Impersonal verbs in the indefinite form. Why impersonal verbs are needed in Russian

Verbs in Russian can be divided into many types. One of these types is impersonal verbs, which are, as it were, the opposite of verbs that have faces. Let's see how to recognize the impersonal form, what is characteristic of it, and in what sentences it is used.

Verbs for denoting actions without a subject

First, let's remember what personal verbs are. Usually, when we talk about a certain person or object that performs an action, the phrase sounds like this - “he did”, “she said”, “they did”, “we decided” and so on. The verb in such a sentence is closely related to the noun - it describes the action that we ourselves, the people around us, animals or even inanimate objects perform.

However, it also happens differently. It happens that verbs tell about actions that happen as if by themselves - no one performs them, there is no person who would be responsible for the process. It is these verbs that are called impersonal.

Here are some examples:

It was getting dark outside.
I usually get lucky in the lottery.
It blew outside the window.
In the evening he felt sad.
A chill came from the window.

For verbs of the impersonal form, some common features are characteristic. In particular, they do not decline by gender and number, of course, they do not have persons, participles or gerunds cannot be formed from them.

What are impersonal verbs?

Indefinite form, or infinitive. For example - "to get dark, to get dark, to want."
Conditional mood. For example - “it would have dawned sooner”, “all traces would have been covered up”, “everything would have passed with time”.
Indicative. In it, an impersonal verb can have the singular form of the 3rd person in the present tense - for example, “it’s getting dark outside”, “it’s snowing outside”. In addition, there are verbs in the future tense - “it will get dark” or “it will snow” - and in the past. But in the latter case, the masculine gender changes to the middle one - “it got dark”, “it got dark”.

There are also impersonal verbs formed from personal verbs of the 3rd person and the singular with the help of the particle “sya”. For example - "do not sleep." In this case, the personal verb would sound like "does not sleep" and would be attached to the subject - "he does not sleep", "she does not sleep." But in a modified form, the verb denotes a physical or emotional state that can refer to anyone - and therefore is impersonal.

Impersonal verbs are those that express actions and states that occur on their own, without their producer (subject). With such verbs, the use of the subject is impossible: it is getting dark, it is dawning. Impersonal verbs in their lexical meaning can express: 1) natural phenomena; freezes, evening; 2) the physical and mental state of a person: fever, do not feel like it; 3) the modal meaning of obligation: it is necessary, it follows, it is appropriate, etc.; 4) the action of an unknown force: it leads, carries, carries, carries, etc.; 5) the action of elemental force (in combination with the instrumental case): The paths were clogged, tightly covered with snow (Furm.).

By education, impersonal verbs can be irrevocable and reflexive forms: it is getting light, it is getting dark. The irrevocable form of impersonal verbs has varieties: 1) proper-impersonal verbs: And it dawns a long time ago (Barat.); 2) personal verbs in impersonal use; cf .: There is a Russian spirit, there it smells of Russia (P.). “How strong the wormwood smells on the borders!” (T.). The reflexive form of impersonal verbs in most cases is formed from personal verbs (often intransitive) through the affix -sya; not sleeping - not sleeping. The following varieties of the reflexive form of impersonal verbs are distinguished: 1) verbs with an impersonal meaning that do not have matches in the group of personal verbs: To tell the truth, it was great on this sofa (T.); 2) impersonal verbs, coinciding in form with personal ones: One came true (cf. the prediction came true), the other dreamed (cf. happiness dreamed) (pog.).

Compared to personal, impersonal verbs do not change in person and number, as well as in gender. They are only used in the 3rd person singular. hours of present and future tense and in the form of units. h. past tense of the neuter gender.

These forms of impersonal verbs, unlike the corresponding personal forms, are not determined by agreement with the subject, as they are used in impersonal sentences. Impersonal verbs have the form of the subjunctive mood of the neuter gender singular. hours and indefinite form; they have no imperative form.

