What are called verbs in Russian? This is a part of speech that in its initial form answers the questions “What should I do?” ( drink, sing, paint, walk) or “What should I do?” ( drink, sing, paint, go). Verbs most often denote an action, sometimes a state. They can be personal, i.e. denoting an action performed by a specific person.

Examples. Blooms bird cherry. Her scent circles head. Here's someone from the hill went down. In this case, the verbs “blooms” and “descended” name the action that is performed by a specific person (cherry blooms, somebody went down), which is why they are called personal.

Impersonal verbs express an action that occurs without its producer.

Examples. It's getting dark. It's getting colder. There's not much of me has a fever.

Impersonal verbs can be combined into semantic groups.

First group.

It includes verbs expressing actions occurring in nature. It’s getting dark, getting cold, blizzarding, freezing.

Second group.

Verbs that express a state or sensation. Chills, feverish, unwell.

Third group.

Impersonal verbs that capture desire, necessity, possibility or measure of action. Enough is enough, it should be, it must be.

Impersonal and personal verbs are inextricably linked in language. In particular, the personal form often plays the role of an impersonal one.

Examples. Rings(l.ch.) call, the holidays have arrived. in my head rings(bl.ch.) from an excess of emotions.

In the first sentence, the personal form of the verb “rings” denotes an action that is performed by a specific manufacturer (bell). In the second case, the action takes place (occurs) regardless of the producer, in itself, it denotes a state, therefore, in this case it does not and cannot have a producer. (Can anyone ring in their head?) This is impersonal

Impersonal verbs freeze (are used) only in certain, fixed forms.

If they are in then they can be used exclusively:

• in the third person singular;
• in the present or future tense;
• in past tense, neuter form

Example. Soon it will get dark too early. (Ch. is used in the future tense, singular, third person). in autumn it's getting dark early. (Present tense, singular, third person). Today froze. middle genus, units number).

If the verbs are in then they are used in the neuter gender.

Example. Quicker I'd freeze O.

In an indefinite form.

Example. Soon it will start to get dark.

Impersonal verbs are always the main member (predicate) in the meaning of these sentences is determined by the meaning of the impersonal verbs. Some of them record the state of living nature ( How early it gets dark in autumn!). Others are the state of a living being, including humans. ( It's easy to breathe in spring. His heart sank with fear.) Finally, sentences of this kind can have the semantic meaning of obligation or necessity. ( He pronounced the words clearly, as befits a good teacher.).

There are much more personal verbs that can appear in an impersonal form (in our language). The structures of such sentences and their meanings are very diverse. They decorate speech, give it imagery and emotionality.

Example. Sky laid dark clouds.

Verb tenses in Russian are an important morphological category. This is not a permanent sign. It denotes the moment of performing a certain action in relation to the moment of speech. This feature varies depending on the context.

Examples. I I'm drawing, I you I'm drawing. The action takes place in the present moment.

I you drew, that's the only way did not recognize. The action took place in the past.

I I'll draw you as queen. I I'll draw tomorrow morning. The action will take place in the future.

To determine the tense of a verb, just ask a question.

Often we have to describe various natural phenomena, the physical or mental state of living beings around us, and give advice. In such cases, impersonal forms of verbs come to the rescue.

If in a sentence an action occurs without an actor or object, then it uses verbs that are called impersonal. The process occurs on its own without subjects. In such sentences there is no place for a subject, and the verb is a predicate. Why do we need impersonal verbs so much?

Impersonal verbs – emotionality and figurative speech.

As we have already found out, sentences lack a subject. It cannot exist in this case under any circumstances. Consequently, impersonal verbs acquire a basic semantic meaning. They serve as the main member (predicate) in the sentence. Impersonal verbs characterize various uncontrolled states of nature, humans, living beings and spontaneous actions. They give speech emotional coloring, imagery and enrich the Russian language.

Let's look at several groups of such verbs using examples.

The first group is impersonal verbs that describe natural phenomena.

• It's getting dark and blizzard outside. And there was a whiff of winter, it was getting colder.
• How freezing it is. And it doesn't fascinate me at all.
• It would get warmer faster and smell like spring faster.
• It will lighten earlier and darken later.

Please note that impersonal verbs appear in sentences only in certain forms. In the indicative mood they are used in the present and future tenses, in the third person singular. For example, it’s getting dark, it’s stormy, it’s getting cold, it’s freezing, it’s not fascinating, it will get lighter.

In the past tense, impersonal verbs are used in the neuter form. For example, there was a whiff of winter.

In the neuter gender, impersonal verbs are also used in the conditional (subjunctive) mood. For example, if it got warmer, it would smell.

Impersonal verbs are also not uncommon in the infinitive form. For example, getting dark.

The second group is impersonal verbs that help convey the physical or psychological state, feeling of a person or any other living creature.

• Today I don’t think, don’t read, don’t play.
• I can't sit at home either.
• After all, on such a good day,
• It's easy to breathe outside and you want to have fun.
• The cat is not feeling well today.
• She feels feverish and chills.
• And that's why she felt sad.
• Where is Doctor Aibolit, I immediately thought?

From these examples you can see that many impersonal verbs are formed from personal forms in the third person, singular, using the postfix -sya-. These are the following words: read, play, sit, breathe, have fun, feel unwell. Other impersonal verbs are also used in the example: sad, thought, feverish, chilly. They are easy to find in sentences by the absence of a subject.

The third group of impersonal verbs is used when it is necessary to express a desire, the possibility of action, the absence or presence of something.

• Everyone should do exercises in the morning.
• You have to get up early.
• It is recommended to stretch first to get organized.
• Do you want to be healthy?
• The main thing is not to be lazy.
• It is fitting for a person to work every day.
• Suddenly you don’t have enough strength, you don’t have enough time.
• Stop being too lazy to encourage me.
• It is fitting for a person to maintain a daily routine.

It is easy to notice that impersonal verbs of the third group are used in the rhyming lines: should, must, recommended, wants, appropriate, lacks, lacks, is enough.

To consolidate the material, I would also like to add a few examples of sentences with personal and impersonal verbs. I hope this helps to better understand the topic. In the Russian language there are a large number of personal verbs that can appear in an impersonal form.

Example sentences.

The example of these sentences shows the relationship between personal and impersonal verbs in the Russian language. There are usually no difficulties in distinguishing them. The absence of a subject and the inability to insert it is the main feature that helps to immediately identify impersonal verbs in a sentence. In this case, the action occurs by itself, regardless of a specific person (object). I advise you to remember that impersonal verbs are used in a certain form and do not change according to numbers, persons and genders and do not form participles or gerunds.

In conclusion, I would like to wish you learning without cramming. Have fun. The Russian language is rich, beautiful and powerful. The use of impersonal verbs will diversify your speech, give it emotionality, imagery, and artistry.

§ 18. Impersonal verbs

The category of person and the category of impersonality are correlative. They are often found in forms of the same verb. But in addition, the category of impersonality can be the semantic center of a special verbal word. Impersonal verbs do not seem to be insufficient. There are transitional steps to them. There are, for example, personal verbs that are used almost exclusively in the 3rd person form (cf.: the reason lies in the fact that...; something is imagining; "And Tatyana has a wonderful dream"(Pushkin); Wed use of verbs to freeze, to shiver or sway: "The reeds sway quietly"(Pushkin); rest on).

Many impersonal forms that broke off from personal verbs became independent verbs, separate words. For example: vomits, freezes, grabs(i.e. enough); lucky(about happiness, luck); Wed picks up ("Took me to the quick"- Zlatovratsky) - with the obvious extinction of personal forms with this meaning (for example: “I took a wife to live together, and the care took twice as much”(Griboyedov); Wed took away the desire to do something; Wed ek takes it apart, took it apart and so on.).

