Russian verb conjugation… If you’re a beginner, you must be looking for your first conjugation tables to finally see what those proficient Russian learners have been intimidating you with. Or maybe you’re an intermediate learner who’s already mastered basic Russian conjugation rules and are now looking for more of a challenge. Maybe you’re an advanced learner who wouldn’t mind going over the basics again or learning new verb conjugation nuances you’ve never heard of? In any case, I’m happy to reveal some secrets to you that will help you tame the Russian verbs.
It’s not a secret that Russian grammar (and verb conjugation, in particular) are demanding. It’s a long and complicated adventure, but I’m happy to guide you through the dark forests of Russian verb conjugation tables and hold your hand while hiking up the peak of language mastery.
What are we going to see on our way? I’ll tell you what conjugation is, what factors affect verb conjugation in Russian (tense, mood, aspect, etc.), show you some conjugation tables, and give you a handful of useful tools so that you can continue the journey alone.
Ready for a big adventure?
Table of Contents
- What is Conjugation?
- Conjugation Examples
- Irregular Verbs
- Test Your Knowledge!
- A Bonus from RussianPod101
1. What is Conjugation?
So what is conjugation? It sounds like a complicated linguistic term, but we face this phenomenon daily.
Conjugation means changing the basic form of a verb. The basic form of the verb—the infinitive—is what you see in the dictionary. In many conjugation tables, you can find so-called “verb derivatives”: participles, verbal adverbs, etc. They are, indeed, derived from verbs, but behave differently. They either decline like adjectives or don’t change their form at all. So in this article, we will mainly focus on verbs.
To conjugate a verb in Russian, you need to keep several features in mind:
- Person
- Number
- Tense
- Conjugation group
- Aspect
- Mood
- Gender
As you can see, Russian verb conjugation differs significantly from the verb conjugation in English. I’m pretty sure you’re already familiar with some of these features, but we will brush up on all of them!
1- Person and Number
| 1st person singular | я (ya) | “I” |
| 2nd person singular | ты (ty) | “you” (casual) |
| 3rd person singular | он, она, оно (on, ona, ono) | “he” / “she” / “it” |
| 1st person plural | мы (my) | “we” |
| 2nd person plural | вы (vy) | “you” (plural), “you” (formal) |
| “you” (plural), “you” (formal) | они (oni) | “they” |
Russian verbs conjugate differently with each person.
For example:
- Я рисую (Ya risuyu) — “I draw.”
- Мы рисуем (My risuyem) — “We draw.”
You can find the Russian conjugation table with the endings for each person a bit later in this article. Also, don’t hesitate to revisit the most common Russian pronouns!
2- Tense
As complicated as Russian conjugation and grammar seem overall, here’s a big relief. There are only three tenses in Russian: present, past, and future. Not difficult to guess what each of them represents!
The Present Tense
Have a look at this example:
- покупать (pokupat’) — “to buy”
- я покупаю (ya pokupayu) — “I buy”
- мы покупаем (my pokupayem) — “we buy”
Did you notice what happened? We’ve changed the ending of the verb. And I’d be happy to tell you that this is just what you need to do—remove the last letters of the infinitive, and you’re golden. But, unfortunately, it’s not that easy. So grab a cup of tea and some cookies, and get comfy.
There are two sets of endings for Russian verbs, and therefore, two conjugation groups. We didn’t come up with insanely complicated names for them; we just called them “Group 1” and “Group 2.” Quite often, you can predict which group a verb belongs to by looking at the ending of the infinitive.
Russian verbs: first and second conjugation groups
| Group 1 | Group 2 |
| Endings -еть, -ать, -ять, -уть, -ти (-yet’, -at’, -yat’, -ut’, -ti) For example: Богатеть (bogatet’) — “to get richer” Играть (igrat’) — “to play” Гулять (gulyat’) — “to stroll” Гнуть (gnut’) — “to bend” Ползти (polzti) — “to crawl” | Most verbs ending with -ить (-it’) For example: Говорить (govorit’) — “to speak” Учить (uchit’) — “to learn” / “to teach” + 11 exceptions, verbs that seemingly belong to Group 1:
|
- PRO TIPS:
1. You can easily identify the group by keeping in mind that eleven exceptions, and most verbs ending with -ить, belong to Group 2. The rest belong to Group 1.
2. Many infinitives end with -ть, but sometimes -ться can pop up. It’s a typical ending for reflexive verbs like одеваться (odevat’sya), meaning “to dress.”
“So, now I know about the conjugation groups. Can I finally see the endings?”
I hope you still have some cookies left! Even though you can try to guess the Russian verb conjugation type by the infinitive endings (with a pretty high success rate!), the endings for the present tense are added onto the present tense verb stem. You can find the stem by cutting off the ending of its third person plural form (“they”).
Confusing? Read it once again, your eyes are not deceiving you: to find the stem, you need a verb that is already conjugated. This is the only sure way to get the rest of your conjugations right. Does it seem like a lot of unnecessary steps? Spoiler: This stem will be used for other conjugations, such as the future and imperative forms.
- Here’s a tool that will help you tackle verb conjugations and support you until you feel confident conjugating them yourself: Context Conjugator.
- What part of the verb do I add the endings to?
- The present tense stem: Remove the last two letters in third person plural + add new endings
“To play”: играть (infinitive) > играют (third plural) > игра– (stem)
- The infinitive: Remove the last two letters from the infinitive (usually -ть or -ти)
“To learn”: учить (infinitive, Group 2) > учи– (stem)
Again, finding the stem from the third plural form is more reliable.
Now, let’s have a look at the endings that we use for each conjugation group.
| Group 1 играть (igrat’) — “to play” я играю* (ya igrayu) — “I play” ты играешь (ty igrayesh’) — “you play” (inf.) он играет (on igrayet) — “he plays” мы играем (my igrayem) — “we play” вы играете (vy igrayete) — “you play” (f./pl.) они играют* (oni igrayut) — “they play” | Group 2 учить (uchit’) — “to learn”, “to teach” я учу* (ya uchu) — “I learn” ты учишь (ty uchish’) — “you learn” она учит (ona uchit) — “she learns” мы учим (my uchim) — “we learn” вы учите (vy uchite) — “you learn” они учат* (oni uchat) — “they learn” |
| * Use the endings -ю, -ют after vowels or the soft sign (e.g.: я думаю, они читают). Use -у, -ут after consonants (e.g. я расту). | * Use the endings -у and -ат after the letters Ж, Ш, Ч, Щ, and all hard consonants. Use -ю and -ят after soft consonants and vowels. |
As you can see, the Russian verb conjugation endings are pretty similar. The biggest difference is that -е changes into -и, and -у/ю is replaced with -а/я.
- Impatient to see all possible conjugations without getting into the details or the logic behind it? You can jump right to the Russian verb conjugation chart!
Also feel free to check this grammar section on RussianPod101.com about the conjugation of verb groups (logged-in users only).
Она учится или играет? (Ona uchitsya ili igrayet?)
“Is she learning or playing?”
The Past Tense
To form Russian verbs in past tense, you need to drop the infinitive endings -ть, -ти, -чь, and add the following endings:
- masculine: -л (-l)
- feminine: -ла (-la)
- neuter: -ло (-lo)
- plural: -ли (-li)
Examples:
- думать (dumat’) — “to think”
- он думал (on dumal) — “he thought”
- она думала (ona dumala) — “she thought”
- мы думали (my dumali) — “we thought”
- This is the only tense where gender plays a role.
The Future Tense
So far so good. The past tense was super-easy, wasn’t it? Back to the real business! There are two ways to create the future form in Russian:
Way 1: Appropriate form of the verb быть (byt’), meaning “to be,” + the infinitive
писать (pisat’), meaning “to write.”