Valgina N.S., Rosenthal D.E., Fomina M.I. Modern Russian language - M., 2002.

Impersonal verbs - verbs that name an action or state outside of relation to the subject of the action, representing the action as occurring by itself, regardless of the doer, i.e., without a character or object. With such verbs, the use of the subject is impossible: it is getting dark, it is dawning. They are used in impersonal sentences, combined with the names of a person in the dative, accusative and genitive cases.

Impersonal verbs in their lexical meaning can express:

natural phenomena; freezes, evening;
physical and mental state of a person: fever, do not feel like it;
modal meaning of obligation: should, follows, befits and others,
the action of an unknown force: leads, wears, carries and others;
the action of elemental force (in combination with the instrumental case): The paths were clogged, tightly covered with snow.
Impersonal verbs change with tenses.
Impersonal verbs have only the form of the 3rd person singular of the present tense, the infinitive, the form of the middle gender of the singular of the past tense, and have the form of the conditional mood.
Impersonal verbs have constant categories: aspect, conjugation, reflexivity.
Impersonal verbs can be formed from personal ones using the suffixes -sya, -s.
In an impersonal sense, personal verbs can be used.
In a sentence, impersonal verbs act as a predicate, they do not have a subject, therefore, they are used in one-part impersonal sentences.
By education, impersonal verbs can be irrevocable and reflexive forms:

The irrevocable form of impersonal verbs has varieties:

proper-impersonal verbs: And it dawns for a long time;
personal verbs in impersonal usage; cf .: There is a Russian spirit, there it smells of Russia; How strongly the wormwood smells on the borders!

The reflexive form of impersonal verbs in most cases is formed from personal verbs (often intransitive) through the affix -sya; not sleeping - not sleeping. There are such varieties of the reflexive form of impersonal verbs:

verbs with an impersonal meaning that do not have correspondences in the group of personal verbs: To tell the truth, it was great lying on this sofa;
impersonal verbs that coincide in form with personal ones: One came true (cf. the prediction came true), the other dreamed (cf. dreamed of happiness) (saying).
Impersonal verbs have the form of the subjunctive mood of the neuter gender singular. hours and indefinite form; they have no imperative form.
There is a definite relationship between personal and impersonal verbs:
the same verb can be used both as personal and as impersonal: “The lilac smells nice”, “It smells very nice there”;
from a personal verb, by adding the postfix -sya-, an impersonal verb can be formed: "it is written."

The presence of such a connection is due to the origin of impersonal verbs.

Impersonal verbs denoting the state of a person

The general meaning of impersonal sentences of this type is determined by the meaning of the impersonal verb. They can denote the mental or physical state of a living being: (For joy, my breath stopped in my goiter. My heart went cold. It shivered and broke. It was just that I was unwell at that time. He was feverish. it's still pounding. Batiushka's eyes even started to tingle. Pavel Vasilyevich even took his breath away. My eyes darkened. But the day is fresh, and my bones are aching. Why is it so painful and so hard for me? You're a little cold, you close his face turned into the collar of his overcoat. Small ripples quietly flashed along the sleepy river.), visual or auditory perception: (Neither the sound of a bell, nor the sound of wheels on a flinty road has been heard for a long time. not it is seen.). The emotional state of a person: (And I was sorry to tell the truth).

Impersonal verbs with different modal meanings

The general meaning of impersonal sentences of this type is determined by the meaning of the impersonal verb. They can denote obligation, necessity, and other modal shades (such a verb is most often used with an infinitive): (She could talk more calmly about her fate and what she should have done. He walked slowly, as befits a museum visitor. And in order not to anger the patient, Proshka would have to stand at the window. In this case, you can turn your head at a moment. We must live! He became ill, his head ached, it was impossible to go. Do you need it, old man?), modal-volitional shades: (In this case, you can turn your head at the moment. We must live! He became ill, his head ached. It was impossible to go. What do you need, old man? obligation in relation to the time of the action: (I had a good friend - it’s much better to be - yes, everything happened, I didn’t have time to talk to him.)