Many verbs are generally known only in an impersonal form. They do not have homonyms among personal verbs. Wed: "And how did this happen to you"(Chekhov, "The Orator"); “My throat even feels sore”(Sleptsov, "Singing"); "Pryazhkina is getting swell again from fright"(Turgenev, "The Bachelor"); be sick etc. Wed: “Have you seen the touching picture when a young man sits among old women who remember throughout their long-suffering lives how they were shot, stabbed, sickened, pulled, broken and warped?"(Pomyalovsky, "Molotov").

In modern Russian there are several lexical types of impersonal verbs. These types belong to strictly defined semantic categories. These categories include both independent impersonal verbs and impersonal forms of personal verbs. This:

1. Verbs of being, existence, state: "It is and always will be"(Dostoevsky, “Crime and Punishment”); “I was hoping, but it turned out differently.”(Pushkin, “Journey to Arzrum”), etc. From the point of view of the modern Russian language, only an unproductive way of impersonal use of personal verbs is noticeable here. Apparently, there are no special, independent impersonal verbs of this semantic type.

2. Verbs denoting natural phenomena: dawn, evening, cold, dusk, freezing etc. The range of impersonal verbs related here is not wide. But it is possible to figuratively use personal verbs to express homogeneous semantic shades. Wed. in "War and Peace" by L. Tolstoy: “It had been raining since the morning, and it seemed that it was about to pass and clear the sky.”.

3. Verbs meaning natural phenomena, For example: "The sawmill yard is on fire"(Chekhov, “Gentlemen Everyman”), etc. In this semantic sphere, impersonal forms of personal verbs are also common.

4. Verbs associated with the idea of ​​fate, fate: "Well, you're lucky today"(L. Andreev, “Grand Slam”). This is a settled and frozen lexical group.

5. Verbs meaning internal physical sensations and physiological changes in the functions of the body, in its state ( vomits, feels sick, swells, hurts and so on.). Wed: "The breath stole from my throat with joy"(Krylov, "The Crow and the Fox"); "My friend, my ears are blocked"(Griboyedov, "Woe from Wit"); "I just shuddered"(Dostoevsky, "Demons"); relieved my heart.

6. Verbs denoting sensations from external phenomena(sensory perceptions and external phenomena as the object of these perceptions): "he smells like garlic"; “He smelled like ham and coffee grounds.”(Chekhov, "Siren"); “As a child, his mother hurt him, and since then he’s smelled like vodka.”(Gogol, "The Inspector General"). Wed: “Conversations with writers and reading magazines definitely reek of the mustiness of the worst “circle-ism”, harmful isolation in narrow squares of group interests, the desire to break into the “commanding heights” at any cost.(Bitter).

7. Verbs denoting a person’s mental experiences, For example: if you can endure it, you will fall in love: “It will make you sick from such praise.”(Griboyedov, “Woe from Wit”).

8. Verbs denoting the spontaneous direction of action on the subject or the inherent predisposition to action in someone, the ability to, as it were, involuntarily manifest some action, as well as, on the contrary, the absence in someone of volitional impulses, a disposition to some action. For example: “It’s two o’clock in the morning... I can’t sleep... But I should go to sleep so that my hand doesn’t tremble tomorrow.”(Lermontov, "Princess Mary"); "And I believe and cry"(Lermontov); “You don’t believe in tears... But I’m not crying for you: I’m just crying.”(Goncharov, "Frigate Pallada"); “Here, here, but can’t sit at home”(Pushkin, "Rusalka"); "Litvinov took up the book, but he couldn't read it"(Turgenev, "Smoke") “To tell the truth, I had a great time lying on this sofa.”(Turgenev, “Two Friends”); in Dostoevsky's "Demons": “It seems ready for work, the materials have been collected, and now it’s not working. Nothing is being done.”. In these formations, the meaning of impersonality is associated with the addition of the affix -xia.

The meaning of the impersonal form on -xia is extremely clearly reflected in such a peasant speech recorded by A. I. Ertel:

- Here's the thing! - says the worker, returning from the station:

- The mare unharnessed herself five times. Exhausted.

- The buzzes have weakened.

- What a buzz! And I must admit, I met a guy - he doesn’t turn off, and I don’t turn off. Well, we had a fight. Here he is, the dog, and he let him go.

- What did you let in?

- Yes, so that you can unharness yourself.

The impersonal forms of this last category are so productive in modern language that there is a tendency to produce such forms a second time even from verbs in -xia. A. M. Peshkovsky remarked on this matter: “At present, this category is already universal, that is, this form can be formed from each verb ( I read, speak, work, lie down, sneeze etc., etc., up to any, even unusual, but always possible new formation), with the exception of reflexive verbs. This form is not formed at all from reflexive verbs: it is impossible to say: I'm in a hurry today, I'm washing my face, I'm having fun, I'm laughing etc." After all, it would be necessary to add the second to the form of reflexive verbs -xia, which contradicts the phonetic norms of the Russian language, which avoids doubling syllables (cf. mineralogist, but not mineralologist). In addition, in general, the formation and dissemination of impersonal forms in -xia many verbal stems are prevented by the widespread use of corresponding personal homonyms or homoforms (cf. the impossibility of saying: doesn't count for me today; but cf. I think well and so on.). A. M. Peshkovsky’s opinion on the possibility of forming an impersonal form on -xia from any non-reflexive verb is erroneous. Production of impersonal form on -xia limited by strict semantic conditions (about them, see the historical lexicology of the Russian language). But in individual speaking and writing, fruitless attempts are noticeable to produce impersonal forms even from reflexive verbs. So, Nathan Vengrov sang in his “Songs with Pictures for Little Ones” (M., 1935, p. 13).

In addition to personal forms of verbs in modern Russian there are also impersonal verbs , which denote an action that occurs on its own, without any relation to the subject (i.e. to the person). 2. Predicate verbs in an impersonal sentence have the 3rd person singular form or the neuter singular form - in both cases, without indicating the producer of the action: I don't sleeping something. In the morning I was 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 inflectional forms and become frozen in the 3rd person singular or in the past tense): Senom smells ; Wave smashed boat(cf. Hay smells ; Wave broke 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, luck). Works enough (enough). Their personal forms lucky (Horse lucky ), grabs (Fish enough bait) have a completely different meaning.
• 3) Actually impersonal verbs that do not have homonyms among personal verbs: It's getting dark. It's getting light.
• 4) The 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: not sleeping - not sleepingXia ; didn't believe - didn't believesya . 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 verb was - will be(in the meaning of “there was” - “there is”): Works was for two weeks. The present tense of a statement is indicated by a pause in place of the omitted verb: Work - for two weeks, and in case of negation - in an impersonal form No: Not there was time.--No time.

Compound verb predicate: Noticeably it started to get lighter . It was starting to get dark . To me I wanted to sleep .

A compound predicate, which includes adverbs of state category (it is possible, it should, it is necessary, it is necessary, it is necessary, it is impossible, ashamed, afraid, sickening, sorry, time, sad, fun, gratifying, warm, painful, dry, damp, cold, cozy and etc.), copula and often indefinite form of the verb, For example: Was already dark . To you Cold a little bit. To me was it's a pity old man. Necessary rebuild all life. Us it's time to go . It was fun to hear the tinkling of a Russian bell. It was a pity to me part with an old man. It was terrible to stay in the dark. About the trip it was impossible to even think .

Verbs can also express:

• 1. Natural phenomena ( evening, dusk, dawn).
• 2. Physical and mental state of a person ( chills, unwell, feverish, nauseated, (not) hungry).
• 3. The action of some elemental force ( the fields were flooded with water, the roads were covered with snow, a tree was broken by lightning).
• (Such impersonal verbs, as a rule, are combined with nouns in the instrumental case 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 not and cannot be a subject.