- я буду писать (ya budu pisat’) — “I will write”
- ты будешь писать (ty budesh’ pisat’) — “you will write” (inf.)
- он будет писать (on budet pisat’) — “he will write”
- мы будем писать (my budem pisat’) — “we will write”
- вы будете писать (vy budete pisat’) — “you will write” (f./pl.)
- они будут писать (oni budut pisat’) — “they will write”
Way 2: The perfective form of the verb + the present tense endings.
- писать (pisat’) — “to write”
- я напишу (ya napishu) — “I will write”
“Wait, what? What perfective form are you talking about? How do I know if I should choose Way 1 or Way 2?”
These are really smart questions! Without further ado…the verb aspects!
3- Aspect
Due to the simplicity of the tense system in Russian, we had to come up with the idea of aspects. There are two verb aspects in Russian: imperfective and perfective. Aspects are only used when talking about the past and the future; we don’t differentiate the verbs by their aspect in the present tense!
Aspects are used to indicate the difference between an ongoing / repeating action (the imperfective aspect) and an action that was completed successfully (the perfective aspect). Doesn’t it remind you of anything? That’s right, the continuous / simple tenses in English versus the perfect tenses. The only difference is that the English present perfect is going to be considered past in Russian.
Compare:
- я ел (ya yel) — “I was eating”
- я поел (ya poyel) — “I’ve eaten”
What is the difference in English? What form of the verb is perfective? Which one is imperfective? I’m pretty sure you can answer these questions yourself!
Please look at those two phrases again. Have you noticed what happened to the Russian verb? We added a prefix to the verb! A prefix is a set combination of letters added before the stem of the verb. So, outfitting Russian verbs with prefixes is the most frequent way of making perfective forms. In some cases, we can make them with a suffix instead, but it’s not as common.
The good news is that you can easily spot a perfective form by its prefix (with some minor exceptions). The bad news is that there are many prefixes to remember, and sometimes they change the meaning of the verb completely. I suggest that you memorize the prefix of the verb together with the meaning it brings.
Compare:
- он шёл (on shel) — “he was going”
- он пришёл (on prishel) — “he has arrived”
- он ушёл (on ushel) — “he has gone”
- он отошёл (on otoshel) — “he has left, but will come back soon”
- Again, we don’t use the perfective form in the present, only in the past or in the future. So, depending on what idea you want to convey, you choose the appropriate form.
Look at these two verbs in the past tense:
- я видел (ya videl) — “I saw”
- я увидел (ya uvidel) — “I have seen” / “I had seen”
And now check out these two verbs in the future:
- я буду петь (ya budu pet’) — “I will sing” (regularly)
- я спою (ya spoyu) — “I will sing” (once, like a promise)
Can you see the difference? The perfective form usually carries the idea of a one-time action. The imperfective form indicates that the process is ongoing or that the action repeats.
4- Mood
Just in case, this section is going to be about the grammatical mood (and not about how your mood affects the verb conjugation). Well, people tend to use more imperatives when they’re angry!
We define the mood by the intention of what we say. Do we want to talk about something that’s happening in reality? Are we imagining a hypothetical situation? Do we want to give an order to another person?
| Mood | Example | Intention |
| Indicative | Я говорю (Ya govoryu) — “I speak” | Expressing facts and reality |
| Imperative | Говори! (Govori!) — “Speak!” (informal) Говорите! (Govorite!) — “Speak!” (formal) | Giving orders or instructions |
| Conditional | Я бы сказал (Ya by skazal) — “I would say” | Talking about a condition or a possibility |
The Indicative Mood
This is what beginners start learning first. This is by far the most common mood in Russian. The indicative mood is usually combined with three tenses, and that creates a specific set of endings for each verb group.
The Imperative Mood
In an informal situation, the imperative form usually ends in -и, -ай, or -ь.
- The verbs ending in -ать in the infinitive mainly take -ай. For example: играть (igrat’) >> играй (igray) — “Play!”
- The verbs ending in -ить mainly take -и. For example: говорить (govorit’) >> говори (govori) — “Speak!”
In a formal situation, or when we speak to more than one person, we take the informal imperative form and add -те. For example: играть (igrat’) >> играйте (igrayte) — “Play!” (formal / plural).
You can learn more about the imperative mood from our relevant article (logged-in users only).
Conditional Mood
We use бы (by) + the past tense of the verb.
Example:
- я бы подумал (ya by podumal) — “I would think”
- он бы написал (on by napisal) — “he would write”
Бы doesn’t have a fixed place in the sentence. I would say it’s pretty common to place it closer to the subject (noun or pronoun) rather than the verb.
- Curious about the conditional mood? Log in to check this lesson on RussianPod101.com (logged-in users only).
- The imperative and conditional moods do not have tenses.
Сначала написал, потом подумал. (Snachala napisal, potom podumal.)
“First wrote, then thought.”
2. Conjugation Examples
Now let’s try to summarize everything we’ve learned and put it into practice. Again, four main features to keep in mind:
 | ⇨ |  | ⇨ |  | ⇨ |  |
Let’s finally dive into the Russian conjugation charts! You’ll notice that some cells have the abbreviations (m) and (f). They stand for “male” and “female” respectively.
| GROUP 1: Part 1 | |||||
| думать (dumat’) “to think” | Indicative | ||||
| Present | Past (imperfective / perfective) | Future (imperfective / perfective) | |||
| я “I” | думаю* | (m) думал (f) думала | (m) подумал (f) подумала | буду думать | подумаю* |
| ты “you” informal | думаешь | (m) думал (f) думала | (m) подумал (f) подумала | будешь думать | подумаешь |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | думает | думал думала думало | подумал подумала подумало | будет думать | подумает |
| мы “we” | думаем | думали | думали | будем думать | подумаем |
| вы “you” formal / plural | думаете | думали | подумали | подумали | подумаете |
| они “they” | думают* | думали | подумалnmjh | будут думать | подумают* |
| GROUP 1: Part 2 | |||||
| думать (dumat’) “to think” | Imperative (imperfective / perfective) | Conditional (imperfective / perfective) | |||
| я “I” | – | – | (m) бы думал (f) бы думала | (m) бы подумал (f) бы подумала | |
| ты “you” informal | думай | подумай | (m) бы думал (f) бы думала | (m) бы подумал (f) бы подумала | |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | – | – | бы думал бы думала бы думало | бы подумал бы подумала бы подумало | |
| мы “we” | – | – | бы думали | бы подумали | |
| вы “you” formal / plural | думайте | подумайте | бы думали | бы подумали | |
| они “they” | – | – | бы думали | бы подумали | |
| * Use the endings -ю, -ют after vowels or the soft sign (e.g.: я думаю, они читают) Use -у, -ут after consonants (e.g. я расту). |
- Still confused about these perfective and imperfective forms? Not sure which one to choose? Please refer to the “Aspect” section once again.
Carefully analyze the table. Do you see the similarities between some forms? Try to remember the Russian conjugation patterns.
What verb would you use to describe her:
подумала? думает? будет думать?
(podumala? dumayet? budet dumat’?)