Impersonal verbs denoting actions of unreal (unknown) power

The general meaning of impersonal sentences of this type is determined by the meaning of the impersonal verb. They can denote phenomena attributed to fate, or actions of unreal power: (It happens that my luck is happier. I was not always lucky. He was carried away to the ancient world, and he talked about the Aegina marbles. - or tools: (And the wind finally knocked down that tree. The stars were covered with darkness. Suddenly, a light, unbearably white, bright, whipped my eyes to blindness. I’m waiting for it to overgrow or cover it with silt. In the garden at night, the wind knocked down all the apples and broke one old plum. His whole chest was covered with cold, flooded with a feeling of joy, delight. Burning frost scorches his face.).

In addition to personal forms of verbs in modern Russian, there are also impersonal verbs , which denote an action that proceeds on its own, without any relation to the subject (i.e., to the person). 2. Verbs-predicates in an impersonal sentence have the form of the 3rd person singular or the form of the neuter gender singular - in both cases without indicating the producer of the action: I don't sleeping something. In the morning me feverish.

The predicate of impersonal sentences is most often expressed by the following verbs:

1) Personal verbs in impersonal use (these are verbs that lose their forms of change and freeze in the form of the 3rd person singular or in the form of the past tense): hay smells ; wave broke boat(cf. Hay smells ; Wave smashed boat -- the same verbs are used in the personal form).
2) Personal verbs in impersonal use, which acquired a new lexical meaning and turned into impersonal verbs: To you lucky (about happiness, good luck). Works enough (enough). Their personal forms lucky (horse lucky ), enough (Fish enough bait) have a completely different meaning.
3) Actually impersonal verbs that have no homonyms among personal verbs: It's getting dark. It's getting light.
4) An impersonal predicate is often expressed by a special impersonal form of verbs, formed from the 3rd person form or the neuter form by adding a suffix -sya (s): not sleeping - not sleepingXia ; did not believe - did not believecamping . This predicate denotes various states of people that do not depend on their will: Two o'clock in the morning... Can't sleep .
5) A verb can also be used as an impersonal was - will be(in the meaning of "there was" - "there is"): Works It was weeks for two. The present tense in a statement is indicated by a pause in place of the omitted verb: Work - two weeks, and in case of negation - an impersonal form No: Not there was time.--Not time.

Compound verb predicate: noticeably began to brighten . It was starting to get dark . to me wanted to sleep .

Compound predicate, which includes state category adverbs (possible, must, necessary, necessary, necessary, impossible, ashamed, fearful, sickening, sorry, it's time, sad, fun, gratifying, warm, painful, dry, damp, cold, comfortable and etc.), copula and often indefinite form of the verb, For example: It was already dark . To you cold a little. to me It was it's a pity old man. Necessary rebuild all life. Us it's time to go . It was fun to hear jingling of a Russian bell. It was a pity to me part with the old man. It was terrible to stay in the dark. About the trip couldn't even think .

Verbs can also express:

1. Natural phenomena ( evening, dusk, dawn).
2. Physical and mental state of a person ( shivering, unwell, feverish, sick, (not) wanting).
3. The action of some elemental force ( water flooded the fields, covered the paths with snow, smashed a tree with lightning).
(Such impersonal verbs, as a rule, are combined with nouns in the instrumental form with the meaning of an instrument of action).

Impersonal verbs always act as a predicate in a one-part impersonal sentence in which there is no subject and cannot be.

For example: It's evening outside. I'm not well

In modern Russian, it is customary to distinguish two types impersonal verbs.

1. Proper-impersonal verbs , which always act as a predicate in a one-part personal sentence. These are the verbs: dawn, evening, dusk, nausea, tickle, unwell, can not sleep and etc.
2. Personal verbs in impersonal meaning (use). Such verbs can act as a predicate both in a two-part sentence and in a one-part impersonal one.