For example: It's getting dark outside. I'm not feeling 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, darkness, nausea, tickle, unwell, can’t sleep and etc.
• 2. Personal verbs in impersonal meaning (use). Such verbs can act as a predicate in both a two-part sentence and a one-part impersonal one.

A. B. Letuchy, 2011

Impersonal designs– verbal constructions or constructions with a predicative, in which the sentence does not have a position for the canonical subject. A verb in an impersonal construction appears in one of the following forms:

• 3 l. units present or future tense ( dawn, dawn);
• s.r. past tense ( it was getting light);
• infinitive ( dawn);
• participle ( it was smoky).

In an impersonal construction they can act as verbs that do not have a subject in any use ( impersonal verbs, Wed It's getting light), as well as verbs that have a subject in other uses, for example, kill(He was killed by hooligans - He was killed by lightning), sore(His leg is sore - His leg is sore).

Impersonal verbs– verbs that have only forms:

• 3l. units present or future tense;
• units s.r. past tense;
• infinitive

and can only be used in an impersonal construction. For example, It's getting colder; It's getting light; It's getting dark. Although a pronounced active participant ( agent(see Semantic roles)) is not present in a sentence with an impersonal verb, however, in such a sentence an actant close to it can be expressed with the meaning of natural or similar force.

Thus, the term “impersonality” covers two close, but not identical phenomena:

• a lexical feature of a verb that determines the impossibility of having a subject;
• absence of a subject in a given construction.

In impersonal constructions the word can also appear No: In the forest No mushrooms

Within the scope of this article No in this usage is considered as a negative form of the present tense of the verb be. Therefore, when classifying impersonal constructions, constructions with No are taken into account along with others impersonal negative constructions(see clause 3.5.1), corresponding to personal constructions without negation ( I didn't feel any frost).

In an impersonal construction with adjectives ( It was red in the forest, It was red in the forest) in the present tense the presence of a zero verb form is postulated - the connective. Moreover, the same form can be seen in constructions with predicates ( I feel hot). With this interpretation, all impersonal constructions contain a verb. The same situation occurs in constructions with participles ( How much was walked, How much was walked). However, below we will consider separately impersonal constructions with participles and predicates.

NOTE. In a meaning close to the term “impersonality,” the term “impersonal” is also often used, which is translated as “impersonal.” However, in modern linguistic descriptions it is understood differently. Impersonal(see XXX) are those constructions in which the subject or object, as in impersonal constructions, is not expressed, but is understood as relating to a non-referential object (often multiple): The garden is guarded, The garden is guarded.

0. Introduction

All impersonal constructions are contrasted, on the one hand, with constructions with an expressed subject in the nominative case, and on the other hand, with other types of constructions with an unexpressed subject - indefinite personal and generalized personal.

However, the class of impersonal constructions itself is also heterogeneous both semantically and syntactically. In particular, impersonal constructions differ from each other in the presence/absence of verb actants in the sentence: in sentences like It's getting light there are no actants, but in He was killed by lightning - two actants. However, significant syntactic commonality is found between constructions of this class: there is no canonical subject, and the verb has a semantically unmarked form.

According to Yu.P. Knyazev, the common semantic component of impersonal constructions—at least for the main classes—is the absence of an agent-person (see [Knyazev 2010]). However, this feature is too general and combines with impersonal ones, for example, such constructions as Water flooded the floor, my cup broke etc. However, the semantic core of impersonality can undoubtedly be considered the absence of a canonical subject - a personal, agentive actant.

Perhaps the following feature can also be considered common to all impersonal constructions: they all assume that there is no actant suitable for the role of the subject in the sentence - but not because of the non-agency of the causator, but as a consequence of one of the following reasons:

• the presence of additional semantic components (as in sentences like he was killed by a bullet, where compared to the personal analogue he was killed by a bullet we can talk about a special semantic shift);
• absence of a specific actant as such ( dawn);
• actant uncertainty ( there was a crackling sound ahead);
• irrelevance for the speaker ( I watched a movie yesterday. Did not like).

As with collateral transformations(see Pledge), the communicative properties of actants play a role in the formation and use of impersonal constructions. As with the passive, in impersonal constructions the agentive actant is conceptualized as unknown, non-referential or unimportant for the speaker, and is therefore assigned the communicative rank of “zero”, for more details see Voice.

0.1. Impersonal constructions: typology

The languages ​​of the world differ significantly in the presence, volume and composition of the class of impersonal constructions and the choice of a specific type of impersonal construction (see more details).

Yes, verb vomit, impersonal in Russian, corresponds to the verb in French vomir having a nominative subject. The German language has impersonal constructions michfriert'I'm frozen', michdurstet'I'm thirsty', michhungert'I want to eat'. The Russian language does not have impersonal verbal constructions (or verbs in general) to denote the same situations.

Many languages ​​of the Balkan region (e.g. Macedonian, Bulgarian, Albanian) have impersonal verbs like Bulgarian squabble‘need’, whereas in Russian the same meaning is expressed by a personal verb required or construction with predicates necessary, necessary, necessary.

There are also impersonal verbs and impersonal uses of finite verbs that are unique to certain languages ​​or groups of languages: for example, in the Bulgarian language the verb has an impersonal use writing'write': Write there, what's the situation?‘There (in a newspaper, magazine) they write (lit. writes) that the situation has changed’.

0.2. Question about the boundary of the class of impersonal constructions

Often, all constructions in which there is no subject, or it does not have the categories of gender and number, according to which the verb is standardly agreed with the subject, are considered impersonal. We believe that some of these designs, in particular:

are not impersonal.

0.2.1. Constructions with subordinate clauses and infinitive phrases

Thus, M. Giro-Weber considers constructions with infinitive phrases to be impersonal:

(1) It is harmful for you to talk a lot.

However, the absence of a subject expressed by a noun phrase in the nominative case does not mean the absence of a subject as such. In constructions with infinitive phrases, as well as in constructions with sentential actants like I like that you are not sick of me, we perceive the subject, although it is not expressed by a group in the nominative case. The following facts support this decision:

I. reference to infinitive phrases and subordinate clauses is regularly made using pronouns What is this etc. in the nominative case:

(2) – A What did it say? – That a new management system needs to be created.

(3) - There was nothing new This All It was said last year.

II. the constructions in question in the past tense can be transformed into constructions with a group in the instrumental case, which is not typical for impersonal constructions:

(3) Studying was difficult for him.

NOTE. However, in this case the group in the dative case is no longer possible (* it was difficult for me to study). Thus, the use of this test gives controversial results.

At the same time, subordinate clauses with a conjunction What have some properties that distinguish them from the standard subject: in particular, they can almost never take a position before the verb:

(4) a) And the fact that he was defeated was noticed by everyone. [L. N. Tolstoy. Debate on faith in the Kremlin. (1875-1877)]

b) *And that it was broken was noticed by everyone.

c) And everyone noticed that it was broken.

Constructions where the phrase is composed with What and the full noun phrase:

(5) a) The fact that he arrived and other facts were already known to us.

b) *We already knew that he had arrived and other facts.

Thus, designs with a turnover with What have properties intermediate between personal and impersonal.

On the contrary, infinitive phrases and dependent phrases what in this respect, they are more similar to canonical nominal subjects: they can be placed before the verb without restrictions:

(4) d) That he was broken , was noticed by everyone.

(5)e) Lose he never liked it.