Let’s have a look at how other verbs behave.
| GROUP 2: Part 1 | |||||
| говорить (govorit’) “to talk” | Indicative | ||||
| Present | Past (imperfective / perfective) | Future (imperfective / perfective) | |||
| я “I” | говорю* | (m) говорил (f) говорила | (m) поговорил (f) поговорила | буду говорить | поговорю* |
| ты “you” informal | говоришь | (m) говорил (f) говорила | (m) поговорил (f) поговорила | будешь говорить | поговоришь |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | говорит | говорил говорила говорило | поговорил поговорила поговорило | будет говорить | поговорит |
| мы “we” | говорим | говорили | поговорили | будем говорить | поговорим |
| вы “you” formal / plural | говорите | говорили | поговорили | будете говорить | поговорите |
| они “they” | говорят* | говорили | поговорили | будут говорить | поговорят* |
| GROUP 2: Part 2 | ||||
| говорить (govorit’) “to talk” | Imperative (imperfective / perfective) | Conditional (imperfective / perfective) | ||
| я “I” | – | – | (m) бы говорил (f) бы говорила | (m) бы поговорил (f) бы поговорила |
| ты “you” informal | говори | поговори | (m) бы говорил (f) бы говорила | (m) бы поговорил (f) бы поговорила |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | – | – | бы говорил бы говорила бы говорило | бы поговорил бы поговорила бы поговорило |
| мы “we” | – | – | бы говорили | бы поговорили |
| вы “you” formal / plural | говорите | поговорите | бы говорили | бы поговорили |
| они “they” | – | – | бы говорили | бы поговорили |
| * The endings -у and -ат are used after the letters Ж, Ш, Ч, Щ, and all hard consonants -ю and -ят are used after soft consonants and vowels. |
Now let’s have a look at how reflexive verbs conjugate (pay special attention to their form in the past tense).
| I have chosen a verb that takes a suffix to create a perfective form, not a prefix. Can you spot it? | |||||
| REFLEXIVE VERB GROUP 1: Part 1 | |||||
| улыбаться (ulybat’sya) “to smile” | Indicative | ||||
| Present | Past (imperfective / perfective) | Future (imperfective / perfective) | |||
| я “I” | улыбаюсь | (m) улыбался (f) улыбалась | (m) улыбнулся (f) улыбнулась | буду улыбаться | улыбнусь |
| ты “you” informal | улыбаешься | (m) улыбался (f) улыбалась | (m) улыбнулся (f) улыбнулась | будешь улыбаться | улыбнёшься |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | улыбается | улыбался улыбалась улыбалось | улыбнулся улыбнулась улыбнулось | будет улыбаться | улыбнётся |
| мы “we” | улыбаемся | улыбались | улыбнулись | будем улыбаться | улыбнёмся |
| вы “you” formal / plural | улыбаетесь | улыбались | улыбнулись | будете улыбаться | улыбнётесь |
| они “they” | улыбаются | улыбались | улыбнулись | будут улыбаться | улыбнутся |
| REFLEXIVE VERB GROUP 1: Part 2 | ||||
| улыбаться (ulybat’sya) “to smile” | Imperative (imperfective / perfective) | Conditional (imperfective / perfective) | ||
| я “I” | – | – | (m) бы улыбался (f) бы улыбалась | (m) бы улыбнулся (f) бы улыбнулась |
| ты “you” informal | улыбайся | улыбнись | (m) бы улыбался (f) бы улыбалась | (m) бы улыбнулся (f) бы улыбнулась |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | – | – | бы улыбался бы улыбалась бы улыбалось | бы улыбнулся бы улыбнулась бы улыбнулось |
| мы “we” | – | – | бы улыбались | бы улыбнулись |
| вы “you” formal / plural | улыбайтесь | улыбнитесь | бы улыбались | бы улыбнулись |
| они “they” | – | – | бы улыбались | бы улыбнулись |
My face when I’ve finally understood how to conjugate verbs!
3. Irregular Verbs
I believe you were hoping not to see this section in the article. Nobody likes exceptions. But irregular verbs are featured in many languages, including English, and Russian is not an exception. The curse of irregular verbs is that the most common verbs usually fall into this category. But if you just pay close attention to how they conjugate, you might see the pattern to follow as well.
So, how are they irregular? It really depends on the verb. Sometimes they might insert an extra vowel in the stem:
- брать (brat’) — “to take”
- The present tense: я беру, ты берёшь, мы берём (ya beru, ty beryosh’, my beryom) — “I take, you take, we take”
However, the same verb behaves normally in the past tense:
- я брал, мы брали, она брала (ya bral, my brali, ona brala) — “I was taking, we were taking, she was taking”
As long as it keeps its imperfective form! The verb in its perfective form changes beyond recognition!
- я взял, он взял, ты взяла (ya vzyal, on vzyal, ty vzyala) — “I’ve taken, he’s taken, you’ve taken (f)”
You can find similar examples in English: “go — went — gone.” The middle word is totally different!
Sometimes, irregular verbs can “misbehave” only in first person singular (“I”).
Compare: я люблю, ты любишь, мы любим (ya lyublyu, ty lyubish’, my lyubim) — “I love, you love, we love.”
This happens when the infinitive of a verb has features of a Group 2 verb and its stem ends in Б, В, Д, З, П, С, Т, or СТ. In this case, it undergoes a spelling change for the first person singular (“I”) in the present.
Similar verbs:
- готовить (gotovit’) — “to cook” >> я готовлю (ya gotovlyu) — “I cook”
- летать (letat’) — “to fly” >> я лечу (ya lechu) — “I fly”
- терпеть (terpet’) — “to tolerate” >> я терплю (ya terplyu) — “I tolerate” etc.
This is not an exhaustive list of tricks that irregular verbs use to stand out. And while learning how to spot them, or remembering all the exceptions, can indeed be exhausting, seeing irregular verbs as a challenging adventure can be motivating! Every language is a secret code that you’re about to decipher, and this is just an extra layer of security. But a true detective should know how to solve this mystery!
- Again, here’s a tool that will help you tackle complicated verb conjugations and support you until you feel confident conjugating them yourself: Context Conjugator.
Now let’s try to unscramble the behavior of an irregular verb.
| IRREGULAR VERB | |||||||||
| давать (davat’) “to give” | Indicative | Imperative (imperf / perf) | Conditional (imperf / perf) | ||||||
| Present | Past (imperf / perf) | Future (imperf / perf) | |||||||
| я “I” | даю | (m) давал (f) давала | дал дала | буду давать | дам | – | – | (m) бы давал (f) бы давала | дал дала |
| ты “you” informal | даёшь | (m) давал (f) давала | дал дала | будешь давать | дашь | давай | дай | (m) бы давал (f) бы давала | дал дала |
| он “he” она “she” оно “it” | даёт | давал давала давало | дал дала дало | будет давать | даст | – | – | бы давал бы давала бы давало | дал дала дало |
| мы “we” | даём | давали | дали | будем давать | дадим | – | – | бы давали | дали |
| вы “you” formal / plural | даёте | давали | дали | будете давать | дадите | – | – | бы давали | дали |
| они “they” | дают | давали | дали | будут давать | дадут | – | – | бы давали | дали |
Have a look at this table and try to analyze it: Does the conjugation of this irregular verb have anything in common with how regular verbs conjugate? What is it? And what exactly is different?
- You can find a pretty detailed list of Russian irregular verbs here. Conjugation tables will keep you good company at first, but learn not to rely on them too much. Practice makes perfect!
4. Test Your Knowledge!
Now I feel like you’re ready to impress me with your newly acquired skills! Prepare your conjugation tables, your irregular verbs table, your attentiveness, and your desire to succeed!
For this Russian conjugation quiz, please conjugate the verbs in parentheses. Don’t worry if you can’t find all the answers. I will help you!
- Я (жить) _______ в Екатеринбурге. Где вы (жить) _______?
I live in Ekaterinburg. Where do you live?”
- (Рассказывать)______ мне о своих увлечениях.
“Tell me about your hobbies.”
- Мы с друзьями (любить)______ (путешествовать)_______ и (изучать) _____ иностранные языки.
