЮБЯЩИЙ Марию, уезжает в Москву.

Film director who loves Maria leaves for Moscow.

Кинорежиссер, ЛЮБИВШИЙ Марию, был бедным.

Film director who loved Maria was poor.


Марию is a COMPLEMENT (here: = a direct object). This is what participles have in common with the active verbs, for example: любить Марию.

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ASPECT - IMPERFECTIVE or PERFECTIVE

Participle formed from the imperfective verb сдавать
Past participle formed from the perfective verb сдать

Студенты, СДАЮЩИЕ сейчас экзамен, хорошо говорят по-китайски.

Students who are taking their exam now speak good Chinese.

Студенты, СДАВШИЕ вчера экзамен, пошли на пляж.

Students who passed their exam yesterday went to the beach.


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VOICE - ACTIVE or PASSIVE

Related exercises are available

Active participle formed from the verb любить
Passive participle formed from the verb любить

An ACTIVE participle applies to the actor who performs the action of the participle.

Офицер (= actor) любит Марью Гавриловну.

A PASSIVE particle applies to the object of the action of the participle.

Офицер любит Марью Гавриловну (= object).

Офицер, ЛЮБЯЩИЙ Марью Гавриловну, уезжает в Москву.

The officer who loves Maria Gavrilovna leaves for Moscow.

Марья Гавриловна, ЛЮБИМАЯ офицером, остается в деревне.

Maria Gavrilovna, who is loved by the officer, stays in the village.


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AGREEMENT IN GENDER

Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the masculine noun офицер.
Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the feminine noun Марья Гавриловна.

Офицер, ЛЮБИВШИЙ Марью Гавриловну, был бедным.

The officer, who loved Maria Gavrilovna, was poor.

Марья Гавриловна, ЛЮБИВШАЯ офицера, была богатой.

Maria Gavrilovna, who loved the officer, was rich.


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AGREEMENT IN NUMBER

Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the singular subject офицер. Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the plural subject офицеры.

Офицер, ЛЮБИВШИЙ Марью Гавриловну, был бедным.

The officer, who loved Maria Gavrilovna, was poor.

Офицеры, ЛЮБИВШИЕ Марью Гавриловну, были бедными.

The officers, who loved Maria Gavrilovna, were poor.


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AGREEMENT IN CASE

Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the noun офицер used in the Nominative case. Participle formed from the verb любить agrees with the noun офицеру used in the Dative case.

Актер, ЛЮБИВШИЙ Марью, часто пел в хоре.

The actor who loved Maria often sang in the choir.

Мы написали письмо актеру, ЛЮБИВШЕМУ Марию.

We wrote a letter to the actor who loved Maria.


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LONG FORM & SHORT FORM

Related exercises are available

A LONG form participle любимый answers the question какой? and is used to qualify a noun to which it refers, i.e.

is used attributively

A SHORT form participle любим is used predicatively, i.e.

it combines with the subject, usually expressed by a noun (here - офицер),

to make up the complete sentence, i.e.

Subject + Predicate = Sentence

Офицер + любим = Офицер любим.

Офицер, ЛЮБИМЫЙ Марьей Гавриловной, уезжает в Италию.

The officer, who is loved by Maria Gavrilovna, leaves for Italy.

Офицер горячо ЛЮБИМ.

The officer is strongly loved.


Горячо 'dearly' is an adverbial MODIFIER of manner which answers the question как? каким образом? This is what participles have in common with the active verbs, for example: горячо любить 'to love dearly'.

Up to previous headingFORMATION OF PARTICIPLES

Active Participles - Passive Participles - Short Form Participles

FORMATION OF ACTIVE PARTICIPLES

SUMMARY

Suffixes used to form active participles

PRESENT

PAST

-УЩ-\-ЮЩ-,
-АЩ-\-ЯЩ-

-ВШ-, -Ш-


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PRESENT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

is formed from an imperfective verb and refers to an action which takes place at the same time as the action of the main verb:

infinitive

3rd person plural

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

читать

чита-[ют]

-ЮЩ-

-ий

чита-ЮЩ-ий
who is reading

жить

жив-[ут]

-УЩ-

-ий

жив-УЩ-ий
who is living

любит

люб-[ят]