Another, more specific test for the personality/impersonality of constructions with a sentential actant can be constructions with verbs like seem, count and etc.:

(6) I consider it extremely important to discuss the entire problem concerning two states on German soil and the specific steps related to this. [M.S. Gorbachev. How it was. German Reunification (1999)]

(7) It seems remarkable that in Wittgenstein one can also find the beginnings of non-procedural, declarative programming languages. [V.A. Uspensky. Wittgenstein and the Foundations of Mathematics (2002)]

Since there is reason to believe that with these verbs there are always two actants: the object and the quality that is assigned to it ( X seems like Y, I think X is Y), and the verb appearing in this construction always has an actant in the nominative case, these verbs show the personality of most constructions with sentential actants. Wed. prohibition on a similar construction from predicates like enough:

(8) a) One phrase was enough for him to guess who was sitting at the table and secretly boring him with professional stares. [IN. Aksenov. New sweet style (2005)]

b) *He considered one phrase sufficient.

0.2.2. Quantitative and partitive constructions

Type designs three students came obviously cannot be considered impersonal. Although according to one of the main characteristics they coincide with impersonal ones (the verb in them is in the default form of singular 3l. / s.r.), they contain a group in the nominative case - which means that the verb in them agrees in one of the options with quantitative group.

Constructions with quantitative or partitive meaning without a group in the nominative case ( People came running! Well, I drank some vodka then!) are considered impersonal here (see).

1. Morphology

The role of the predicate in impersonal constructions can be performed by a verb or a predicate. However, the status of the predicative depends on whether it is seen in constructions like I'm cold zero link. If it is seen, then the predicate is not the predicate, but the combination of the predicate and the connective. See Predicate for details.

1.1. Morphological properties of impersonal verbs

In Russian there are no specialized verb forms to express impersonality. The impersonal construction uses the neuter singular form (in the past tense) and the third person singular form (in the present and future tense). Gender and person in these forms in this case do not carry a concordant function, but show that the subject is absent in the construction (in general, in the Russian language, the neuter, singular and third person are unmarked in comparison with other meanings of the categories of gender, number and person) . Impersonal verbs belong to a variety of word-formation models. However, among the verbs that denote the state of the environment, substantive and adjectival verbs predominate:

• adjective: warm up, darken, get light…
• non-substantive: freeze, get cold, get dark...

1.2. Restrictions on inflection and word formation characteristic of impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs are syntactically “defective” for the Russian language, since they do not have a subject (it cannot even be restored). At the same time, they also show signs of morphological defects.

Thus, impersonal verbs do not form imperative forms (* Sick! *Shine!).

Homonymous forms quasi-imperative(see imperative) with a conditional or optative meaning are also difficult ( *Shine faster then, we could leave earlier). There are isolated examples with a quasi-imperative in the meaning of ‘an unimportant situation’ and in special constructions like take it and:

(9) As they say, he crowed, and then at least keep the light on. ["Tomorrow" (2003)]

(10) – I just seem to have started to warm up my bones... and here take it and chill, and so abruptly... (www.blog.sbworld.net)

At the same time, personal verbs in impersonal use, in contrast to impersonal ones themselves, are capable of forming an imperative in an optative or conditional meaning:

(11) I stood, stood with them, stood, stood, no one takes, everyone just asks how much, kill their thunderstorm! [N. Nikandrov. Damned lighters (1920-1929)]

(12) Not demolish he accidentally hit a screw, it is still unknown whether it would have fallen on our territory or reached the Germans. (www.litportal.ru)

The formation of gerunds from actual impersonal verbs is difficult ( *light, *nausea), however, gerunds from finite verbs in impersonal use are possible in some cases.

Despite the obvious semantic-syntactic restrictions (the absence of a subject, which should have become the pinnacle of the participial phrase), impersonal verbs in some cases are capable of forming active participles ( evening) and pseudoparticiples in the understanding [Plungyan 2010] /( nausea medicine):

(13) ...mother-of-pearl sunset of the mind on the surface evening eyes. Bits. Back Street (1960-1999)]

However, in such cases we can already talk about a language game - the personal use of impersonal verbs.

Impersonal verbs, due to their semantics and the absence of a subject, do not form verbal names with the meaning of an agent. In this case, verbal names with the meaning of the situation are formed: nausea, dawn.

1.3. Paradigmatic types of impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs are divided into three types according to their relationship to finite verbs:

• actually impersonal– unable to be used with a subject and not formed from a personal verb using the indicator of actant derivation -xia (I'm feeling sick, it's getting light);
• impersonal derivatives, formed from a personal verb using a special indicator: indicator -xia in meaning impersonal passive(see Pledge. XXX) or modal impersonal passive(see Pledge. XXX) ( This is not discussed in the article. it says, I don’t have this day sang );
• impersonal uses of personal verbs, capable of being used in the same meaning personally (with a noun phrase in place of the subject, cf. The wave washed him overboard - He was washed overboard by the wave).

Below we also propose a more detailed classification, which specifies the ways of forming an impersonal lexeme or using a finite verb in an impersonal function.

1.4. The problem of distinguishing between impersonal verbs and impersonal uses

Along with verbs that clearly do not have personal uses or have them only marginally ( vomit), and verbs that clearly have them ( he was washed overboard by a wave), there are a number of intermediate cases, for which it is often unclear which group (impersonal verbs or verbs with impersonal uses) the verb should be classified into.

1. For the impersonal ( it hints at other possibilities) and impersonal-modal ( I can not sleep) uses -xia not obvious, the corresponding uses are forms of lexemes without -xia or independent lexemes (for more details, see Pledge). As a rule (see [Knyazev 2007], [Paducheva 2001]), such reflexive verbs are considered separate impersonal lexemes.

2. For verbs like warm, freeze, It is unclear whether impersonal use should be separated into a separate lexeme:

(14) Freezing only at night, and during the day the temperature was still above zero. [A. Berseneva. Age of Third Love (2005)] (impersonal)

(15) But Alexander Dmitrievich had already found an insidious gap, which freezes the whole house, and if you fix it, everything will work out. ["Brownie" (2002)] (personal)

In personal use of the verb freeze there is a perfect form ( I froze the dumplings). However, the verb to freeze It also has an impersonal use:

(16) Those three dogs that frozen on the ground, looked less impressive. [WITH. Lukyanenko. Night Watch (1998)]

Verb warm up refers to the actually impersonal, since its personal and impersonal uses have different meanings:

• personal – ‘to become warmer, to warm up (about an object)’:

(17) Clay blockhead swiftly warmed up in my palms. [M. Dyachenko, S. Dyachenko. Magicians can do anything (2001)]

• impersonal – ‘getting warmer (about the weather)’:

(18) When it was getting warmer and the first grass appeared, I put some cardboard under my butt, lay down on the fresh grass and dozed off. [B. Minaev. Leva's childhood (2001)]

3. For verbs like sore (my leg hurts / my leg hurts) the status of the impersonal and personal options is also unclear. With these verbs, personal use is the result of rethinking a part of the body as the subject of the situation, and the meaning of the variants is the same. Thus, in properties they are close to the uses of one lexeme. However, their syntactic relationship is similar to the ratio of uses labile verbs(see Transitivity), which are usually separated into separate lexemes.

2. The relationship between personal and impersonal usage

The relationship between personal and impersonal uses of a verb can be different. Firstly, the main one can be either personal or impersonal (in the second case we are talking about an impersonal verb that receives personal use).

Secondly, for different types of impersonal constructions, the conditions for their use and the conditions for using personal constructions with the same verbs differ.

2.1. Actually impersonal verbs

Proper impersonal verbs include:

I. verbs of physiological sensations: vomit,tingle, shiver, decomposition sausage.

II. verbs of general changes associated with weather, nature, environment: dawn / dawn, get cold, get dark, get dark, rain, snow, rejuvenate(about imminent rain), etc.

