One of the most difficult topics in the Russian language from a grammatical point of view is the participle. In particular, the most difficult part to understand is the spelling of "n" and "nn" in participles. First, let's look at the main aspects of this part of speech.
What is "communion"?
The participle has some of the characteristics of a verb and an adjective. Its main purpose is to designate signs of action, that is, to answer the question “what?”, “what?”, “what?”, “what?”. From the verb, the participle has grammatical features in the form:
- Perfect - dormant (what to do? - doze off), imperfect - jumped off (what to do? - jump off). It is worth noting that it is the aspect that determines the spelling of "n" and "nn" in participles to a greater extent - we pay special attention to this feature;
- Present (singing, described) and past tense (singing, described);
- Returnability and non-returnability.
From the adjective of the participle remained:
- Gen, number, case;
- Short and long form.
In addition, participles, like adjectives, can be active (which describe the actions of a particular person, for example) and passive (which indicate the action to which a person is subject to someone or something).
Let's look at one more part of speech before we look at the spelling of "n" and "nn" in participles.
What is a "verbal adjective"?
Very often, participles are confused with verbal adjectives, and therefore misspelled. To avoid this, when defining the part of speech, note that these adjectives:
- As a rule, they are formed from the imperfect form of verbs, and participles, respectively, from the perfect. For example, compare: burnt (burn - what to do?) And abandoned (quit - what to do?). Consider also a number of exceptions, which, despite the form of the verb, are verbal adjectives. For example: desired, unexpected, unexpected, unseen, done, sacred and others (more on grammatical aspects, including exceptions related to the correct use of "n" and "nn" in adjectives and participles, will be discussed below).
- Do not have prefixes (except for the prefix "not"), while participles can be with prefixes. For example, fried and overcooked.
- Unlike participles, verbal adjectivesare used without dependent words. For example, dried herbs and sun dried herbs.
As can be understood from the above material, the spelling of the letters n does not apply to adjectives that are presented as verbal. Participles with "n" and "nn" have a completely different nature of origin, and, accordingly, obey different grammatical rules.
When should one "n" be used in participles?
The spelling of "n" and "nn" in participles is regulated by certain rules. So, for starters, let's deal with writing one letter "n".
We write it in participles when:
The Passive Communion is short. It should be borne in mind that they are used in grammatical constructions with: infinitive - intends to answer at the blackboard; with an addition - I'm sure of the answer
The participle is formed from a verb without a prefix: frozen berry. Exceptions: prefix "not" (non-frozen vegetables)
When should two "n"s be used in participles?
You've probably figured out by now that the theory behind "n" and "nn" in participles isn't all that complicated once you understand it in detail. Now let's move on to the spelling of the two letters "n". They should be written if we encounter a passive past participle, expressed in full, and:
- Derived from verbs with a prefix. For example, connected (connect, "with" -prefix), unfinished, corrected. Exception: verbal adjectives that have lost their connection with the participle, which are well-established phrases, for example: only a goner could act so cruelly.
- Having dependent words: broken (by whom?) Vitya bike, mowed (when?) lawn yesterday.
- Formed from non-prefixed perfective verbs: torn off (torn off), executed (execute). Exceptions: smart, named.
- We also write "nn" when the participle is formed by the suffixes "o", "e", "iro" ("wa"): (stuffed, milled, glazed, and so on). Exception: with one "n": chewed; c "nn": desired, unexpected and others.
We are done with the rules for writing "n" and "nn" in participles, now let's move on to verbal adjectives.
When should one "n" be used in verbal adjectives?
Don't rush if you don't understand the first part about the sacraments. Move on to the study of verbal adjectives only when you are sure that you have mastered the previous material well, since the correct use of "n" and "nn" in participles and verbal adjectives requires reflection and understanding.
So, we write one letter in:
- adjectives formed from verbs with a prefix and having a short form: jacket worn (worn jacket), jeans worn (wornjeans);
- adjectives (non-prefixed origin) formed from imperfective verbs - frantic pace (enrage), boiled chicken (cook);
- adjectives that do not have dependent words: painted fence (but, painted fence by workers - participle), loaded car (but, car loaded with boxes).
Note that the spelling of participles and verbal adjectives is regulated not only by grammatical, but also by semantic aspects. For example, in such phrases as: baked bath and baked milk.
In the first case, we are dealing with a participle, since the bath was “drowned”, i.e., there is a direct connection with the verb, in the second case, “melted” indicates the quality of the object, i.e. the word is directly related to the adjective. After such a semantic analysis, the question of choosing "n" and "nn" in adjectives and participles is easily solved.
When should two "n's" be used in verbal adjectives?
This spelling is typical for short adjectives and implies that we observe the same number of "n" as we see in the full form. For example, an absent-minded grandmother is an absent-minded grandmother.
It should be noted that we cannot replace short verbal adjectives with a verb, while short participles can: children are inattentive and absent-minded (we cannot replace with a verb), leaves are scattered by the wind (the wind scattered the leaves).
In this article, we examined various aspects of the spelling of "n" and "nn" in participles and verbal adjectives. We hope the article was useful and you will no longer make grammatical errors.