“My friends and I, we love to travel and learn new languages.”
- Если бы я больше времени (проводить)______ дома, я бы с радостью (взять) ______ кошку или собаку.
“If I spent more time at home, I would gladly take a cat or a dog.”
- В следующем году мои друзья (ехать) _____ в Японию.
Конечно же, я тоже (хотеть) _____ !
“Next year, my friends are going to Japan. Of course, I want to go too!”
Alright, let’s analyze each of them.
- Я живу в Екатеринбурге. Где вы живёте?
“I live in Ekaterinburg. Where do you live?”
First, it’s an irregular verb in the indicative mood (it’s just a fact), the present tense, the first person. And even though this is an irregular verb, and it’s hard to guess that another letter is going to appear in the stem, the endings are standard.
- Расскажи / расскажите мне о своих увлечениях.
“Tell me about your hobbies.”
Both options are possible depending on who you’re addressing (informal or formal interaction), and it’s the imperative mood because we ask somebody to give us some information.
- Мы с друзьями любим путешествовать и изучать иностранные языки.
“My friends and I, we love to travel and learn new languages.”
Here, we can see the indicative mood, the present tense, and the third person plural for the first verb (also irregular, by the way). Unlike in English, where you should decide if a gerund or an infinitive should go after the verb, in Russian, it’s always the infinitive. This is why the next two verbs are in their initial form.
- Если бы я больше времени проводил / проводила дома, я бы с радостью взял / взяла кошку или собаку.
“If I spent more time at home, I would gladly take a cat or a dog.”
Finally, some conditional! It’s pretty common to use the word если (yesli), meaning “if,” in conditional sentences. So, the verb проводить (provodit’), meaning “to spend (time),” is also irregular, but behaves normally in the past tense (Group 2, imperfective form). Why the past tense? Because conditional is just бы + past tense. It also means that we can choose between the masculine (проводил) and the feminine form (проводила). The same goes for the verb брать (brat’), meaning “to take.” It’s irregular, and I’ve mentioned it before, in Irregular Verbs.
Do you know why the verb “to take” is in its perfective form? (Think before reading next!) Because perfective forms usually convey a one-time action. It means I would take a cat or a dog once. If I were to keep taking a new dog every week, it would be imperfective: брала бы.
- В следующем году мои друзья поедут в Японию. Конечно же, я тоже хочу !
“Next year, my friends are going to Japan. Of course, I want to go too!”
So, the verb “to go” (for travel in general) is in the future tense, indicative mood, perfective form. I’m sure now you can explain why! The verb хотеть (khotet’), meaning “to want,” is irregular (oh, not again!), so it has changed one consonant in the middle. By the way, you may wonder why the conjugation table says the ending for “I” is -ю, and here it’s -у. If you forgot, please get back to the comment right under the table. ;)
After the journey to the land of verb conjugation
5. A Bonus from RussianPod101
In this guide, you’ve learned everything about Russian verb conjugation, endings, aspect, mood, tenses… Ah, so many new linguistic terms! Maybe you’ve learned something new about the English language as well? Bookmark this guide to refer to it from time to time—learning everything at once is hard, which is why you should get back to it sometimes to review and learn something new. Are you sure you haven’t skipped any piece of information? ;)
Good job! RussianPod101 is offering you a bonus: a free list of Must-Know Verbs! Make sure to check it out! Remember that you can also use our premium service, MyTeacher. You’ll get personal one-on-one coaching to practice verb conjugation and more with a private teacher, using assignments, grammar and vocabulary exercises, and voice recordings to improve your pronunciation! Happy learning with RussianPod101!
100 Must-Know Russian Verbs
Why is it important to study the most common verbs in Russian? Verbs are the backbone of every sentence. They help you keep track of the action in a sentence, and are absolutely essential for improving your language skills. So, this article is all about Russian verbs and will try to explain some of their important and unique aspects. Then at the end, we’ll give you a list of the 100 most essential Russian verbs to know for everyday situations.
Before continuing, though, you may find it helpful to brush up on other parts of speech in Russian. We recommend checking out the following RussianPod101.com blog posts:
Table of Contents
- Learning the Russian Verb Groups
- Irregular Verbs in Russian
- The Added L Sound
- Consonant Changes in Russian Verbs
- The 100 Must-Know Russian Verbs
- Conclusion
1. Learning the Russian Verb Groups
If you’ve ever tried to learn another European language, you’re probably already familiar with the issue of conjugations. These are verb groups that conjugate according to the same rules. Grammarians generally divide Russian verbs into two groupings—the first and second conjugation.
The first conjugation includes verbs with stems ending with:
- А consonant: печь (pechʹ), мочь (mochʹ)
- The letters у, ы, о, and я: вернуть (vernutʹ), мыть (mytʹ)
- Certain verbs ending in -ить: бить (bitʹ), жить (zhitʹ), and лить (litʹ)
The second conjugation is made up of verbs with stems ending with:
- и or е: говорить (govoritʹ), видеть (videtʹ)
- The letter a following ж, ш, щ, or ч: слышать (slyshatʹ), молчать (molchatʹ)
Knowing the two Russian verb conjugations is quite important since they conjugate differently.
First Second
Я -у/-ю -у/-ю
Ты -ешь -ишь
он/а/о -ет -ит
мы -ем -им
вы -ете -ите
они -ут/-ют -а/-ят
2. Irregular Verbs in Russian
Every European language seems cursed with loads of irregular verbs, and unfortunately, the Russian language is no exception. Some of the most common Russian verbs are irregular, so these are very important to know for almost any situation.
These irregularities can come in two forms: the ones with minor inconsistencies and the highly irregular verbs. This section will go over the highly irregular verbs, while sections 3 and 4 will discuss other changes to Russian conjugations.
Thankfully, there aren’t very many highly irregular verbs in Russian. These verbs normally arise from the fusion of multiple conjugations. This can be seen with basic Russian verbs like есть (estʹ), meaning “to eat,” and дать (datʹ), meaning “to give,” whose singular and plural forms use different stems.
я ем (yem) дам (dam)
ты ешь (yeshʹ) дашь (dashʹ)
он/а/о ест (yest) даст (dast)
мы едим (yedim) дадим (dadim)
вы едите (yedite) дадите (dadite)
они едят (yedyat) дадут (dadut)
The most irregular verbs in Russian are probably быть (bytʹ), meaning “to be,” and идти (idti), meaning “to go.” Both have different stems for their perfective and imperfective forms. Likewise, these verbs also change their stems between the present and past tense.
быть есть (yestʹ) — “there is” был (byl) — “he was”
идти идёт (idyot) — “it goes” шёл (shyol) — “he went”
Learners should note that any verbs derived from these will have the same irregular conjugation. For example, задать (zadat), meaning “to give out,” and забыть (zabytʹ), meaning “forget,” conjugate as зададим (zadadim) and забудем (zabudem) respectively, in the first person plural.
3. The Added L Sound
Some Russian verbs can seem fairly regular, but will have one strange feature in the first person singular. After certain consonants, the first person singular will add the letter –л- into the conjugation. The most well-known verb that does this is probably любить (lyubitʹ), meaning “to love.”