Even for these verbs there may be examples in which they are used personally:

(19) Our life evening, and Stygian shadows wander among us, and we are still at the very beginning of the book of life - how late we are, first agreeing to live in shit, and now clearing it off ourselves. [IN. Soloviev. Three Jews, or Consolation in Tears. A novel with epigraphs (1975-1998)]

(20) The more dawned day, the more miracles happened in the division. [M. A. Bulgakov. White Guard (1923-1924)]

However, these uses are few. As a rule, the subject of them is the designation of time. They can be considered derivatives of impersonal uses.

2.2. Impersonal uses of personal verbs

Impersonal usages are formed from many personal verbs of various semantic groups:

• destruction: kill, break (The window was broken by the wind);
• moving and changing orientation in space: the ship overturned and was thrown up by the explosion;
• causation of physical sensations: tickle (He was tickled by a branch);
• movement of substance: splash, splash (Water splashed on his nose);
• changing object properties: get dirty.

At the same time, a number of groups are incapable of forming impersonal structures:

• verbs of causation of emotions: *he was surprised by an explosion, *he was frightened by an earthquake;
• verbs with general semantics: do, create (*The hill was created by a hurricane);
• verbs whose subject can only be an animate name: *he was licked by a cat.

In the general case, an impersonal construction with a personal verb corresponds to a synonymous personal construction:

(21) In his nose splashed water. – Water splashed in his nose.

But in some cases the personal model is used less frequently and is less natural:

(22) The explosion hit him against a rock. – ?? The explosion hit him against a rock.

(23) The ship was broken by a storm. – ?? The storm wrecked the ship.

Moreover, the personal model in such cases denotes the impact on the object directly, and the impersonal model can denote an indirect impact: the explosion hit him against a rock= ‘he was thrown back by the explosion, causing him to hit the rock’. Wed:

(24) a) Suddenly, quickly, as if by an explosion, threw to the side... [S. Osipov. Passion according to Thomas (1998)]

b) *The explosion threw him to the side.

(25) a) They asked captain Apolien Lysachenkov about the shattered searchlight on the starboard side. He replied that smashed a force eight storm in the Barents Sea. [“Technology for Youth” (1974)]

b) *A force eight storm destroyed the searchlight.

(26) a) His moved board.

b) *He was moved by the board.

At the same time, we cannot agree with the statement of M. Guiraud-Weber that the personal option is unacceptable if the force acting on the patient is partially or completely controlled by the person. Some examples, for example, The shell damaged his brain when difficult? The shell damaged his brain seems to support this hypothesis. However, in general, the acceptability/unacceptability of a personal model varies for different names in subject position.

Yes, for a noun current the personal model does not occur, but the impersonal one (with the verb hit) frequency – 34 occurrences. On the contrary, for a noun explosion combined with a verb destroy There are both personal and impersonal models, and both models can denote both a controlled and an uncontrollable situation. The same is true for a noun bullet: the flight of a bullet is always set by a person, however, along with an impersonal design like his arm was torn off by a bullet, personal type is also acceptable the bullet crushed his skull:

(27) The only thing that was obvious: Miloradovich wounded by a bullet from an officer's pistol, not from a soldier's rifle. ["Domestic Notes" (2003)]

(28) Mortar platoon commander Savostin killed by a bullet, Zapryagailo was ill then, and the company commander, Lieutenant Tretyak, went to choose an OP and has not yet returned to the company. [IN. N. Gelfand. Diaries 1944-1946 (1944-1946)]

3. Semantic-syntactic types of impersonal verbs

Impersonal verbs can be divided into several types. These types reflect both the semantics of verbs and their relationship with the personal uses of those verbs that have them.

The types of impersonal verbs are divided into two main classes. In some ( I can’t work, I’m ashamed to talk about it, I’m tired of sitting here, my leg hurts,my ear itches) one of the additions is an animate group with the role of an experiencer or with properties similar to the properties of an experiencer (cf. external possessor for types sore (see 3.2.) and itches (cm. )).

In other classes, the complement rather has the semantic role of patient.

M. Guiraud-Weber distinguishes classes of impersonal verbs, focusing on two parameters: actant marking and verb semantics. However, this approach has disadvantages: in particular, the actant can be marked with the dative case in a wide variety of impersonal constructions ( I'm warm, I'm not working), which reveal only partial semantic commonality. The semantics of a verb does not fully predict the possibility or impossibility of a certain type of construction.

Here impersonal verbs are classified according to the following parameters:

1. systemic: relationship with personal diathesis (does the verb have a personal diathesis, how does the marking of actants correlate in the personal and impersonal models);
2. referential: what are the referential properties of the missing subject (is it referential, definite, etc., is it capable of being expressed in a sentence);
3. semantic: what is the semantics of verbs, what classes do they belong to;
4. syntactic: by what means the participants in the situation are expressed and by what cases they are formalized.

The key parameter, the basis of the classification, is how the impersonal use relates to the personal and (if the unit has both impersonal and personal uses) how the impersonal use is derived from the personal. Based on this criterion, the following types of units are distinguished:

3.1. Actually impersonal verbs

3.1.1. Type “it is dawning” (verbs are intransitive, have no actants)

This type includes designations of general changes in the state of nature. Many verbs of this semantic class are only impersonal and do not have personal uses or have them marginally:

(29) Alyosha was brought to the training ground when it was already it was getting dark. ["October" (2001)]

Unlike other classes of impersonal verbs, this class is closed:

(30) a) It’s getting dark.

b) *Quiets.

NOTE. Among the verbs with the semantics of changing the state of nature, there are also those that have personal uses - transitive (verb freeze) and intransitive (verb warm up). Such verbs can be divided into separate types.

In type freezes the missing subject is interpreted as an “element” in terms of [Melchuk 1995] – a natural force that transforms the properties of the surrounding world ( freezes= ‘some element makes the surrounding world colder’). In type it's getting warmer the subject to be interpreted in this way is impossible or such an interpretation is unnatural ( it's getting warmer≠ ‘the world around us and its parts are becoming warmer’) and is not recognized by native speakers.

However, we consider these kinds of verbs to be actually impersonal. This is due to the fact that there is a significant difference in semantics between personal and impersonal usage in such cases ( freeze(personal) – ‘to make it colder, to make one freeze, freeze(impersonal) – ‘to become cold for someone’ (about the weather).

In intransitive impersonal verbs like dawn and type it's getting warmer, as a rule, there is a correlative predicate:

(31) warm up – warmth;

dawn - light;

cold - cold.

However, this is not necessary: ​​cf. impersonal verb evening, which does not have a correlative predicate.

Since there are usually correlative predicates, impersonal verbs can be interpreted as semantically derived from predicates ( it's light outside(‘it becomes light’)). However, experiencer, expressed with predicatives, is not expressed with impersonal verbs ( I'm cold – *I'm feeling cold).

3.1.2. The "enough" type

In this type, one of the actants (theme) can only be expressed as a group in the genitive case in the partitive meaning. The other actant (experiencer) is marked with the dative case ( I'm missing) or group with a preposition y + gen.p. (I don't have enough).

This type includes verbs with the meaning of presence/absence - (Not) grab, (not) get(the predicative is also attached here enough:

(32) Then he made some comments to Martha, something like that for real cooking of meat she haslacksdishes... [YU. O. Dombrovsky. The monkey comes for his skull. (1943-1958)]

3.2. Verbs allowing personal and impersonal diathesis with a change in actant marking: the “sore” type

This type includes verbs with the meaning of a person’s physical states, appearing in an impersonal construction with a direct object (expressing the participant-patient):

(33) Red skin it was sore, the swimsuit left white marks. ["Brownie" (2002)]

(34) Me felt sick.

