Active participles — present and past
Active participles let you compress a relative clause ('the boy who is reading') into a single adjective-like word ('the reading boy'). Russian forms them from verbs and they decline like adjectives — they agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
Present active: -щий
Built from imperfective verbs. Take the они-form, drop -т, add -щий (or -ющий after a vowel). - читать → читают → читающий = (the one who is) reading - говорить → говорят → говорящий = (the one who is) speaking - учиться → учатся → учащийся = (the one who is) studying The participle still keeps any reflexive -ся.
Past active: -вший
Built from any aspect. Take the past-tense masculine, drop -л, add -вший: - читал → читавший = (the one who) was reading / used to read - прочитал → прочитавший = (the one who) finished reading / read it through If the past has no -л (like нёс), add -ший instead: нёсший.
How they're used in sentences
An active participle replaces the entire который + verb relative clause: - Мальчик, который читает книгу = the boy who is reading a book - Мальчик, читающий книгу = the boy reading a book. Both are correct; the participle version is more written / formal. The participle declines with its noun: Я знаю мальчика, читающего книгу (accusative, animate).
Where you'll see them
Active participles are mostly written register — newspapers, official notices, literature. In speech, Russians prefer the который construction. Read for recognition; use который when you speak.