-ЯЩ-

-ий

люб-ЯЩ-ий
who is loving

лежать

леж-[ат]

-АЩ-

-ий

леж-АЩ-ий
who\which is lying

 

Participles formed from REFLEXIVE verbs follow the same pattern:

улыбаться

улыба-[ют]-ся

-ЮЩ-

-ий

улыба-ЮЩ-ий-ся
who is smiling

находиться

наход-[ят]-ся

-ЯЩ-

-ий

наход-ЯЩ-ий-ся
who\which is situated


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PAST ACTIVE PARTICIPLE

is formed from both the imperfective and perfective verbs and refers to an action which was performed some time in the past:

infinitive

past tense

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

читать

чита-[л]

-ВШ-

-ий

чита-ВШ-ий
who was reading

прочитать
прочита-[л]
прочита-ВШ-ий
who has read

любить

люби-[л]

-ВШ-

-ий

люби-ВШ-ий
who loved

полюбить полюби-[л]
полюби-ВШ-ий
who has fallen in love

 

Participles formed from verbs (and their compounds) with irregular past, ending in a consonant, take suffix -Ш-:

нести

нёс

-Ш-

-ий

нёс-Ш-ий
who was carrying in one's hands

унести
унёс
унёс-Ший
who has carried away in one's hands

везти

вёз

-Ш-

-ий

вёз-Ш-ий
who\which was carrying by a vehicle

привезти
привёз
увёз-Ш-ий
who\which has carried away by a vehicle

лечь

лёг

-Ш-

-ий

лёг-Ш-ий
who laid down

 

There are some exceptions:

infinitive

past tense

participle

идти

 

прийти

шёл

 

пришёл

шедший
who was walking

пришедший
who has arrived

вести

 

увести

вёл

 

увёл

ведший
who was leading

уведший
who has led away

 

Participles formed from REFLEXIVE verbs follow the same patterns:

улыбаться

 

улыбнуться

улыба-[л]-ся

 

улыбну-[л]-ся

-ВШ-

-ий

улыба-ВШ-ий-ся
who was smiling

улыбну-ВШ-ий-ся
who has smiled

спастись

спас-ся

-Ш-

-ий

спас-Ш-ий-ся
who has saved himself

найтись

нашёл-ся

   

нашедший-ся
who\which has been found

 

Up to previous headingFORMATION OF PASSIVE PARTICLES

SUMMARY

Suffixes used to form passive participles

PRESENT

PAST

-ЕМ-, -ИМ-

-НН-, -ЕНН-\-ЁНН-, -Т-


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PRESENT PASSIVE PARTICLE

is mostly formed from a transitive (and sometimes from intransitive) imperfective verb and qualifies a noun with reference to an action performed on it in the present:

infinitive

3rd person plural

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

читать

чита-[ют]

-ЕМ-

-ый

чита-ЕМ-ый
which is read

любить

люб-[ят]

-ИМ-

-ый

люб-ИМ-ый
who\which is loved

 

There are some exceptions:

вести

вед-[ём]

-ОМ-

-ый

вед-ОМ-ый
who\which is led

 

The verbs ending with -АВАТЬ, -СТАВАТЬ, -ЗНАВАТЬ do not lose:

infinitive

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

отдава-[ть]

-ЕМ-

-ый

отдава-ЕМ-ый
which is given away

узнава-[ть]

-ЕМ-

-ый

узнава-ЕМ-ый
who\which is recognized


Many common verbs in –ЕРЕТЬ-, -ЗТЬ-, -ОТЬ-, -СТЬ, -УТЬ, and -ЧЬ and many monosyllabic verbs, such as бить, брать, есть, ждать, знать, звать, лить,мыть, петь, пить, etc. do NOT have any present passive participle forms.