Moreover, these verbs, unlike impersonal verbs themselves, also allow a personal model of use, the underlying of which corresponds to the direct object of the impersonal one:

(35) And he carried everything into the house, because he was tired of standing and wanted to sit down, because the hernia hurt, his finger sore and bled... [A. Eppel. Sitting in the Dark on Viennese Chairs (1993)]

(36) An hour later I'm desperate vomited right there in the park on Universitetsky, staggering and frightening walking grandmothers with children. [A. Makarevich. The Sheep Himself (2000-2001)] (= "I was vomiting")

Some personal uses ( sore, storm) are synonymous with impersonal, part ( vomit) deviate from impersonal in meaning.

NOTE. To type sore adjacent verb storm, which differs in semantics from other verbs of this type, but has a basic syntactic property in common with them: namely, it can be used as personal or impersonal, while the name of the reservoir is, respectively, a subject in the nominative case or an object in the accusative:

(37) Sea it was stormy and heavy sand washed up in a muddy large surf. [WITH. Jurassic. At the dachas (1974-1983)]

(38) Ocean it was stormy, rescuers set up a red flag and, with a shrill whistle, drove out of the water those who, in their opinion, did not value their lives. (http://voloshina-irina.livejournal.com)

Moreover, in most cases the verb storm is used without any expressed actants at all - thus, it is impossible to distinguish between impersonal and personal use.

3.3. Verbs and constructions in which impersonality is the result of derivation that removes or lowers the subject

This section discusses cases when the participant expressed by the subject of the personal use of the verb, in the impersonal one, either becomes an addition or is removed altogether and cannot be expressed. This type differs from the constructions discussed in paragraph 3.2 (see), in that personal and impersonal constructions are contrasted not only in the marking of one actant, but also in meaning.

3.3.1. "Blowing" type

This type includes transitive or intransitive verbs that have an initial diathesis with an expressed subject with the meaning of a natural element: for example, an intransitive verb blow(The wind blows) with derivative impersonal use ( It's blowing from the window): Wed. also transitive verb sweep(A blizzard sweeps Moscow - Moscow is swept), as well as verbs break through,inflate and etc.

Verbs like blowing denote natural processes, usually more specific than dawn:

(39) It was cold at home, muzzle from an unsealed window... [G. Shcherbakova. The Year of Alena (1996)]

(40) And so they didn’t keep track, the subsoil waters were unfrozen, the pipes burst. [A. Arkhangelsk. Epistle to Timothy (2006)]

Unlike type dawn (see paragraph 3.1.1), all verbs of this type have personal uses.

Unlike type washed overboard (see paragraph 3.3.2), for most verbs the expression of force in the instrumental case is either unacceptable or marginal:

(41) *The pipes burst with water.

(42) It was cold on the stage, both from the lifting and rearranging of the scenery, from the curtain and from the auditorium the wind was blowing. [IN. P. Kataev. The Kranz Experience (1919)]

In addition, for structures of this type it is not always clear exactly what force is implied.

3.3.2. Type “washed overboard by a wave”

This type includes verbs with the meaning of moving, physical impact or changing the configuration of an object ( wash away, kill, break, crush, throw away, throw off, push and etc.). As a rule, in personal use the object is a direct object; in impersonal use it retains accusative marking:

(43) There was one cast iron cannon, she was torn apart, the gunner was killed- barely managed to blurt out once. [A. S. Pushkin. Notebooks (1815-1836)]

Almost always, impersonal uses of this kind are transitive (they have an addition in the accusative case). Intransitive verbs in this type appear only if the construction expresses or implies an external possessor in the dative case:

(44) There was a breath of heat, something splashed (him) in the face, and burning gasoline rushed from above along the inclined pillar like a red beast into the cabin. [A. Anfinogenov. And Below Was the Earth (1982)]

(45) Fine water dust it splashed in his face, and the rain never stopped. [P. Proskurin. In old willows (1983)]

(46) The cart where Bessonov was lying jerked, fell, and Alexey Alekseevich rolled under the highway into a ditch, - hit him in the back a heavy bag, covered with straw. [A. N. Tolstoy. Walking Through Torment (1922)]

Elemental participant in an impersonal type construction washed away by the wave, as a rule, is expressed in the instrumental case. Wed, however, an isolated example where it is expressed by a group with the preposition from:

(47) There Yorka was wounded by a hand grenade, again in the hospital and again typhus - this infection spread to everyone. [A. I. Solzhenitsyn. On the edges (1994-1995)]

According to [Mustajoki, Kopotev 2003], this type features a special impersonal construction with the meaning of spontaneity. However, in reality, verbs that deviate from the prototype of a spontaneous completed situation are also close to this type: for example, pull, drag, carry(somewhere):

(48) Him pulled there again - to her fearless insight. [L. K. Chukovskaya. In memory of Tamara Grigorievna Gabbe (1944-1960)]

(49) This was not “great” literature, to which attracted Hoffmann. [IN. F. Khodasevich. Victor Viktorovich Hoffman (1917)]

As well as “standard” verbs appearing in spontaneous construction ( kill, injure), attract And to pull have synonymous personal uses (cf. An unknown force pulled him to the village). The difference is that their impersonal use practically does not allow the expression of force in the instrumental case: examples like ? By an unknown force he was drawn to the village not in the Corps. Probably these verbs should be classified as clause 3.3.1, rather than to .

3.3.3. "It was said" type

As a rule, passive forms in Russian are used personally, that is, the construction has a subject ( In 2003 was created special commission). However, there is a special class impersonal liabilities(see Voice) (see [Knyazev 2011]), which are formed from verbs of speech and some other groups of verbs:

(50) Maybe this is the best thing<…> it was said about the original power of beauty. [WITH. G. Bocharov. Literary theory of Konstantin Leontiev (2000)]

3.3.4. Types of “not working” and “sad”

This type includes reflexive verbs in which the postfix -xia used in the meaning impersonal(see Returnability.ХХХ) ( He was told about this) or impersonal modal passive(see Returnability.ХХХ) ( He can't sleep). In this case, the reflexive verb has no personal use ( *I say, *I fall asleep):

(51) It’s pleasant to be in it, but it’s even more pleasant that the exhibition confirms the banal truth - the artist is free working easier than within the outlined framework. ["Izvestia" (2002)]

(52) After that, casually hinted for locator failure and for other measurements. [D. Granin. The Searchers (1954)]

(53) I was pleased, but also got sad- Spivakov is already associated with a different time. [WITH. Spivakova. Not everything (2002)]

Impersonal passive and modal-passive constructions are derived from the personal construction with a non-reflexive verb ( They hinted to him - They hinted to him; He doesn't sleep - he can't sleep). The subject of the original personal construction is expressed in the impersonal passive construction by the instrumental case ( All they said - everyone it was said), and in the modal-passive - in the dative case ( He works well – to him works well).

If an impersonal verb is used with a pronoun itself, then it may have a fictitious subject it:

(54) I don’t want you to think about this now... - It itself I think“, - Andrey said, sighing. - If you stay, what will happen to you here? [M. Bubennov. White Birch (1942-1952)]

For more details, see the article. Returnability.

3.4. Verbs and constructions in which impersonality results from the fact that an unimportant or unknown actant is not expressed

This section examines the least typical impersonal constructions. If in most types impersonal constructions are impersonal in the proper sense of the word, that is, within the construction there is no place for the subject and it is pointless to talk about the referent of the subject, then in these types the subject is implied, while it is specifically referent and is not expressed to a large extent for pragmatic reasons , due to its low communicative status.

3.4.1. Type “tired” (subject is referential, implied, but not expressed)

In type tired of it Verbs that usually have a subject (usually in the perfect form) become impersonal: get bored, drag on, like. Even in impersonal use the subject is implied:

(55) I recently watched “Corpse Bride” in the cinema / well... this dude invited me. And me liked. [Movie discussion (2006)] (= liked the film)

(56) I don’t want to rush to work in the morning. - How do I liked/ a convinced provincial. [Conversation by A. Mitrofanov with listeners of the radio station “Echo of Moscow” (2003-2004)] (= liked what was just said)

However, these verbs are impersonal, since the verb does not agree in gender with the noun phrase to which it belongs in meaning. A verb is used impersonally if the subject is unimportant to the speaker or is obvious from the previous context.