Любить он любил (on lyubil) он любит (on lyubit) я люблю (ya lyublyu)
“to love” “he loved” “he loves” “I love”
While this conjugation of Russian verbs might appear frustrating at first glance, don’t worry. This is a very consistent sound change in Russian, as the added “L” sound occurs in the first person singular of second conjugation verbs ending in п, б, ф, в, and м. Take a look at the Russian verbs conjugation table below:
Infinitive First person Second person
singular singular
(“to buy”) купить (kupitʹ) куплю (kuplyu) купишь (kupishʹ)
(“to love”) любить (lyubitʹ) люблю (lyublyu) любишь (lyubishʹ)
(“to feed”) кормить (kormitʹ) кормлю (kormlyu) кормишь (kormishʹ)
(“to rule”) править (pravitʹ) правлю (pravlyu) правишь (pravishʹ)
(“to roar”) греметь (gremetʹ) гремлю (gremlyu) гремишь (gremishʹ)
4. Consonant Changes in Russian Verbs
One of the most difficult things about learning Russian is understanding all the different sound changes. In Russian, these occur in all parts of speech, including verbs. Sometimes consonants will occur in a word and make it appear totally different. As a result, verbs like лечь (lechʹ), лягу (lyagu), and ляжешь (lyazheshʹ) might appear unrelated at first glance, even though they all come from the same verb stem.
The process of “softening” consonants is called palatalization and can occur to a number of different sounds. Below are three examples with some common verbs you might already know, where palatalization occurs when the infinitive is changed to the first person singular.
Д > Ж видеть (videtʹ) — “to see” вижу (vizhu) — “I see”
Т > Ч хотеть (khotetʹ) — “to want” хочу (khochu) — “I want”
С > Ш просить (prositʹ) — “to ask” прошу (proshu) — “I ask”
The tricky thing is that many verbs in Russian feature some kind of sound change in their conjugation. The good news is that once you get more familiar with palatalization, you can start to see and anticipate the patterns. For example, imperfective first conjugation verbs ending in -ать regularly palatalize.
Infinitive First person Second person
singular singular
Писать (Pisatʹ) > пишу (pishu) пишешь (pisheshʹ)
Сказать (Skazatʹ) > скажу (skazhu) скажешь (skazheshʹ)
This may look a bit overwhelming at first, but hang tough. With practice and regular use, these consonant changes will become second-nature.
5. The 100 Must-Know Russian Verbs
Now that you’re more familiar with some of the grammatical and sound-related changes that can occur in Russian verbs, we’ve got a list of the top 100 must-know Russian verbs for beginners who want to start using and speaking Russian.
1.
| Быть (Bytʹ) “to be” | Я был пилотом. Ya byl pilotom. “I was a pilot.” |
| Быть is a highly irregular verb. It’s almost never used in the present tense, except in the third person: есть (yestʹ). Есть много книг на столе. Yestʹ mnogo knig na stole. “There are a lot of books on the table.” | |
2.
| Делать (Delatʹ) “do,” “make,” “act” | Мы не делали домашнюю работу. My ne delali domashnyuyu rabotu. “We weren’t doing homework. |
3.
| Знать (Znatʹ) “know,” “be familiar with” | Я знаю это место. Ya znayu eto mesto. “I know this place.” |
| Знать means to know a place, a fact, a person, or how to do something: Я тебя знаю. Ya tebya znayu. “I know you.” Я знаю, как танцевать. Ya znayu, kak tantsevatʹ. “I know how to dance.” | |
4.
| Хотеть (Khotetʹ) “want,” “wish for” | Я не хочу идти с тобой. Ya ne khochu idti s toboy. “I don’t want to go with you. |
5.
| Идти (Idti) “go,” “walk,” “function/work” | Идём в кино! Idyom v kino! “Let’s go to the cinema!” |
| Идти (Idti), ходить (Khoditʹ) Идти is also used with weather words. Идёт дождь (Idyot dozhdʹ), идёт град (idyot grad), идёт снег (idyot sneg) “It’s raining, it’s hailing, it’s snowing” | |
6.
| Мочь (Mochʹ) “can,” “be able” | Я могу помочь. Ya mogu pomochʹ. “I can help.” |
7.
| Говорить (Govoritʹ) “speak,” “tell” | Они говорят так быстро. Oni govoryat tak bystro. “They talk so quickly.” |
8.
| Видеть (Videtʹ) “see” | Она не хочет вас видеть. Ona ne khochet vas videtʹ. “She doesn’t want to see you.” |
9.
| Есть (Estʹ) “eat” | Я не ем мясо. Ya ne yem myaso. “I don’t eat meat.” |
| Есть is extremely irregular, and the infinitive is identical to the third person singular of быть. | |
10.
| Сказать (Skazatʹ) “say,” “tell” | Как сказать “да” по-английски? Kak skazatʹ “da” po-angliyski? “How do you say da in English?” |
11.
| Смотреть (Smotretʹ) “see,” “watch” | Я не часто смотрю телевизор. Ya ne chasto smotryu televizor. “I don’t often watch TV.” |
12.
| Читать (Chitatʹ) “read” | Ты читаешь каждый день. Ty chitayeshʹ kazhdyy denʹ. “You read every day.” |
13.
| Стоять (Stoyatʹ) “be standing” | Он стоял на кухне. On stoyal na kukhne. “He was standing in the kitchen.” |
14.
| Готовить (Gotovitʹ) “cook,” “prepare food” | Мы готовим суп по субботам. My gotovim sup po subbotam. “We cook soup on Saturdays.” |
15.
| Спать (Spatʹ) “sleep” | Я обычно сплю хорошо. Ya obychno splyu khorosho. “I usually sleep well.” |
16.
| Ехать (Ekhatʹ) “go,” “move” | Я ехал на метро вчера. Ya yekhal na metro vchera. “I went on the metro yesterday.” |
| Ехать is the concrete counterpart of the Russian abstract verb ездить (ezditʹ). | |
17.
| Слышать (Slyshatʹ) “hear,” “listen” | Я услышал странный звук. Ya uslyshal strannyy zvuk. “I heard a strange noise.” |
18.
| Заниматься (Zanimatʹsya) “be engaged with,” “be busy with,” “do,” “study” | Мы занимаемся спортом. My zanimayemsya sportom. “We do sports.” |
| Заниматься can have several meanings and takes its object in the instrumental case. Заниматься русским языком Zanimatʹsya russkim yazykom “To study Russian” Заниматься йогой Zanimatʹsya yogoy “To do yoga” | |
19.
| Искать (Iskatʹ) “search,“ “look for” | Они искали кого-то. Oni iskali kogo-to. “They were looking for someone.” |
20.
| Положить (Polozhitʹ) “put,” “place,” “set” | Она положила книгу на стол. Ona polozhila knigu na stol. “She put the book on the table.” |
21.
| Ждать (Zhdatʹ) “wait” | Наша машина ждёт нас. Nasha mashina zhdyot nas. “Our car is waiting for us.” |
22.
| Брать (Bratʹ) “grab,” “take” | Брать кого-либо за руку Bratʹ kogo-libo za ruku “To take someone by the hand” |
| брать is also the imperfective form of the verb взять (vzyatʹ). | |
23.
| Стать (Statʹ) “become” | Вы готовы стать членом. Vy gotovy statʹ chlenom. “You’re ready to become a member.” |
24.
| Думать (Dumatʹ) “think” | Как ты думаешь? Kak ty dumayeshʹ? “What do you think?” |
25.
| Спросить (Sprositʹ) “ask” | Он спросил почему. On sprosil pochemu. “He asked why.” |
26.
| Жить (Zhitʹ) “live,” “inhabit” | Я живу во Флориде. Ya zhivu vo Floride. “I live in Florida.” |
27.
| Иметь (Imetʹ) “have” | Они не имеют права голоса. Oni ne imeyut prava golosa “They don’t have the right to vote.” |
| Иметь means “to have,” but is mostly used with abstract nouns. In most cases, the preposition “у” + noun/pronoun in genitive case + “есть” is used to express possession. Ex. У меня есть машина (U menya est’ mashina) = “I have a car.” | |
28.