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PAST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE

is mostly formed from a transitive perfective verb and qualifies a noun with a reference to an action performed on it in the past

Participles formed from verbs in –АТЬ, -ЯТЬ,
and
most verbs in –ЕТЬ
take suffix -НН- added to the past tense stem.

infinitive

past tense

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

прочитАТЬ

прочита-[л]

-НН-

-ый

прочита-НН-ый
which was read

потерЯТЬ

потеря-[л]

-НН-

-ый

потеря-НН-ый
who\which was lost

просмотрЕТЬ

просмотре-[л]

-НН-

-ый

просмотре-НН-ый
which was looked through

 

Participles formed from verbs in –ИТЬ, -СТИ and –ЗТИ
take suffix –ЕНН-\-ЁНН-
added to the non-past 1st person singular stem.
They undergo constant mutation:

infinitive

1st person singular

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

бросИТЬ

броШ-[у]

-ЕНН-

-ый

брош-ЕНН-ый
who\which was abandoned

куИТЬ

куПЛ-[ю]

-ЕНН-

-ый

купл-ЕНН-ый
which was bought

привеЗТИ

привез-[у]

-ЕНН-

-ый

привез-ЁНН-ый
who\which was brought by vehicle

 

Participles formed from verbs in –ЧЬ
take suffix –ЁНН- added to the non-past 2nd person singular stem:

infinitive

2nd person singular

suffix

adjectival ending

participle

испеЧЬ

испеч-[ёш]

-ЁНН-

-ый

испеч-ЁНН-ый
which was baked

сжеЧЬ

сожж-[ёшь]

-ЁНН-

-ый

сожж-ЁНН-ый
which was burnt

 

Participles formed from verbs in –УТЬ, -ЫТЬ, -ОТЬ, -ЕРЕТЬ
such as кинуть, умыть, наколоть, стереть
and
from monosyllabic verbs (and their prefixed compounds) in –ИТЬ and –ЕТЬ
such as бить, надеть
and
from monosyllabic verbs (and their prefixed compounds) in –АТЬ and –ЯТЬ
which introduce an Н or an М in the present tense conjugation
such as взять (возьМУ), начать (начНУ), etc.
take suffix -Т- added to the past stem:

infinitive

past tense

suffix

adjectival  ending

participle

умыть

умы-[л]

-Т-

-ый

умы-Т-ый
who was washed

надеть

наде-[л]

-Т-

-ый

наде-Т-ый
which was put on

взять

взя-[л]

-Т-

-ый

взя-т-ый
which was taken

 

Up to previous headingFORMATION OF SHORT FORM PARTICIPLES

Short form participles are formed in the same way as the full form passive participles, but unlike the latter
they drop one Н in -НН- and -ЕНН-\-ЁНН- suffixes
and require the endings of short form adjectives:

FULL FORM

(masculine)

SHORT FORM

masculine

feminine

neuter

plural

прочитанный
which was read

прочитан
is read

прочитанА
is read

прочитанО
is read

прочитанЫ
are read

купленный
which was bought

куплен
is bought

купленА
is bought

купленО
is bought

купленЫ
are bought

убитый
who was killed

убит
is killed

убитА
is killed

убитО
is killed

убитЫ
are killed


Like short form adjectives, short form participles agree in gender and number with the nouns to which they refer; and they do not change for case.

Up to previous headingUSE OF PARTICIPLES

Long form - Translation - Short Form - Punctuation

LONG FORM PARTICIPLES

replace a relative clause introduced by a relative pronoun КОТОРЫЙ.

ACTIVE PARTICIPLES

are used when КОТОРЫЙ is the subject of the embedded clause:

Sentence with КОТОРЫЙ

Sentence with the active participle

Актера, КОТОРЫЙ ОБМАНУЛ Марию, звали Алексей.

Актера, ОБМАНУВШЕГО Марию, звали Алексей.

Actor who deceived Maria was called Aleksej.


In the above examples КОТОРЫЙ is removed and the verb ОБМАНУЛ is replaced with an active participle of the same tense and aspect. The active participle ОБМАНУВШИЙ agrees in gender, number and case with the noun АКТЕР.

PASSIVE PARTICIPLES

are used when КОТОРЫЙ is the Accusative object of the embedded clause:

Sentence with КОТОРЫЙ

Sentence with the passive participle

Мария, КОТОРУЮ ОБМАНУЛ Алексей, не спала всю ночь.

Мария, ОБМАНУТАЯ Алексеем, не спала всю ночь.

Maria who was deceived by Aleksej didn’t sleep all night.

КОТОРЫЙ is removed and the verb ОБМАНУЛ is replaced with a passive participle of the same tense and aspect. The passive participle ОБМАНУТЫЙ agrees in gender, number and case with the noun МАРИЯ.