The class is limited lexically, mainly by the following classes:

(57) Maternity hospital near the Andronikov Monastery. Strongly melted. They took us back in a taxi - polluted Volgogradsky Avenue. [IN. Krupin. Selected passages from diaries of the 70s (2004)]

(58) He poured kerosene into the lamp / lit a match / dropped / and blazed. [P. Lungin, D. Sobolev. Island, film (2006)]

Verbs like melts occupy intermediate use between verbs like tired of it and verbs type dawn (cm. ). As with verbs like tired their empty subject position may correspond to a specific referent participant ( melted≈ the snow was melting- at the same time, in contrast to like it, the interpretation of the subject missing from the construction is limited: this impersonal construction cannot mean ‘the ice cream melted’). However, a verb like melt in this usage can be understood as a designation of the general state of nature ( melted a lot≈ ‘the snow was melting everywhere’), which brings this type closer to the type dawn.

Intransitive verbs of this group, denoting emotions, also have a slightly different impersonal use (local), in which the expression of an actant with the meaning of place is required:

(59) It’s obvious to him liked in the basement, but he didn’t say “interesting”, that’s all. [IN. Smekhov. Theater of My Memory (2001)]

(60) In her letters she complains that she is bored, that she tired of it in Paris and now in London. [IN. Katanyan. Lilya Brik. Life (1999)]

However, transitive verbs ( amuse, arrange) do not have such use ( She’s happy with everything in Paris – *She’s happy with everything in Paris).

3.4.2. Type “itches” (subject is non-referential and not expressed)

In type itches verbs (as a rule, with the meaning of physiological processes and processes occurring in mechanisms and objects) have a personal model and an impersonal one, in which the subject of personal use corresponds to a locative group ( The engine is knocking -The engine is knocking; Aching in the stomach – Aching in the stomach). Wed:

(61) Why are you grinning like a fool? In the nose itches? [YU. Bondarev. Hot Snow (1969)]

3.4.3. "Crackled" type

Verbs of sound, color and visually perceived situations belong to this type. Their impersonal use means that the source of the sound and/or a specific visible object is unknown to the speaker (like the source of the sounds 'champ' and 'crackle' or is not significant, like the participant wind in the following examples:

(62) The little dog crouched down in horror and shied away when there was a slurped, crackled- and, dispersing the thick strands of fog with its bristly back, a huge old boar rose from a resting place by the side of the road that was little traveled at that time. [M. Semenov. Wolfhound: Sign of the Way (2003)]

(63) Yesterday it was a windy day in the forest whistled along the bare twigs of the trees and you could often hear people talking somewhere behind the bushes, and on the horizon the barking of dogs, and many other things seemed to you. [M. M. Prishvin. Diaries (1924)]

In some cases, impersonal uses of verbs of this type refer to a specific referent object (for example, in the example below, to a pager):

(64) He also has this pager, damn it... beeped- and flew away. [A. Hair. Real Estate (2000)]

According to, “the Russian language avoids deictic words as the subject in utterances where we are talking about an event or situation named in a previous context or clear to the participants in the speech situation.” The work of D. Weiss also documents the special tendency of the Russian language towards zero expression of actants. However, within the framework of impersonal constructions, this tendency is not typical for all groups of verbs: first of all, for sound verbs, in which the subject may be unknown or previously mentioned, as well as for verbs of emotions and natural processes (see. type tired of it (see 3.4.1.)).

3.5. Verbs and constructions in which impersonality is the result of the influence of operators not directly related to the valence structure

3.5.1. “Can’t feel it” type

Verbs that primarily denote existence and perception (cf. [Paducheva 1985], [Borshchev, Parti 2002], etc.), when negated, allow the replacement of the nominative case of the subject with the genitive and at the same time pass from personal to impersonal use (see. Negation(see Negation. Genitive Subject)):

(65) And there were a fair number of us, old writers, so there was no shortage of material, which was not bad at all. didn't feel. [Z. N. Gippius. Pensive Wanderer (about Rozanov) (1923)]

If there is a modifier with the original subject no one The genitive case can take the subject not only with verbs of existence and perception, but also with other verbs. (see [Paducheva 2007]).

3.5.2. The “people came running!” type (genitive case in quantitative use)

In addition to negation, the impersonality of the construction can be associated with the use of a zero quantifier with the meaning ‘many’: in contrast to the personal construction People came / People came, impersonal design People have arrived! People came running! expresses the meaning of a large quantity and is used mainly in exclamations.

3.6. Impersonal constructions with predicates: the type “ashamed”

In type ashamed The impersonal predicate is not a verb, but predicative: ashamed, sad, warm, cold, dark, light, cramped, visible... Wed:

(66) I'm very ashamed.

Constructions with predicates like It's clear (It's clear, good bad etc.) However, unlike constructions with predicates like ashamed, they allow word insertion this is all in the subject position, and therefore can be interpreted as personal, and not as impersonal:

(67) a) - Clear. - To me this is all It's clear.

(68) b) - Thank you for calling, I’m pleased. To me this is all Nice.

c) I'm ashamed. - *To me this is all ashamed.

Models with a subject, an expressed subordinate clause with What(see above about personality/impersonality of constructions with sentential actants(see clause 0.2.1.)):

(69) I'm scared that someone will come. – *I'm scared of this(with acceptable This is scary).

(70) I was sad that he was leaving. – *It makes me sad (It’s sad).

(71) We had a good time together. – *It was good for us.

3.7. Impersonal constructions with participles: the “stained” type

From vaguely personal constructions(see Indefinite-personal sentences) with finite verbs like got dirty / trampled on the stairs constructions with participles like the stairs are dirty / trampled. We consider them impersonal because, although they are semantically equivalent to indefinite-personal, they do not use the plural form, as in indefinite-personal, but the neuter singular form, characteristic of impersonal constructions.

4. Subject properties of the actants of an impersonal verb

Often in grammatical studies it is argued that with an impersonal verb, the “semantic subject” or “semantic subject” is one of the complements - usually the animate object in the accusative ( me be sick) or dative case ( to me Cold), or with a preposition y ( I have ringing in ears). In fact, different types of complements in different types of impersonal constructions exhibit subject properties to varying degrees.

Main subject properties(see Subject) relevant for Russian impersonal constructions are ability of the noun phrase to control reflexive pronouns(see) (actually returnable myself and possessive reflexive mine: I sold my car), and participial phrases(cm. ) ( Arriving in the city, he began to look for a museum).

4.1. Ability to control reflexive pronouns

It is believed that reflexive pronouns (actually reflexive myself and possessive reflexive mine) in Russian usually controls the subject:

(72) He brought me to his car(= ‘to his car’, but not *‘to my car’).

In different types of impersonal constructions, objects are able to control reflexive pronouns to varying degrees.

4.1.1. Types “can’t be felt”, “washed overboard”, “tired”, “crackled”: there are no subject properties

In constructions with the genitive case of the subject when negated ( type can't be felt (see )) control of a reflexive pronoun by a genitive object is impossible. In any case, examples of this kind are not found in the Corpus:

(73) ??? Nobody not left in their houses.

For verbs like washed overboard (see) it is natural to check for the presence of subject properties the participant-pacen expressed by the direct object ( his killed). Control of the reflexive pronoun by such an addition is impossible for most verbs of this type, at least in the Corpus of examples of the type ??? His killed by lightning in his yard does not occur.