| Понять (Ponyatʹ) “understand,” “comprehend” | Я не понял его намерения. Ya ne ponyal ego namereniya. “I didn’t understand his intention.” |
29.
| Сидеть (Sidetʹ) “sit” | Я сидел за столиком. Ya sidel za stolikom. “I was sitting at the table.” |
30.
| Взять (Vzyatʹ) “take,” “seize” | Кто взял мой нож? Kto vzyal moy nozh? “Who took my knife?” |
| Взять is the perfective form of брать (bratʹ). | |
31.
| Работать (Rabotatʹ) “work” | Я работаю дома по пятницам. Ya rabotayu doma po pyatnitsam. “I work at home on Fridays.” |
32.
| Начать (Nachatʹ) “begin,” “start” | Начну на выходных. Nachnu na vykhodnykh. “I’ll start on the weekend.” |
33.
| Включить (Vklyuchitʹ) “turn on,” “light,” “power on” | Нам нужно включить компьютер. Nam nuzhno vklyuchitʹ kompʹyuter. “We need to turn on the computer.” |
34.
| Выключить (Vyklyuchitʹ) “turn off,” “shut down” | Нам нужно выключить компьютер. Nam nuzhno vyklyuchitʹ kompʹyuter. “We need to turn off the computer.” |
35.
| Дать (Datʹ) “give” | Дай мне 5 минут. Day mne 5 minut. “Give me 5 minutes.” |
| Дать is a highly irregular verb and the perfective counterpart of давать (davatʹ). | |
36.
| Любить (Lyubitʹ) “love,” “like” | Вы не любите меня. Vy ne lyubite menya. “You don’t love me.” |
| Любить can be both “like” and “love,” depending on the direct object. Я тебя люблю. Ya tebya lyublyu. “I love you.” Я люблю кофе. Ya lyublyu kofe. “I like coffee.” | |
37.
| Значить (Znachitʹ) “mean,” “signify” | Что значит это слово? Chto znachit eto slovo? “What does this word mean?” |
38.
| Найти (Nayti) “find” | Я найду тебя. ya naydu tebya. “I’ll find you.” |
39.
| Играть (Igratʹ) “play” | Ты играешь на гитаре. Ty igrayeshʹ na gitare. “You play the guitar.” |
| Играть means both to play an instrument and to play in general. Дети играют. Deti igrayut. “The children play.” Она играет на скрипке. Ona igrayet na skripke. “She plays the fiddle.” | |
40.
| Показать (Pokazatʹ) “show,” “demonstrate” | Я покажу вам комнату. Ya pokazhu vam komnatu. “I’ll show you the room.” |
41.
| Путешествовать (Puteshestvovatʹ) “travel” | Мы редко путешествуем. My redko puteshestvuyem. “We rarely travel.” |
42.
| Забыть (Zabytʹ) “forget” | Я забыл его фамилию. Ya zabyl ego familiyu. “I forgot his surname.” |
43.
| Писать (Pisatʹ) “write” | Я пишу письмо. Ya pishu pisʹmo. “I’m writing a letter.” |
44.
| Бояться (Boyatʹsya) “to be afraid,” “to fear” | Я не боюсь увидеть тебя. Ya ne boyusʹ uvidetʹ tebya. “I’m not afraid to see you.” |
45.
| Чувствовать (Chuvstvovatʹ) “feel” | Я чувствую себя одиноко. Ya chuvstvuyu sebya odinoko. “I feel alone.” |
| Чувствовать alone means to feel something else, but as a Russian reflexive verb, it can mean to feel an emotion. | |
46.
| Звать (Zvatʹ) “name,” “call” | Меня зовут Иван. Menya zovut Ivan. “My name is Ivan.” |
| Звать is the name verb used to talk about people’s names. The names of things and places use the verb называться (nazyvatʹsya). | |
47.
| Кончиться (Konchitʹsya) “end,” “finish” | Фильм вдруг кончился. Filʹm vdrug konchilsya. “The film ended abruptly.” |
48.
| Улыбаться (Ulybatʹsya) “smile” | Никто не улыбается здесь. Nikto ne ulybayetsya zdesʹ. “No one smiles here.” |
49.
| Остановиться (Ostanovitʹsya) “stay,” “remain,” “stop” | Моя сестра остановится у нас. Moya sestra ostanovitsya u nas. “My sister is staying with us.” |
50.
| Использовать (Ispolʹzovatʹ) “use” | Я использую машину по средам. Ya ispolʹzuyu mashinu po sredam. “I use the car on Wednesdays.” |
51.
| Уезжать (Uyezzhatʹ) “leave,” “go away” | Мы уезжали после ужина. My uyezzhali posle uzhina. “We were leaving after dinner.” |
52.
| Строить (Stroitʹ) “build,” “construct” | Мы строили замок. My stroili zamok. “We were building a castle.” |
53.
| Платить (Platitʹ) “pay,” “give money” | Мы платили штраф. My platili shtraf. “We paid the fine.” |
54.
| Покупать (Pokupatʹ) “buy,” “purchase” | Мы покупали суп и хлеб. My pokupali sup i khleb. “We were buying soup and bread.” |
55.
| Заказывать (Zakazyvatʹ) “order” | Я не заказывал пиццу. Ya ne zakazyval pitstsu. “I didn’t order a pizza.” |
56.
| Пробовать (Probovatʹ) “try,” “attempt” | Иван пробовал писать. Ivan proboval pisatʹ. “Ivan tried to write.” |
57.
| Носить (Nositʹ) “wear,” “carry” | Я ещё ношу кольцо. Ya yeshchyo noshu kolʹtso. “I still wear the ring.” |
58.
| Встречать (Vstrechatʹ) “meet,” “encounter” | Он не хочет встречать вас. On ne khochet vstrechatʹ vas. “He doesn’t want to meet you.” |
59.
| Благодарить (Blagodaritʹ) “thank,” “express thanks/gratitude” | Благодарю за внимание. Blagodaryu za vnimaniye. “I thank you for (your) attention.” |
60.
| Открываться (Otkryvatʹsya) “open” | Дверь открывается автоматически. Dverʹ otkryvayetsya avtomaticheski. “The door opens automatically.” |
| открываться is an intransitive verb, while открывать (otkryvatʹ) is the transitive form. | |
61.
| Слушать (Slushatʹ) “listen,” “hear” | Я не слушаю слухи. Ya ne slushayu slukhi. “I don’t listen to rumors.” |
62.
| Смеяться (Smeyatʹsya) “laugh” | Нина смеётся громко. Nina smeyotsya gromko. “Nina laughs loudly.” |
63.
| Отвечать (Otvechatʹ) “reply,” “answer” | Они не отвечали на главный пункт. Oni ne otvechali na glavnyy punkt. “They weren’t answering the main point.” |
64.
| Рассказывать (Rasskazyvatʹ) “tell a story,” “narrate,” “recount” | Он вам не рассказывает самого главного. On vam ne rasskazyvayet samogo glavnogo. “He’s not telling you the big news.” |
65.
| Предполагать (Predpolagatʹ) “assume,” “suppose,” “presume” | Я предполагала, что он отец. Ya predpolagala, chto on otets. “I assumed that he’s the father.” |
66.
| Петь (Petʹ) “sing” | Я пою тут каждый вечер. Ya poyu tut kazhdyy vecher. “I sing here every evening.” |
67.
| Учиться (Uchitʹsya) “study,” “learn” | Он учится в университете. On uchitsya v universitete. “He studies at university.” |
| Учиться can refer to studying in general or studying something specific with the dative case. Она учится испанскому языку. Ona uchitsya ispanskomu yazyku. “She’s learning Spanish.” | |
68.