Note that the Nominative subject in the clause with КОТОРЫЙ (here - Алексей) must be replaced with the Instrumental noun (here - Алексеем) in constructions with a PASSIVE participle.

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HOW TO TRANSLATE SENTENCES WITH PARTICIPLES?

Russian FULL FORM participles are never used predicatively as in English constructions. Compare, for example:

ENGLISH

RUSSIAN

A girl is reading a book.

 

'is reading a book' = predicate

Correct translation from English:
Девочка читает книгу.

читает книгу = predicate

Wrong translation from English:
*Девочка, читающая книгу.

читающая книгу is not a predicate

Cars are carrying children.


are carrying children = predicate

Correct translation from English:
Машины везут детей.

везут детей = predicate

Wrong translation from English:
*Машины, везущие детей.

везущие детей is not a predicate

Russian sentences *Девочка, читающая книгу and *Машины, везущие детей are ungrammatical (= *), since they lack predicates.

They can be transformed into grammatical ones if a participial construction is used along with the predicate:

ENGLISH

RUSSIAN

A girl, (who is) reading a book, does not like to play tennis.

does not like to play tennis = predicate

Девочка, читающая книгу, не любит играть в теннис.

не любит играть в теннис = predicate

Cars, (which are) carrying children, go very slowly.

go very slowly = predicate

Машины, везущие детей, едут очень медленно.

едут очень медленно = predicate


When translating Russian Full Form participles into English, it is IMPORTANT to use relative pronouns who and which as in the examples above.
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SHORT FORM PARTICIPLES

convey the result of an action in the present, past or future, for example:

PRESENT

Сейчас ресторан открыт.
The restaurant is open now.

PAST

Вчера ресторан был открыт.
The restaurant was open yesterday.

FUTURE

Завтра ресторан будет открыт.
The restaurant will be open tomorrow.

 

SHORT FORM participles, unlike FULL FORM participles,
cannot replace sentences with КОТОРЫЙ,
but they can be used in КОТОРЫЙ clauses.

As the result, three different constructions can be used in Russian (and only two in English) to express one and the same idea.
Compare, for example, the following translations from English into Russian:

ENGLISH
RUSSIAN

WHICH + active verb

1. Maria looked at the photograph which Vladimir sent.

Correct translation from English with
КОТОРЫЙ + active verb

Мария смотрела на фотографию, КОТОРУЮ ПРИСЛАЛ Владимир.

WHICH + passive verb

2. Maria looked at the photograph, which was sent by Vladimir.

Correct translation from English with
КОТОРЫЙ + SHORT FORM participle

Мария смотрела на фотографию, КОТОРАЯ БЫЛА ПРИСЛАНА Владимиром.

WHICH + passive verb

3. Maria looked at the photograph, which was sent by Vladimir.

Wrong translation from English with
SHORT FORM PAST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE (without КОТОРЫЙ)

*Мария смотрела на фотографию, БЫЛА ПРИСЛАНА Владимиром.

WHICH + passive verb

4. Maria looked at the photograph, which was sent by Vladimir.

Correct translation from English with
FULL FORM PASSIVE PARTICIPLE

Мария смотрела на фотографию, ПРИСЛАННУЮ Владимиром.


Ungrammatical sentence (= *) with SHORT FORM PAST PASSIVE PARTICIPLE and without КОТОРЫЙ in the 3rd example

*Мария смотрела на фотографию, БЫЛА ПРИСЛАНА Владимиром

becomes acceptable if the link verb (here: была) is removed
and the SHORT FORM (here: прислана)
is replaced with the LONG FORM past passive participle (here: присланную)
as in the 4th example above.

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PUNCTUATION

Participial construction (= participle with its complement) may be used after or before a noun to which it refers.

When FOLLOWING a noun, it must be separated by commas from the main clause;
however, commas are not necessary if it is used BEFORE a noun.
There is no difference in meaning, for example:

Participial construction used AFTER a noun

Participial construction used BEFORE a noun

Музыкант, играющий на скрипке, приехал из Москвы.

Играющий на скрипке музыкант приехал из Москвы.

The musician (who is) playing the violin came from Moscow.


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