However, in the subtype to pull (see) the group in the accusative case exhibits subject properties:

(74) Her, obviously drawn to to his tribe. [IN. A. Obruchev. Plutonium (1924)]

In designs like tired of it (see) dative group with the meaning of experiencer ( to me tired of it) cannot control the reflexive pronoun:

(75) *Watched the film. I don't liked because of their features of perception.

However, when used with a locative group like didn't like it in Moscow(cm. clause 3.4.1) control of the reflexive pronoun is possible:

(76) I'm looking for a good sponsor and a good company with a generous marketing plan. To me tired of it V his company, the check is small. (http://otvet.mail.ru)

In this case, the group in the dative case acquires subject properties, since the original subject (stimulus) is not only not in the construction, but it is also not indicated in the context.

4.1.2. Types “sore”, “itches”: the underlying properties are difficult to verify

For types sore (mass media itches (see) “semantic subject” can be considered a noun phrase with the meaning of an external possessor ( I have itchy nose). However, since these types of impersonal constructions, as a rule, denote processes occurring in the human body, contexts with reflexive pronouns mine And myself, which would make it possible to check the presence of formal subject properties in such a noun phrase, are not found in the Corpus:

(77) ??? My skin felt raw.

(78) My nose itched.

4.1.3. Types “doesn’t work”, “ashamed”, “enough”: there are subject properties

In type design enough (see) addition with possessor value ( to me / I have enough) can control the reflexive pronoun:

(79) When in people lacks their money - they borrow from neighbors. [IN. M. Doroshevich. Tales and Legends (1893-1916)]

Among impersonal constructions with reflexive verbs(see) control of the reflexive pronoun by the dative object is observed with the verb want:

(80) Olga Leonardovna really wanted to " mine a piece of paradise” - that’s what she called it. [WITH. Pilyavskaya. Sad Book (2000)]

Other verbs of this type hardly allow reflexive pronouns (no such examples were found in the Corpus):

(81) ? I don't is written O their friends / about to myself.

Restrictions on the formation of reflexive constructions for this type are associated not with the subject properties, but with the communicative and semantic properties of the construction itself. As a rule, impersonal uses of the reflexive postfix (with the exception of a few of the most frequent verbs, for example, want) tend to be used without prepositional phrases that attach the original irreflexive verbs.

In designs like ashamed (see): the dative object reveals the subject properties:

(82) To him became ashamed behind their heart palpitations due to cold sweat, because, here, I was ready to whine, to scream. [IN. Grossman. Everything flows (1955-1963)]

(83) Us Fine with their friends.

Thus, although formally (morphologically, according to the marking of the verb and its arguments) all types of impersonal constructions are identical, the syntactic properties of their arguments are different. In particular, the semantic role of the argument turns out to be significant. Complements of impersonal verbs with the role of experiencer (types ashamed (cm. ), pulls (cm. ), be sick (cm. ), tired of it (see paragraph 3.4.1), verb want), as a rule, demonstrate the ability to control reflexive pronouns.

The identified types are unequal: some of them are very productive and are the result of the influence of regular grammatical mechanisms on finite verbs, while others are represented by single lexemes.

4.2. Ability to control participles

An object in the accusative or dative case is not able to control gerunds (see also the article Participle):

(84) *Leaning over to look at the sea, his washed away overboard.

(85) *Having passed two kilometers in the car, his already be sick.

The exception is the verb want. Selected examples for the verb want with control of gerunds are found in the Corpus, although they are not normative:

(86) “It’s like a drug: after trying it once, you want more and more![M. Milovanov. Natural Selection (2000)]

There are no similar examples for other impersonal reflexive verbs in the Corpus:

(87) *Having rested, he writes well.

At the same time, there are examples in the Corpus in which the gerund refers to the absent subject of impersonal use ( hook on):

(88) For some reason Prov rushed out of his place behind me, but it was me, not him, who was wounded. It hurt insignificantly: hooked side, having broken edge. I didn’t feel any pain, but blood flowed profusely... [B. Vasiliev. Gambler and buster, gambler and duelist (1998)]

(89) Somewhere in the west there was a rumble, foreshadowing a thunderstorm. But perhaps this was a signal: continue![A. Azolsky. Lopushok (1998)]

These examples confirm that in a number of uses of impersonal verbs the subject-force is not expressed, but the semantic structure of the sentence is implied and looks something like ‘something / some force thundered, foreshadowing a thunderstorm’. No similar examples with impersonal verbs are found (* Soon it dawned, illuminating the yard).

Other tests for the subject status of an unexpressed participant - a natural force - are impossible (for example, it cannot control reflexive pronouns for semantic reasons).

5. Motivation and interpretation of the empty subject position with impersonal verbs

Impersonal constructions (as opposed to vaguely personal types He was killed, see [Melchuk 1995]) allow different interpretations of the empty subject position, and their impersonality is motivated by different reasons.

The communicative function of impersonal constructions also varies. In paragraphs 2–3, their function is similar to the quasi-passive, where the original subject lowers its communicative rank and cannot be expressed. In paragraphs 4–5, the function of impersonal constructions is close to passive(see Voice) (the subject is also reduced in status, but can be expressed). They have a similar function in point 1.

In paragraphs 6–7, on the contrary, impersonal constructions do not have a specific communicative function, but are motivated semantically - by the fact that they denote situations that, due to their semantic features, can or should be conveyed by a construction without a subject, since a standard subject (the most active or the most they don’t have a thematic participant.

6. Statistics

6.1. Frequency of impersonal and personal constructions in the corpus with homonymy removed

Table 1 provides data on the frequency of a number of impersonal constructions (according to the Corpus with homonymy removed).

Table 1. Frequency of impersonal constructions in the Corpus with homonymy removed

Table 1 shows that, in general, each of the designs is relatively rare in the Corps, while personal designs that fit the same request are often found (for example, X hasZ).

6.2. Correlative frequency of some verbs in personal and impersonal uses

Table 2 provides corpus data on the impersonal use (in past tense, average unit) of some frequency verbs in relation to the total number of their uses. Data from different periods from the beginning of the 19th century are compared. until the end of the 20th century.

Table 2. Relative frequency of some verbs in impersonal and personal constructions

	1801 - 1850	1851 – 1900	1901 – 1950	1951 – 2000
killed	2	6	73	81
kill	1916	6524	10892	11265
wounded	3	0	36	91
injure	495	681	1885	2170
thrown away	0	3	15	41
discard	5	1	24	65
tore apart	7	12	35	27
break	210	639	1477	1328
destroyed	0	0	2	0
destroy	291	613	1741	1947
broke	1	2	4	6
break	98	443	1176	1964

To count impersonal constructions, the query “vin.p.” was used. + verb in past tense, neuter gender, singular.”

Due to the fact that the class of impersonal verbs is not clearly distinguished from all others and is not marked in the Corpus in a special way, the calculation was carried out in the following way: the ratio of the number of constructions “vin.p. / dat.p. / y + gender after a comma, exclamation or question mark + causative verb (according to the semantic mark in the Corpus) in the past tense, neuter gender, singular” to the number of all constructions with a verb in the same form.

From Table 2 it follows that over time there is no significant increase in the share of impersonal uses of personal verbs, with the exception of the period 1901–1950: during this period the share of impersonal uses of verbs increases significantly kill And injure.

6.3. Frequency of impersonal constructions in the Corpus with unsolved homonymy

Table 3. Frequency of impersonal constructions in the corpus with unsolved homonymy

Due to the imperfection of the search, these numbers do not directly show the number of impersonal verbs. It is clear, however, that the proportion of impersonal constructions in which one of the actants (usually an animate external possessor) appears in the dative case is growing over time. This, apparently, also means a general increase in impersonal constructions (but not impersonal verbs), since the external possessor in the dative case, as a rule, appears in constructions like . Vienna: Wiener Slawistischer Almanach. 1995. />