| Войти (Voyti) “enter,” “come in” | Я войду и поищу. Ya voydu i poishchu. “I’ll come in and look.” |
69.
| Ходить (Khoditʹ) “go,” “walk | Он ходит в хорошую школу. On khodit v khoroshuyu shkolu. “He goes to a good school.” |
| The verb ходить is the abstract counterpart of идти (idti). | |
70.
| Помогать (Pomogatʹ) “help,” “assist” | Он не собирается помогать вам. On ne sobirayetsya pomogatʹ vam. “He’s not going to help you.” |
71.
| Предпочитать (Predpochitatʹ) “prefer” | Я просто предпочитаю плавать. Ya prosto predpochitayu plavatʹ. “I just prefer to swim.” |
72.
| Кататься (Katatʹsya) “ride,” “go” | Кататься по кругу Katatʹsya po krugu “To ride in a circle” |
| Кататься на is also used with several nouns. Кататься на лыжах Katatʹsya na lyzhakh “To use skis” Кататься на велосипеде Katatʹsya na velosipede “To ride a bike” | |
73.
| Ездить (Yezditʹ) “go (by vehicle),” “drive” | Мы часто ездим в Москву. My chasto yezdim v Moskvu. “We often go to Moscow.” |
| ездить is the abstract counterpart of the verb ехать (yekhatʹ). | |
74.
| Родиться (Roditʹsya) “to be born” | Юлия родилась в мае. Yuliya rodilasʹ v maye. “Yulya was born in May.” |
75.
| Умереть (Umeretʹ) “die,” “decease” | Она умерла 2 года назад. Ona umerla 2 goda nazad. “She died 2 years ago.” |
76.
| Летать (Letatʹ) “fly” | Эти пули летают. Eti puli letayut. “These bullets fly.” |
77.
| Плавать (Plavatʹ) “swim” | Медведь плавает. Medvedʹ plavayet. “The bear is swimming.” |
78.
| Лежать (Lezhatʹ) “lie” | Мы можем лежать на диване. My mozhem lezhatʹ na divane. “We can lie on the couch.” |
79.
| Мыть (Mytʹ) “clean” | Я мою окно. Ya moyu okno. “I’m cleaning the window.” |
80.
| Пить (Pitʹ) “drink,” “drink alcohol” | Нехорошо пить на службе. Nekhorosho pitʹ na sluzhbe. “You shouldn’t drink on the job.” |
81.
| Весить (Vesitʹ) “weigh” | Я вешу 81 килограмм. Ya veshu 81 kilogramm. “I weigh 81 kilograms.” |
82.
| Нравиться (Nravitʹsya) “be pleasing” | Мне нравится идея искусства. Mne nravitsya ideya iskusstva. “I like the idea of art.” |
| The subject of нравиться is the thing being liked, and the person takes the dative case. Нам нравится рис. Nam nravitsya ris. “We like rice.” | |
83.
| Гулять (Gulyatʹ) “walk,” “stroll” | Я хочу гулять вокруг квартала. Ya khochu gulyatʹ vokrug kvartala. “I want to walk around the neighborhood.” |
84.
| Объяснять (Obʹyasnyatʹ) “explain” | Он хорошо объясняет. On khorosho obʹyasnyayet. “He explains well.” |
85.
| Закрывать (Zakryvatʹ) “close,” “shut” | Я всегда закрываю дверь. Ya vsegda zakryvayu dverʹ. “I always close the door.” |
86.
| Бегать (Begatʹ) “run” | Я бегаю очень быстро. Ya begayu ochenʹ bystro. “I run very fast.” |
87.
| Звонить (Zvonitʹ) “call,” “phone,” “ring” | Я не хочу звонить Виктору. Ya ne khochu zvonitʹ Viktoru. “I don’t want to call Viktor.” |
88.
| Казаться (Kazatʹsya) “seem,” “appear” | Ваша ситуация кажется интересной. Vasha situatsiya kazhetsya interesnoy. “Your situation seems interesting.” |
89.
| Казаться (Kazatʹsya) “seem,” “appear” | Я не хочу звонить Виктору. Ya ne khochu zvonitʹ Viktoru. “I don’t want to call Viktor.” |
90.
| Передать (Peredatʹ) “broadcast,” “pass along” | Они передали программу по радио. Oni peredali programmu po radio. “They broadcasted the program on the radio.” |
91.
| Остаться (Ostatʹsya) “stay,” “remain” | Она останется дома сегодня. Ona ostanetsya doma segodnya. “She’s staying at home today.” |
92.
| Подумать (Podumatʹ) “consider,” “think about” | Они подумают об этом. Oni podumayut ob etom. “They’re considering it.” |
93.
| Решить (Reshitʹ) “decide” | Мы не можем решить сейчас. My ne mozhem reshitʹ seychas. “We can’t decide now.” |
94.
| Получить (Poluchitʹ) “receive,” “get” | Я получил письмо! Ya poluchil pisʹmo! “I got a letter!” |
95.
| Бывать (Byvatʹ) “be,” “visit” | Вы бывали в Москве? Vy byvali v Moskve? “Have you ever been to Moscow?” |
96.
| Находиться (Nakhoditʹsya) “be located somewhere” | Где находится твой дом? Gde nakhoditsya tvoy dom? “Where is your house?” |
97.
| Встать (Vstatʹ) “get up” | Я обычно встаю в 9. Ya obychno vstayu v 9. “I usually get up at nine.” |
98.
| Называться (Nazyvatʹsya) “be named,” “be called” | Эта жидкость называется вода. Eta zhidkostʹ nazyvayetsya voda. “This clear liquid is called water.” |
99.
| Молчать (Molchatʹ) “be quiet,” “be silent” | После этого мы молчали. Posle etogo my molchali. “After that, we were silent.” |
100.
| Бросить (Brositʹ) “throw” | Ребёнок бросил мяч. Rebyonok brosil myach. “The child threw the ball.” |
6. Conclusion
In this article, you’ve gotten familiar with the most essential verbs in Russian. Now that you’ve got some of the key Russian verbs vocabulary under your belt, you can go out and understand a lot more of what’s being said in Russian.
Keep in mind that Russian words can change their meaning when they change or get new prefixes. That means you can use prefixes and add on to the vocabulary you already know.
If you want to dig deeper and learn even more vocabulary, check out the other lists on RussianPod101, as well as our grammar explanations and study guides.
Remember that if you want to really take your Russian to the next level, you can use our premium service. This gives users access to teachers, one-on-one instruction, personalized lessons, and plenty of useful practice.
Are there any verbs we didn’t cover that you really want to know? Or Russian verbs rules you don’t quite understand yet? Drop us a comment and let us know; we’ll do our best to help!
Happy learning!
Russian Pronouns: Pronunciation, Grammar & Exciting Facts
Psss, psss, you.
Yes, you.
RussianPod101 has chosen you for a top-secret mission. Don’t worry, no guns or poisoned apples are required. All you need is to equip yourself with a new portion of the Russian language and learn Russian pronouns with us.
The thing is that we need you to deliver a message with secret information to a Russian spy. He’ll find you in the crowd on the street himself. The only difficulty is that you can’t name things directly in case there are enemy ears around. You’ll need to just drop some hints, and the Russian agent will understand.
How? Well, Russian pronouns will help you. These tiny words replace nouns, and even adjectives, so that only the one who knows what you’re talking about will get the idea. Helpful? Without a doubt!
Study this article and arm yourself with knowledge about Russian pronouns pronunciation, the Russian declension of pronouns, and their usage in a sentence, to successfully perform this mission. We provide you with a comprehensive list of Russian pronouns with examples, useful charts and tables, and other information to help you use them.
Are you ready? The fun is about to begin.
Table of Contents
- Russian Personal Pronouns
- Russian Possessive Pronouns
- Russian Reflexive Pronouns
- Russian Demonstrative Pronouns
- Russian Determinative Pronouns
- Russian Interrogative-Relative Pronouns
- Russian Indefinite Pronouns
- Russian Pronouns Exercises
- Conclusion
1. Russian Personal Pronouns
First, let’s understand what exactly a pronoun is. In the Russian language, a pronoun is a substitute word used to mention a noun without naming it directly. Before we start, check out our list of the most useful Russian pronouns.
Basically, the most essential pronouns for beginners are personal pronouns. In Russian, they’re called личные местоимения (lichnyye mestoimeniya).
The Russian personal pronouns are:
- я (ya) — “I”
- ты (ty) — “you” (singular)
- он (on) — “he”
- она (ona) — “she”
- оно (ono) — “it”
- мы (my) — “we”
- вы (vy) — “you” (plural)
- они (oni) — “they”
Here’s a Russian personal pronouns chart that will help you understand the system of Russian pronoun declension:
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |||
| Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | ||||||
| English | I | you | it | he | she | we | you | they |
| Nominative | я (ya) | ты (ty) | оно (ono) | он (on) | она (ona) | мы (my) | вы (vy) | они (oni) |
| Accusative | меня (menya) | тебя (tebya) | его (yego) | её (yeyo) | нас (nas) | вас (vas) | их (ikh) | |
| Genitive | ||||||||
| Dative | мне (mne) | тебе (tebe) | ему (yemu) | ей (yey) | нам (nam) | вам (vam) | им (im) | |
| Instrumental | мной / мною (mnoy / mnoyu) | тобой / тобою (toboy / toboyu) | им (im) | ей / ею (yey / yeyu) | нами (nami) | вами (vami) | ими (imi) | |
| Prepositional | мне (mne) | тебе (tebe) | нём (nyom) | ней (ney) | нас (nas) | вас (vas) | них (nikh) | |
There are several things that you need to keep in mind:
- Его is pronounced as yevo, not yego.
- If there’s a preposition before the third-person pronoun, the pronoun gets the prefix н- (n-) before е (e) and и (i). For example, К нему кто-то пришёл (K nemu kto-to prishyol), meaning “Somebody came to him.”
Compare this to Передай ему привет (Pereday yemu privet), meaning “Say hi to him.”
Because the prepositional case is always used with a preposition, you can see in the Russian personal pronouns chart that only forms starting with н- (n-) are used.
We’ve prepared a special video for you about Russian personal pronouns and the accusative case. Check it out!
Here are some examples:
- Я ему передам (Ya yemu peredam) — “I will give it to him.” (Or: “I will tell him what you said.”)
- У неё новый парень (U neyo novyy paren’) — “She has a new boyfriend.”
- Как зовут твоего кота? (Kak zovut tvoyego kota?) — “What’s your cat’s name?”
- Мы пойдём к ней в гости (My poydyom k ney v gosti) — “We will go to her place as guests.”
2. Russian Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are called притяжательные местоимения (prityazhatyel’nyye myestoimyeniya) in Russian. The Russian possessive pronouns are:
- мой (moy) — “my” or “mine”
- твой (tvoy) — “your” or “yours” (for singular possessor)
- наш (nash) — “our” or “ours”
- ваш (vash) — “your” or “yours” (for plural possessor)
In Russian, possessive pronouns are called притяжательные местоимения (prityazhatyel’nyye myestoimyeniya). These pronouns answer the question “Whose?” and show to whom an object belongs.
Here are a couple more Russian pronouns declension tables:
| Singular | ||||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | |||||||
| Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |
| English | my; mine | your; yours (singular) | ||||||
| Nominative | моё (moyo) | мой (moy) | моя (moya) | мои (moi) | твоё (tvoyo) | твой (tvoy) | твоя (tvoya) | твои (tvoi) |
| Accusative | моё (moyo) | мой, моего (moy, moyevo) | мою (moyu) | мои, моих (moi, moikh) | твоё (moyo) | твой, твоего (tvoy, tvoyevo) | твою (tvoyu) | твои, твоих (tvoi, tvoikh) |
| Genitive | моего (moyevo) | моей (moyey) | моих (moikh) | твоего (tvoyevo) | твоей (tvoyey) | твоих (tvoikh) | ||
| Dative | моему (moyemu) | моим (moim) | твоему (tvoyemu) | твоим (tvoim) | ||||
| Instrumental | моим (moim) | моими (moimi) | твоим (tvoim) | твоими (tvoimi) | ||||
| Prepositional | моём (moyom) | моих (moikh) | твоём (tvoyom) | твоих (tvoikh) | ||||
| Plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | ||||||||
| Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | ||
| English | my, mine | your, yours (plural) | |||||||
| Accusative | наше (nashe) | наш, нашего (nashe, nashego) | нашу (nashu) | наши, наших (nashi, nashikh) | ваше (vashe) | ваш, вашего (vash, vashego) | вашу (vashu) | ваши, ваших (vashi, vashikh) | |
| Genitive | нашего (nashego) | нашей (nashey) | наших (nashikh) | вашего (vashego) | вашей (vashey) | ваших (vashikh) | |||
| Dative | нашему (nashemu) | нашим (nashim) | вашему (vashemu) | вашим (vashim) | |||||
| Instrumental | нашим (nashim) | нашими (nashimi) | вашим (vashim) | вашими (vashimi) | |||||
| Prepositional | нашем (nashem) | наших (nashikh) | вашем (vashem) | ваших (vashikh) | |||||
There are two options for the accusative case that depend on the animacy of the noun following the pronoun.
Please note that in the words моего (moyego), твоего (tvoy, tvoyego), нашего (nashe, nashego), вашего (vash, vashego), the letter г (g) is pronounced as v. This is an important rule of Russian pronouns’ pronunciation.
Here are some examples of Russian possessive pronouns in a sentence:
- У моего друга есть машина (U moyego druga yest’ mashina) — “My friend has a car.”
- Как твои дела? (Kak tvoi dela?) — “How are you doing?” (Lit. “How are your doings?”)
- Нашему папе сегодня исполняется 50 лет (Nashemu pape segodnya ispolnyayetsya pyat’desyat let) — “Our dad is becoming fifty years old today.”
- Ваша дочь очень красивая (Vasha doch’ ochen’ krasivaya) — “Your daughter is very beautiful.”
3. Russian Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are called возвратные местоимения (vozvratnyye mestoimeniya) in Russian. The Russian reflexive pronouns are:
себя (sebya) — “-self”
свой (svoy) — “one’s own”
сам (sam) — “myself,” “himself,” “herself,” “itself”
1- The Personal Reflexive Pronoun Себя
| English | myself, himself, herself |
|---|---|
| Nominative | – |
| Accusative | себя (sebya) |
| Genitive | себя (sebya) |
| Dative | себе (sebye) |
| Instrumental | собой (soboy) |
| Prepositional | себе (sebe) |
Have a look at some examples that show how the information in the Russian pronouns table can be applied:
- Я всегда сам себе готовлю еду (Ya vsegda sam sebe gotovlyu yedu) — “I always cook for myself.”
- После увольнения я хочу немного пожить для себя и только потом начать искать новую работу (Posle uvol’neniya ya khochu nemnogo pozhit’ dlya sebya i tol’ko potom nachat’ iskat’ novuyu rabotu) — “After a resignation, I want to live for myself a little bit, and only after that start searching for a new job.”
2- The Reflexive Possessive Pronoun Свой
| Neutral | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |