Being able to ask questions is a very important communication skill that makes conversation sound lively and interesting. If you’re going to chat with a native Russian speaker, or if you want to travel to Russia one day, you should definitely know some basic questions in this language. 

In this guide, we’ll help you learn ten of the most common questions in Russian. We’ll also give you some information about how to use these Russian questions and answers depending on the age of the person you’re speaking to, and teach you some Russian question words. 

Let’s begin!

Table of Contents

1. Как тебя зовут?
2. Откуда ты?
3. Сколько тебе лет?
4. Ты говоришь на ___?
5. Сколько ты учишь ____?
6. Ты был в ___?
7. Как дела?
8. Что делаешь?
9. Что случилось?
10. Сколько стоит?
11. Conclusion

1. Как тебя зовут?

Как тебя зовут? (Kak tebya zovut?), meaning “What’s your name?” is usually the first question in Russian you’ll ask when getting to know someone. 

The first word here, как (kak), meaning “how,” is an adverb; it’s also one of the most commonly used Russian question words. The next word, тебя (tebya), is the pronoun “you” in the accusative case. The last word, зовут (zovut), is the present tense form of the verb звать (zvat’), meaning “to call.” So, Как тебя зовут? is literally translated as “How are you called?”

Remember that this question is appropriate only in informal conversations with people who are your age or younger. If the situation is formal, or if you’re talking to an older person, use the following form:

• Как вас зовут? (Kak vas zovut?) – “What’s your name?”

Вас (vas) is the formal version of тебя (“you” in the accusative case).

Possible Answers

The reply to this question in Russian would be:

• Меня зовут Джон. (Menya zovut Dzhon.) – “My name is John.”

Or

• Моё имя – Джон. (Moyo imya – Dzhon.) – “My name is John.”

Simply replace “John” with your own name.

The question Как вас зовут? is the simplest way to establish contact, no matter who you’re trying to get to know.

2. Откуда ты?

Откуда ты? (Otkuda ty?) is the easiest way to say “Where are you from?” in Russian. 

Like many other questions in Russian, this one begins with the adverb откуда (otkuda). The next word, ты (ty), is a pronoun in the nominative case. Like in the example above, this pronoun is applicable only to conversations with people who are your age or younger.

If you’re talking to somebody older, always say вы (vy). For example:

• Откуда вы? (Otkuda vy?) – “Where are you from?”

Possible Answer

The best way to answer is with:

• Я из Нью-Йорка. (Ya iz N’yu-Yorka.) – “I’m from New York.”

Keep in mind that you need to use your country, state, or city in the genitive case, like in the example given above.

3. Сколько тебе лет?

Сколько тебе лет? (Skol’ko tebe let?), meaning “How old are you?” is a good question in Russian to keep a conversation going.

 Сколько (skol’ko) is a pronoun here. Тебе (tebe) is also a pronoun, in the dative case. Лет (let) is the plural form of the noun “year.”

If you’re speaking to an older person, you’ll need to say this instead:

• Сколько вам лет? (Skol’ko vam let?) – “How old are you?”

Possible Answer

The answer is short and simple:

• Мне 40 лет. (Mne 40 let.) – “I’m 40 years old.”

Keep in mind that asking a woman about her age is impolite, even if she looks young!

4. Ты говоришь на ___?

Of all the Russian questions and answers for beginners, this may be the most important: Ты говоришь на ___? (Ty govorish’ na ___?), meaning “Do you speak ___?” It will help you find out if the person you’re talking to speaks your language. 

The first word here is ты (ty), which is the Russian pronoun “you” in the nominative case. The second word is говоришь (govorish’), which is the present tense form of the verb говорить (govorit), meaning “to speak.” After these two words, you’ll need to use the preposition на (na), which means “on” in English. Then comes the name of the language you’re asking about.

Make sure you use the prepositional case, like in this example:

• Ты говоришь на английском? (Ty govorish’ na angliyskom?) – “Do you speak English?”

The formal variant of this Russian question is:

• Вы говорите на ___? (Vy govorite na ___?) – “Do you speak ___?”

Possible Answers

You can give an affirmative answer like this:

• Да, я говорю на ___. (Da, ya govoryu na ___.) – “Yes, I speak ___.”

Or a negative answer:

• Нет, я не говорю на ___. (Net, ya ne govoryu na ___.) – “No, I don’t speak ___.”

One of the most unfair things in life is to meet a wonderful person and not to be able to communicate with him or her because of the language barrier.

5. Сколько ты учишь ____?

The Russian question Сколько ты учишь ___? (Skol’ko ty uchish’ ___?), meaning “How long have you been studying ___?” turns out to be really helpful in conversations with other students. 

The first word, сколько (skol’ko), is a typical adverb used in questions. Ты (ty) is a pronoun, as mentioned previously. The last word is the present tense form of the verb учишь (uchish’), which means “to study.”

The polite form of this question is:

• Сколько вы учите ___? (Skol’ko vy uchite ___?) – “How long have you been studying ___?”

This Russian question requires the name of the field of study you’re asking about in the accusative case:

• Сколько ты учишь информатику? (Skol’ko ty uchish’ informatiku?) – “How long have you been studying programming?”

Possible Answer

• Я учу информатику два года. (Ya uchu informatiku dva goda.) – “I’ve been studying programming for two years.”

 6. Ты был в ___?

There are two variants for asking “Have you been to ___?” in Russian. The first one is appropriate if you’re asking a man:

• Ты был в ___? (Ty byl v ___?)

The second one is applicable when asking a woman:

• Ты была в ___? (Ty byla v ___?)

Of course, if you’re going to ask someone older than you, you must say:

• Вы были в ___? (Vy byli v ___?)

Following the pronoun ты (ty) is был (byl) or была (byla), which is the verb “to be” in the past tense. В is a preposition which requires the prepositional case for the name of the place used after it. For example:

• Ты был в Париже? (Ty byl v Parizhe?) – “Have you been to Paris?”

Possible Answers

• Да, я был в Париже. (Da, ya byl v Parizhe.) – “Yes, I’ve been to Paris.”

Or

• Нет, я не был в Париже. (Net, ya ne byl v Parizhe.) – “No, I haven’t been to Paris.”

Travel is a perfect topic for a conversation.

7. Как дела?

Как дела? (Kak dela?), meaning “How are you?” is one of the most important questions to ask a Russian. 

Как (kak) is an adverb, and дела (dela) is the plural form of the noun дело (delo), meaning “matter.”

Here are a couple of alternative ways to ask this question in Russian:

• Как ты/вы? (Kak ty/vy?) – “How are you?”

Or

• Как жизнь? (Kak zhizn?) – “How’s life?”

Possible Answers

The most typical answers are:

• Всё хорошо. (Vsyo khorosho.) – “Everything is good.”
•  Отлично. (Otlichno.) – “Excellent.”

8. Что делаешь?

Что делаешь? (Chto delayesh’?), meaning “What are you doing?” is one of those basic Russian questions that you can use both in your real life and while communicating online. 

Что (chto) is a pronoun that’s very often used for asking questions in Russian. Делаешь (delayesh’) is the present tense form of the verb делать (delat’), meaning “to do.” 

The formal variant of this question is:

• Что делаете? (Chto delayete?) – “What are you doing?”

Possible Answers

The answer fully depends on what you’re busy with. For example:

• Я работаю. (Ya rabotayu.) – “I’m working.”
• Я на учёбе. (Ya na uchyobe.) – “I’m studying.”

9. Что случилось?

Что случилось? (Chto sluchilos’?), meaning “What happened?” is one of those good questions to ask a Russian to find out if something has gone wrong. 

Что (chto) is a common pronoun in Russian questions. Cлучилось (sluchilos’) is the past tense form of the verb случиться (sluchit’sya), which means “to happen.”

Possible Answers

There’s no definite response to this question. It may be something like:

• Ничего особенного. (Nichego osobennogo.) – “Nothing special.”
• Всё плохо. (Vsyo plokho.) – “Everything is bad.”

The question Что случилось? shows that you care for what’s going on in another person’s life!

10. Сколько стоит?

Сколько стоит? (Skol’ko stoit?), meaning “How much is it?” is an absolutely essential question for you if you’re going to visit Russia. 

Сколько (skol’ko), as mentioned, is a pronoun and one of the most widely used Russian question words. Стоит (stoit) is the present tense form of the verb стоить (stoit’), meaning “to cost.”

You may add the name of the thing that you want to know the price of. Also remember that you should use it in the subjective case. For example:

• Сколько стоит авиабилет? (Skol’ko stoit aviabilet?) – “How much is the air ticket?”

Possible Answer

The answer depends on the situation. For example:

• Это стоит два доллара. (Eto stoit dva dollara.) – “It costs two dollars.”

11. Conclusion

We sincerely hope that you’ve learned the basics of asking questions in Russian. Of course, this topic is enormous, and one article isn’t enough to cover it fully. Moreover, there are so many situations in day-to-day life which require their own sets of questions. That’s why memorizing questions in Russian isn’t as effective as understanding how to make them. This is especially true if you’ve been learning the language for a while.

We really recommend that you learn how to ask questions in Russian by reading articles on our website, RussianPod101.com, or with the help of our premium service MyTeacher. The second option is perfect for those who want to start using questions and answers in Russian as soon as possible. Your native Russian-speaking teacher will guide you through all the ins and outs of this topic during private lessons, so it will be really effective. You can try out our service right now, and be 100% satisfied with its quality!

What other questions in Russian would you like to learn? Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section below!

Making sentences in Russian isn’t easy for foreigners. To do it, you have to know not only vocabulary, but also the grammar of this complex language. If you want to start speaking as soon as possible, you’d better learn some Russian sentence patterns. By remembering them, you’ll be able to build your own sentences really quickly, without thinking too much about rules.

In this article, you’ll find ten really useful Russian sentences for beginners. These sentences will help you have basic conversations with native speakers and feel more confident in your knowledge of the language. Don’t be lazy; we recommend that you spend a few hours remembering them. We’re sure that in the future, you’ll appreciate yourself for doing so!

Table of Contents

1. Linking Nouns: A is B
2. Using Adjectives to Describe Something: A is/was [Adjective]
3. Expressing “Want”: I Want (to)…
4. Expressing “Need”: I Need (to)… / I Have (to)…
5. Expressing “Like”: I Like (to)…
6. Politely Asking Someone to Do Something: Please…
7. Asking for Permission: May I / Can I?
8. Asking for Information About Something: What is/was…?
9. Asking About Time: When is…?
10. Asking About Location or Position: Where is…?
11. Conclusion

1. Linking Nouns: A is B

This is one of the most common Russian sentence patterns, and you use it to give a basic explanation or make a statement. For example:

• Джон – мой брат
  Dzhon – moy brat
  “John is my brother.”

In Russian, we put “–” between the subject and predicate if they’re both nouns. Keep it in mind!

• Мой брат – таксист
  Moy brat – taksist
  “My brother is a taxi driver.”

• Эти часы – подарок моей жены
  Eti chasy – podarok moyey zheny
  “This watch is a present from my wife.”

In Russian, the word часы (chasy) is only plural, while in English, it can be either singular or plural. But intermediate and advanced learners should know this already!

• Россия – самая большая страна в мире
  Rossiya – samaya bol`shaya strana v mire
  “Russia is the biggest country in the world.”

• Мопсы – хорошие собаки, мне они нравятся
  Mopsy – khoroshiye sobaki, mne oni nravyatsya
  “Pugs are nice dogs; I like them.”

2. Using Adjectives to Describe Something: A is/was [Adjective]

This type of Russian sentence construction is widely used to describe something or somebody. For example:

• Эта пицца вкусная
  Eta pitstsa vkusnaya
  “This pizza is delicious.”

• Моя последняя работа была ужасной 
  Moya poslednyaya rabota byla uzhasnoy
  “My last job was terrible.”

This Russian sentence pattern refers to the past. You should remember it!

• Фильм, который мы смотрели вчера, был страшным 
  Fil’m, kotoryy my smotreli vchera, byl strashnym
  “The film we watched yesterday was scary.”

• Я думаю, мой брат умнее, чем моя сестра 
  Ya dumayu, moy brat umneye, chem moya sestra
  “I think my brother is smarter than my sister.”

• Ты красивая 
  Ty krasivaya
  “You are beautiful.”

The last sentence above is correct if you say it to a girl. If you want to compliment a guy, say Ты красивый (Ty krasivyy). If you’re going to praise somebody who’s older than you, use Вы красивые (Vy krasivyye).

Don’t skimp on compliments!

3. Expressing “Want”: I Want (to)…

Basic Russian phrases like these are useful in everyday conversations, since they help to express desires and plans. The Russian sentence patterns given below will definitely enrich your speech:

• Я хочу вот это 
  Ya khochu vot eto
  “I want this.”

• Я хочу задать вопрос 
  Ya khochu zadat’ vopros
  “I want to ask a question.”

• Я хочу быть для тебя хорошим мужчиной 
  Ya khochu byt dlya tebya khoroshim muzhchinoy
  “I want to be a good man for you.”

If you’re a girl, change this last Russian sentence pattern a bit by saying: Я хочу быть для тебя хорошей девушкой (Ya khochu byt dlya tebya khoroshey devushkoy).

• Я хочу жить в Японии через несколько лет 
  Ya khochu zhit’ v Yaponii cherez neskolko let
  “I want to live in Japan in a few years.”

• Я хочу, чтобы вы перестали так громко разговаривать 
  Ya khochu, chtoby vy perestali tak gromko razgovarivat’
  “I want you to stop talking so loud.”

4. Expressing “Need”: I Need (to)… / I Have (to)…

These basic Russian sentence patterns are really easy and helpful at the same time. Check out some examples:

• Мне нужна ручка 
  Mne nuzhna ruchka
  “I need a pen.”

If the thing you need refers to the masculine gender, use нужен (nuzhen); if to the neutral, use нужно (nuzhno).

• Мне нужно попрактиковаться
  Mne nuzhno popraktikovat’sya
  “I need to practice.”

• Мне нужно попрактиковаться
  Seychas mne nuzhno idti
  “Now I have to go.”

In Russian, “need” and “have to” are normally expressed with the same word: нужно (nuzhno).

• Мне нужно воспользоваться ванной/Мне нужна ванная 
  Mne nuzhno vospol’zovat’sya vannoy/Mne nuzhna vannaya
  “I need to use the bathroom.”

• Мне нужно готовиться к экзамену
  Mne nuzhno gotovit’sya k ekzamenu
  “I have to prepare for my exam.”

5. Expressing “Like”: I Like (to)…

You need to know how to structure a Russian sentence using the verb “to like” in order to sound positive in your speech. We’ve prepared some basic Russian sentence patterns to get you started: 

• Ты мне нравишься 
  Ty mne nravish’sya
  “I like you.”

If you’re talking to an older person or somebody you don’t know very well, use Вы мне нравитесь (Vy mne nravites’) instead.

• Мне нравится готовить 
  Mne nravitsya gotovit’
  “I like to cook.”

• Мне нравится смотреть закаты на пляже 
  Mne nravitsya smotret’ zakaty na plyazhe
  “I like to watch sunsets at the beach.”

• Мне нравится его чувство юмора 
  Mne nravitsya ego chuvstvo yumora
  “I like his sense of humor.”

If you’re talking about a girl or a woman, simply replace его (ego) with её (yeyo).

• Мне нравится то, как моя мама ко мне относится 
  Mne nravitsya to, kak moya mama ko mne otnositsya
  “I like the way my mother treats me.”

6. Politely Asking Someone to Do Something: Please…

It’s important to know this easy Russian sentence structure if you want to make polite requests. Pay attention to these common Russian sentence patterns:

• Пожалуйста, сядь(те) 
  Pozhaluysta, syad’(te)
  “Please, sit.”

The form сядь (syad’) is applicable if you’re talking to your friend or a close relative. If you’re speaking to a group of people, to a person who’s older than you, or someone who’s not in a close relationship with you, use the form сядьте (syad’te). Remember this rule while reading and using the Russian sentence patterns below.

• Пожалуйста, послушай(те) меня 
  Pozhaluysta, poslushay(te) menya
  “Please, listen to me.”

• Пожалуйста, встаньте в очередь
  Pozhaluysta, vstan’te v ochered’
  “Please, stand in line.”

• Пожалуйста, прекрати(те) так нагло врать 
  Pozhaluysta, prekrati(te) tak naglo vrat’
  “Please, stop lying so brazenly.”

• Пожалуйста, познакомь(те) нас друг с другом
  Pozhaluysta, poznakom’(te) nas drug s drugom
  “Please, introduce us to each other.”

Being polite in Russian is as easy as in English.

7. Asking for Permission: May I / Can I?

If you visit Russia, it’s crucial that you know how to ask for permission. Moreover, these Russian phrases will help you sound polite. 

• Я могу войти? 
  Ya mogu voyti?
  “May I come in?”

• Можно мне воды? 
  Mozhno mne vody?
  “Can I get some water?”

• Я могу опоздать на 15 минут?
  Ya mogu opozdat’ na 15 minut?
  “Can I be 15 minutes late?”

• Могу я попросить твоего совета? 
  Mogu ya poprosit’ tvoyego soveta?
  “May I ask you for a piece of advice?”

To use the polite form, change твоего (tvoyego) to вашего (vashego).

• Могу ли я позвать своего друга? 
  Mogu li ya pozvat svoyego druga?
  “Can I invite my friend?”

8. Asking for Information About Something: What is/was…?

With these Russian sentence patterns, you’ll be able to ask about many core things. For instance:

• Что это? 
  Chto eto?
  “What is it?”

• Как его зовут? 
  Kak ego zovut?
  “What is his name?”

If you’re interested in a girl’s name, use её (yeyo) instead of его (ego) in this Russian sentence.

• Какое блюдо мы ели в последний раз? 
  Kakoye blyudo my yeli v posledniy raz?
  “What was the dish we had the last time?”

• Какой сегодня день? 
  Kakoy segodnya den’?
  “What is the day today?”

• Какой твой любимый цвет? 
  Kakoy tvoy lyubimyy tsvet?
  “What is your favorite color?”

In a formal situation or when talking to an older person, say ваш (vash), not твой (tvoy).

Asking questions helps you sound interested in another person while talking to him or her.

9. Asking About Time: When is…?

To ask a question in Russian about the time, use the following sentence patterns:

• Когда встреча? 
  Kogda vstrecha?
  “When is the meeting?”

• Когда наш рейс? 
  Kogda nash reys?
  “When is our flight?”

• Когда мы пойдём на море?
  Kogda my poydyom na more?
  “When will we go to the sea?”

• Когда они наконец поженятся и заведут детей?
  Kogda oni nakonets pozhenyatsya i zavedut detey?
  “When will they marry and have children?”

• Когда я уснул? 
  Kogda ya usnul?
  “When did I fall asleep?”

If you’re a woman, say уснула (usnula) instead of уснул (usnul).

10. Asking About Location or Position: Where is…?

Knowing the following Russian sentence structure and patterns, you’ll never get lost. They’ll also help you keep conversations going. Remember these examples:

• Где лифт? 
  Gde lift?
  “Where is the elevator?”

• Где ближайший ресторан?
  Gde blizhayshiy restoran?
  “Where is the nearest restaurant?”

• Где родился Джек Лондон?
  Gde rodilsya Dzhek London?
  “Where was Jack London born?”

• Где у вас тут туалет? 
  Gde u vas tut tualet?
  Gde u vas tut tualet?

• Где лучше подстричься?
  Gde luchshe podstrich’sya?
  “Where should I cut my hair?”

You should definitely know these questions if you go to Russia! 

11. Conclusion

In this article, you learned the top Russian language sentence structures every beginner should know. Each pattern in this article is correct and useful. 

Of course, there are many more speech constructions, and one article isn’t enough to name all of them. What we covered today should give you a good headstart and increase your speaking and writing level. If you want to learn more basic Russian sentence patterns to practice, visit RussianPod101.com. Here you’ll find a great deal of expressions for both beginners and advanced learners.

We also suggest that you use our premium service MyTeacher. If you choose to do so, a native Russian speaker will teach you, correct your mistakes, and test your knowledge. We’re sure that this method of studying will be the most efficient for you!

Feel free to let us know in the comments if you have any questions or need to know another sentence pattern!

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

1. What is Conjugation?
2. Conjugation Examples
3. Irregular Verbs
4. Test Your Knowledge!
5. 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: Дышать (dyshat’) — “to breathe” Держать (derzhat’) — “to hold” Гнать (gnat’) — “to drive fast” Ненавидеть (nenavidet’) — “to hate” Слышать (slyshat’) — “to hear” Вертеть (vertet’) — “to spin something” Смотреть (smotret’) — “to look” Видеть (videt’) — “to see” Обидеть (obidet’) — “to offend” Терпеть (terpet’) — “to tolerate” Зависеть (zaviset’) — “to depend”

• 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!

1. Я (жить) _______ в Екатеринбурге. Где вы (жить) _______?
   I live in Ekaterinburg. Where do you live?”

2. (Рассказывать)______ мне о своих увлечениях.
   “Tell me about your hobbies.”

3. Мы с друзьями (любить)______ (путешествовать)_______ и (изучать) _____ иностранные языки.
   “My friends and I, we love to travel and learn new languages.”

4. 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.”

5.  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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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. 

4. 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.

5.  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? ;)

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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:

• Top 100 Adjectives in Russian
• Top 100 Nouns in Russian
• Top Russian Pronouns

Table of Contents

1. Learning the Russian Verb Groups
2. Irregular Verbs in Russian
3. The Added L Sound
4. Consonant Changes in Russian Verbs
5. The 100 Must-Know Russian Verbs
6. 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!

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

1. Russian Personal Pronouns
2. Russian Possessive Pronouns
3. Russian Reflexive Pronouns
4. Russian Demonstrative Pronouns
5. Russian Determinative Pronouns
6. Russian Interrogative-Relative Pronouns
7. Russian Indefinite Pronouns
8. Russian Pronouns Exercises
9. 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
English	My own, his own, her own
Nominative	своё (svoyo)	свой (svoy)	своя (svoya)	свои (svoi)
Accusative	своё (svoyo)	свой, своего   (svoy, svoyego)	свою (svoyu)	свои, своих (svoi, svoikh)
Genitive	своего (svoyego)		своей (svoyey)	своих (svoikh)
Dative	своему (svoyemu)			своим (svoim)
Instrumental	своим (svoim)			своими (svoimi)
Prepositional	своём (svoyom)			своих (svoikh)

Ready to have a look at some example sentences? Here they are:

• Заботься о своём здоровье (Zabot’sya o svoyom zdorov’ye) — “Take care of your health.” 
• Он сегодня пойдёт с ней в кино (On segodnya poydyot s ney v kino) — “He will go to the cinema with her today.” 

3- The Emphatic Pronoun Сам

	Neutral	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
English	Myself, himself, herself
Nominative	само (samo)	сам (sam)	сама (sama)	сами (sami)
Accusative	само (samo)	сам, самого (sam, samogo)	саму (samu)	сами, самих (sami, samikh)
Genitive	самого (samogo)		самой (samoy)	самих (samikh)
Dative	самому (samomu)			самим (samim)
Instrumental	самим (samim)			самими (samimi)
Prepositional	самом (samom)			самих (samikh)

This is how this pronoun can be used in a sentence:

• Он сам так решил (On sam tak reshil) — “He decided it by himself.” 
• Она хочет сделать это задание сама (Ona khochet sdelat’ eto zadaniye sama) — “She wants to do this task by herself.” 

4. Russian Demonstrative Pronouns

The Russian demonstrative pronouns are:

• этот (etot) — “this”
• тот (tot) — “that”

And here’s another Russian pronouns chart for you to review:

	Neutral	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
English	This
Nominative	это (eto)	это (eto)	эта (eta)	эти (eti)
Accusative	это (eto)	этот, этого   (etot, etogo)	эту (etu)	эти, этих (eti, etikh)
Genitive	этого (etogo)		этой (etoy)	этих (etikh)
Dative	этому (etomu)			этим (etim)
Instrumental	этим (etim)			этими (etimi)
Prepositional	этом (etom)			этих (etikh)

	Neutral	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
English	That
Nominative	то (to)	тот (tot)	та (ta)	те (te)
Accusative	то (to)	тот, того (tot, tovo)	ту (tu)	те, тех (te, tekh)
Genitive	того (tovo)		той (toy)	тех (tekh)
Dative	тому (tomu)			тем (tem)
Instrumental	тем (tem)			теми (temi)
Prepositional	том (tom)			тех (tekh)

Here are some examples of these Russian language pronouns in a sentence:

• Ты можешь этим гордиться (Ty mozhesh’ etim gordit’sya) — “You can be proud of it.” 
• Я не знаю ту женщину (Ya ne znayu tu zhenshchinu) — “I don’t know that woman.” 

5. Russian Determinative Pronouns

There’s just one Russian determinative pronoun: весь (ves’), meaning “all” or “the whole.”

	Neutral	Masculine	Feminine	Plural
English	all, the whole
Nominative	всё (vsyo)	весь (ves’)	вся (vsya)	все (vse)
Accusative	всё (vsyo)	весь, всего   (ves’, vsego)	всю (vsyu)	все, всех (vse, vsekh)
Genitive	всего (vsego)		всей (vsey)	всех (vsekh)
Dative	всему (vsemu)			всем (vsem)
Instrumental	всем (vsem)			всеми (vsemi)
Prepositional	всём (vsyom)			всех (vsekh)

For example:

• Я весь промок (Ya ves’ promok) — “I’m all wet.” (if a man is talking)
• Ты весь горишь (Ty ves’ gorish’) — “You are burning.” (Meaning: “You have a fever.”)
• Мы все идём гулять в воскресенье, ты с нами? (My vse idyom gulyat’ v voskresen’ye, ty s nami?) — “We all are going out on Sunday, will you go with us?” 

6. Russian Interrogative-Relative Pronouns

The Russian interrogative-relative pronouns are: 

• кто (kto) — “who” 
• что (chto) — “what” 
• какой (kakoy) — “what” 
• который (kotoryy) — “which” 
• каков (kakov) — “how” or “what” 
• сколько (skol’ko) — “how much” 
• чей (chey) — “whose” 
• когда (kogda) — “when” 
• где (gde) — “where” (location) 
• куда (kuda) — “where to” (direction)
• как (kak) — “how” 
• откуда (otkuda) — “from where” 
• почему (pochemu) — “why” 
• зачем (zachem) — “what for”

You may wonder why two groups of pronouns—relative and interrogative—are joined into one. This is because, in the Russian language, in both cases the same pronouns are used while their functions in a sentence differ.

Russian interrogative pronouns are called вопросительные местоимения (voprositel’nyye mestoimeniya). They’re used to ask questions, and can also be called вопросительные слова (voprositel’nyye slova), meaning “question words.” Watch our video lesson about interrogative pronouns to learn more about them.

Russian relative pronouns are called относительные местоимения (otnositel’nyye mestoimeniya). They’re used to connect the parts in a complex sentence.

Only several Russian interrogative-relative pronouns are conjugated (yaaaay!). The following pronouns always stay the same:

• когда (kogda) — “when” 
• где (gde) — “where” (location)
• куда (kuda) — “where to” (direction)
• как (kak) — “how” 
• откуда (otkuda) — “from where” 
• почему (pochemu) — “why” 
• зачем (zachem) — “what for” 

That leaves us with seven pronouns. It’s important to know their conjugations because the same words—and the same rules of conjugation—work for the next group of pronouns, which will be indefinite pronouns. So, here’s a Russian pronoun declension chart:

English	What	Who	How many
Nominative	что (chto)	кто (kto)	сколько (skol’ko)
Accusative	что (chto)	кого (kovo)	сколько, скольких (skol’ko, skol’kikh)
Genitive	чего (chego)	кого (kogo)	скольких (skol’kikh)
Dative	чему (chemu)	кому (komu)	скольким (skol’kim)
Instrumental	чем (chem)	кем (kem)	сколькими (skol’kimi)
Prepositional	чём (chyom)	ком (kom)	скольких (skol’kikh)

The following pronouns are conjugation by the rules of adjective conjugation: 

• какой (kakoy) — “what” 
• который (kotoryy) — “which” 
• каков (kakov) — “how” or “what” 
• чей (chey) — “whose” 

For more information, check out our article about Russian adjectives.

Here are some example sentences of interrogative-relative pronouns in a sentence:

• Я не знаю, где мой телефон (Ya ne znayu gde moy telefon) — “I don’t know where my phone is.” 
• О чём ты думаешь? (O chyom ty dumayesh’?) — “What are you thinking about?” 
• Сколько сейчас времени? (Skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “What time is it now?” 

By the way, do you know another way to ask about time and how to answer this question correctly? If not, read our exhaustive article on time in Russian.

7. Russian Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are called неопределённые местоимения (neopredelyonnyye mestoimeniya) in Russian. These pronouns are formed from Russian interrogative-relative pronouns with the prefix не- (ne-), meaning “not.” There are also some particles that are used to form the indefinite pronouns: 

• кое- (koye-) — “some-” 
• -либо (-libo) — “any-” or “some-” 
• -то (-to) — “some-” 
• -нибудь (-nibud’) — “any-” 

Keep in mind that these particles are written with a hyphen.

Every particle has a meaning. It will be useful to know it in order to form indefinite pronouns from Russian interrogative-relative pronouns with it:

• не- (ne-) — “not” 

This particle means something indefinite or hard to describe. Also, it’s a negation of the following interrogative-relative pronoun, so sometimes it means that there are no options or solutions.

• кое- (koye-) — “some-” 

This also means something indefinite, but in most cases, the meaning is that the speaker doesn’t want to give exact information.

• -либо (-libo) — “any-” or “some-“

It’s tricky to separate the meaning of this particle from the particle -нибудь (-nibud’), meaning “any-,” because they mean the same thing. The only difference is that -нибудь (-nibud’) is very common and widely used in spoken language; it can also be used in all situations. On the other hand, -либо (-libo) creates bookish and official pronouns which are mostly used in questions.

• -нибудь (-nibud’) — “any-” or “some-” 

So, this particle means “at least something,” “at least someone,” “at least somewhere,” “at least somehow,” etc. It’s not important what you’re talking about exactly; just as long as there’s something, it’s fine.

• -то (-to) — “some-” 

This particle is used when the speaker doesn’t find that it’s important (for his story, claim, message, etc.) to name something directly. It helps keep the focus on the facts that really matter. This particle is very commonly used.

We’ve prepared example sentences with all of the possible variations for the most-used pronouns. Try to memorize sentences instead of learning dry rules. :)

1. кто (kto) — “who”

2. некто (nekto) — “someone” 

This is a very bookish word that refers to an unknown person. 

Некто приходил сюда и оставил окно открытым (Nekto prikhod’il syuda i ostavil okno otkrytym) — “Someone came here and left the window opened.” 

2. кое-кто (koye-kto) — “someone” 

Compared to the previous pronoun, this word is much more frequently used in spoken language. Most of the time, a speaker uses this word when talking about someone he knows, usually an opponent of some sort. The speaker could even jokingly refer to themselves as the opponent to be ironic. 

Кое-кто съел всё мороженое, что у нас было (Koye-kto s’yel vsyo morozhenoye, chto u nas bylo) — “Someone specific ate all the ice-cream we had.” 

2. кто-либо (kto-libo) — “anyone” 

This word is also pretty bookish, and in spoken language, it’s better to use кто-нибудь (kto-nibud’), meaning “anybody.” 

Не желает ли кто-либо из присутствующих чаю? (Ne zhelayet li kto-libo iz prisutstvuyushchikh chayu?) — “Does anyone from the people who are here fancy some tea?” 

2. кто-то (kto-to) — “somebody” 

This is a very common word in speech. 

Кто-то мне звонит (Kto-to mne zvonit) — “Someone calls me (on the phone).” 

2. кто-нибудь (kto-nibud’) — “anybody” 

This word is used a lot in spoken language. 

Кто-нибудь хочет пиццу? (Kto-nibud’ khochet pitsu?) — “Does anybody want a pizza?” 

2. что (chto) — “what”

1. нечто (nechto) — “something” (that a speaker has difficulty describing)

This is a very bookish word. 

В темноте было нечто большое и пугающее (V temnote bylo nechto bol’shoye i pugayushcheye) — “There was something big and scary in the darkness.” 

1. кое-что (koye-chto) — “something specific” (the speaker knows what, but doesn’t want to name it)

This is a very common pronoun in spoken language. 

Мне нужно еще кое-что купить, я вас догоню (Mne nuzhno eshchyo koye-chto kup’it’, ya vas dogonyu) — “I need to buy something else; I’ll come up with you.” 

1. что-либо (chto-libo) — “anything” 

This word is also pretty bookish, and when speaking, it’s better to use что-нибудь (chto-nibud’), which also means “anything.” 

Не имеется возможности что-либо предпринять на текущий момент (Ne imeyetsya vozmozhnosti chto-libo predprinyat’ na tekushchiy moment) — “There is no opportunity to do anything at the current moment.” 

1. что-то (chto-to) — “something” 

This is a very common word in spoken language. 

Кто-то мне звонит (Kto-to mne zvonit) — “Someone calls me (on the phone).” 

1. что-нибудь (chto-nibud’) — “anything” 

This word is used a lot in spoken language. 

Ты хочешь что-нибудь? (Ty khochesh’ chto-nibud’?) — “Do you want anything?” 

Please note that not all of the particles are used with every interrogative-relative pronoun, and some of the words change form. Below is a chart of all possible combinations (we’ve excluded old pronouns that are hardly used in modern language). 

You’ll see that some indefinite pronouns have exactly the same translation—especially with the particles -нибудь (-nibud’) and -либо (-libo). To spot the difference in meaning, check out the explanation about indefinite particles above.

	Variations	Example Sentence
какой (kakoy) “What”	некий (nekiy) With some not very well-known characteristic; little-known Usually followed by a person’s name, surname, or nickname кое-какой (koye-kakoy) With indefinite characteristics; with bad quality какой-либо (kakoy-libo) This or that; any from the group of the same; not worth attention какой-нибудь (kakoy-nibud’) This or that; any from the group of the same; not worth attention какой-то (kakoy-to) Not clear which exactly	Тебя у дверей ждёт какой-то мужчина Tebya u dverey zhdyot kakoy-to muzhchina. “There is a man that waits for you near the door.”
который (kotoryy) “Which”	некоторый (nekotoryy) Not stated definitely; not very significant который-нибудь (kotoryy-nibud’) Any one out of several	Он некоторое время молчал  On nekotoroye vremya molchal. “He didn’t say anything (kept silent) for some time.”
сколько (skol’ko) “How much”	несколько (neskol’ko) Indefinite small amount сколько-либо (skol’ko-libo) Indefinite amount (usually a small one) сколько-то (skol’ko-to) Indefinite amount сколько-нибудь (skol’ko-nibud’) Indefinite amount	Рассказать в нескольких словах Rasskazat’ v neskol’kikh slovakh “To tell in a small amount of words”
чей (chey) “Whose”	чей-либо (chey-libo) Belonging to someone, not known to whom чей-нибудь (chey-nibud’) Belonging to someone, not known to whom чей-то (chey-to) Belonging to someone	Чья-то забытая книга лежит на столе  Ch’ya-to zabytaya kniga lezhit na stole. “Someone’s forgotten the book that lies on the table.”
когда (kogda) “When”	некогда (nekogda) No spare time кое-когда (koye-kogda) Sometimes; seldom когда-либо (kogda-libo) (In) some time когда-нибудь (kogda-nibud’) (In) some time когда-то (kogda-to) Some time ago; in the past; some time in the future	Мне некогда  Mne nekogda. “I don’t have time (I’m busy).”
где (gde) “Where” (location)	негде (negde) No place (where something could be done) кое-где (koye-gde) Somewhere; in some (usually rare) place где-либо (gde-libo) In any possible place где-нибудь (gde-nibud’) In any possible place где-то (gde-to) In some place	Мне негде заниматься  Mne negde zanimat’sya. “I don’t have a place to study.”
куда (kuda) “Where to” (direction)	некуда (nekuda) No place where to куда-либо (kuda-libo) Somewhere to; doesn’t matter where куда-нибудь (kuda-nibud’) Somewhere to; doesn’t matter where куда-то (kuda-to) Somewhere to; unknown where to	Я хочу куда-нибудь в отпуск  Ya khochu kuda-nibud’ v otpusk. “I wanna go on vacation somewhere (not stay at home).”
как (kak) “How”	кое-как (koye-kak) With great difficulty; negligently; anyhow как-либо (kak-libo)  In any possible way как-нибудь (kak-nibud’) In any possible way как-то (kak-to) In an indefinite way, not clear how; to an extent; once upon a time	Он кое-как помыл посуду  On koye-kak pomyl posudu. “He washed the dishes in a slapdash manner.”
откуда (otkuda) “From where”	неоткуда (neotkuda) No place from where откуда-нибудь (otkuda-nibud’) From somewhere откуда-либо (otkuda-libo) From somewhere откуда-то (otkuda-to) From some unknown place or from some source	Он только что откуда-то приехал  On tol’ko chto otkuda-to priyekhal. “He’s just arrived from somewhere.”
почему (pochemu) “Why”	почему-либо (pochemu-libo) According to some indefinite reason почему-нибудь (pochemu-nibud’) According to some indefinite reason почему-то (pochemu-to) Due to an unknown reason	Он почему-то не пришёл  On pochemu-to ne prishyol. “He hasn’t come (due to an unknown reason).”
зачем (zachem) “What for”	незачем (nezachem) No need зачем-либо (zachem-libo) With some, not definitely known reason/goal зачем-нибудь (zachem-nibud’) With some, not definitely known reason/goal зачем-то (zachem-to) For something; for some goal	Тебя зачем-то вызывает начальник  Tebya zachem-to vyzyvayet nachal’nik. “The boss calls you for something.”

8. Russian Pronouns Exercises

Wow, impressive. You’ve mastered all the nuances of Russian pronouns. Seems like you’re a responsible person to trust with such an important mission. Alright, here are the messages that need to be delivered:

1. В доме с красными занавесками есть комната. В комнате лежит книга. Ответ в ней. Скорее!

(V dome s krasnymi zanaveskami yest’ komnata. V komnate lezhit kniga. Otvet v ney. Skoreye!)

There is a room in the house with red curtains. There is a thick book in the room. The answer is in it. Hurry up!

A possible answer: В доме с красными ними есть она. В ней лежит кое-что. Он в нём. Скорее! (V nyom s krasnymi nimi yest’ ona. V ney lezhit koye-chto. On v nyom. Skoreye!)—”There is it in the house with red them. There is something lying inside it. It is in it. Hurry up!”

2. Операция началась. Будь осторожным. Не ходи в бар “Белая лошадь”.

(Operatsiya nachalas’. Bud’ ostorozhnym. Ne khodi v bar “Belaya loshad’”).

The operation has started. Be careful. Don’t go to the bar “White horse.”

A possible answer: Она началась. Будь осторожным. Не ходи в тот бар. (Ona nachalas’. Bud’ ostorozhnym. Ne khodi v tot bar)—”It has started. Be careful. Don’t go to that bar.”

Now practice replacing the nouns with pronouns in the comments below.

To finalize your Russian pronouns journey listen to our special podcast about Russian pronouns. It will also help you to improve your Russian pronouns pronunciation.

9. Conclusion

Well, well, well, that was a wonderful trip through the mysteries of Russian pronouns, wasn’t it? Now, you’ll be able to use Russian pronouns correctly in a sentence—that’s a new, serious step toward language fluency. So, well done!

If you want to continue improving your language skills, think about getting professional help from a language tutor. He or she will help you spot mistakes, improve your pronunciation, and help you start talking in Russian. Like REALLY TALKING. Wanna check how effective that will be for you? Then give RussianPod101’s MyTeacher program for Russian-learners a try. Schedule a trial lesson right now and get ready for a language boost!

Before you go, let us know in the comments if you’ve learned anything new about Russian pronouns today! Did we forget any words in our Russian pronouns list? We look forward to hearing from you!

Have you ever had difficulties with combining Russian words? We’re sure you know what we’re talking about. Russian word order is important because it makes sentences make sense. Without understanding the main principles of combining words, you won’t be able to communicate with native speakers while, let’s say, vacationing in Russia over the holidays or chatting on social media.Russian sentence structure is one of the most significant parts of learning the grammar rules of this language. If you learn how to make sentences word by word now, you probably won’t have problems with more difficult themes in the future. So let’s start studying!

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Word Order in Russian
2. Basic Word Order with Subject, Verb, and Object
3. Word Order with Prepositional Phrases
4. Word Order with Modifiers
5. How to Change Your Sentence into a Yes-or-No Question
6. Translation Exercises
7. Conclusion

1. Overview of Word Order in Russian

The Russian language word order is SVO, but the existing grammar rules allow us to change it. So, sometimes, the typical SVO Russian word order can become VSO. That’s why we can say that word order in Russian sentences is quite flexible.

So, does word order matter in Russian? When comparing word order in English and Russian, we can notice one big difference. Russian word order doesn’t matter grammatically as much as English word order does.

Before having Russian sentence structure practice, you should definitely learn the most popular Russian phrases and words. It’s impossible to make sentences without knowing them by heart.

If you’re an advanced speaker, you may read Russian books and learn new words from them.

2. Basic Word Order with Subject, Verb, and Object

According to the basic Russian word order, you must start your sentence with the subject. Then comes the verb, followed by the object. If you use this word order in Russian sentences, you’ll never make a mistake. For example:

• Я читаю книгу. (Ya chitayu knigu.) — “I read a book.”

There are also some cases when you can use VSO instead of SVO. It’s appropriate if the sentence contains two verbs, and you want to emphasize the first one. It sounds good if you’re telling a story. For example:

• Читаю я книгу и вдруг… (Chitayu ya knigu i vdrug…) — “I’m reading a book, and suddenly…”

Be careful with VSO in Russian, though. It may sound really weird if you use it while making an order in a restaurant, talking to a stewardess during your flight to Russia, in an emergency, or in other formal situations.

3. Word Order with Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases answer the following questions:

• Where?
• When?
• In what way?

Prepositional phrases that answer the question “Where?” are typically used at the end of the sentence, after the object:

• Я читаю книгу дома. (Ya chitayu knigu doma.) — “I read a book at home.”

In Russian sentence structure, prepositional phrases that answer the question “When?” are put either at the very beginning or at the end of a sentence. The meaning of the phrase will change a bit, though. For example:

• Сегодня я читаю книгу. (Segodnya ya chitayu knigu.) — “Today, I read a book.” 
  • In this case, this sentence answers the question “What did I do today?”
• Я читаю книгу сегодня. (Ya chitayu knigu segodnya.) — “I read a book today.” 
  • This one answers the question “When did I read a book?”

Prepositional phrases that answer the question “In what way?” can be used right after the noun or at the end, after the verb. Both variants are grammatically correct, but the first one sounds more natural:

• Я увлеченно читаю книгу. (Ya uvlechyonno chitayu knigu.) — “I enthusiastically read a book.”
• Я читаю книгу увлеченно. (Ya chitayu knigu uvlechyonno.) — “I read a book enthusiastically.”

When there are two (or even more) prepositional phrases, you should use them in the following order:

• Put the prepositional phrase of time in the first place, before the noun.
• Add the prepositional phrase that answers the question “In what way?“ after the noun.
• Use the prepositional phrase of place after the object, at the end.

Here’s an example:

• Сегодня я увлеченно читаю книгу дома. (Segodnya ya uvlechyonno chitayu knigu doma.) — “Today, I enthusiastically read a book at home.”

If you don’t want to learn all these rules about building sentences in Russian, you may always put the prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence. Of course, doing so is appropriate only for beginners. Advanced students must know and use more complex rules regarding sentence structure in Russian.

4. Word Order with Modifiers

In most cases, the modifier is an adjective which describes something. In Russian word order, adjectives are always used before nouns:

• Я читаю интересную книгу. (Ya chitayu interesnuyu knigu.) — “I read an interesting book.”

If there are two or more adjectives in the sentence, you should:

• Firstly, use the one which expresses your own opinion about the subject or marks something about the subject that’s not very stable.
• Use the adjective which denotes a very stable aspect as close to the noun as possible.

For example:

• Я читаю интересную научную книгу. (Ya chitayu interesnuyu nauchnuyu knigu.) — “I read an interesting scientific book.”

Note that Russian sentence structure with adjectives is more or less flexible. There are no actual Russian word order rules that say you must use one type of adjective before another (e.g. shape before color). Try not to think too hard about how to order words in Russian when it comes to adjectives.

Other modifiers include the determiner, the numeral, and the possessive. According to the most typical word order in Russian, all modifiers like these come before the noun:

• Я читаю эту книгу. (Ya chitayu etu knigu.) — “I read this book.”
• Я читаю одну книгу. (Ya chitayu odnu knigu.) — “I read one book.”
• Я читаю его книгу. (Ya chitayu yego knigu.) — “I read his book.”

5. How to Change Your Sentence into a Yes-or-No Question

Typical Russian sentence structure makes it really easy to change affirmative constructions into yes-or-no-questions. If you want your Russian question word order to be correct, follow our instructions:

• Put the verb at the beginning.
• Add the conjunction ли (li) after the verb.
• Then use the noun and the object.

Here’s an example:

• Читаю ли я книгу? (Chitayu li ya knigu?) — “Do I read a book?”

6. Translation Exercises

We hope that you’ve read the information above thoroughly and understand the basic Russian sentence structures. Now we need to practice a bit with new sentences. We’ll use the most common Russian word order: SVO.

Please, stop comparing Russian sentence structure to that of English. They are both easy and comprehendible, believe us.

First of all, try to translate this phrase using your knowledge about how Russian sentences are structured:

• “I watched a movie.”

You may use the Russian dictionary if you don’t know the translations of some words. 

If it’s difficult for you, think about Russian sentence structure compared to that in English. What do you know about them? They’re both SVOs! That’s why you can translate the simplest sentence word by word without the fear of making mistakes.

The correct Russian translation of the sentence above is:

• Я посмотрел фильм. (Ya posmotrel fil’m.)

Now let’s translate a slightly more difficult variant of this sentence:

• “I watched a good movie.”

If you’re struggling, look at our Russian sentence structure examples. There you’ll see that the adjective always comes before the noun:

• Я посмотрел хороший фильм. (Ya posmotrel khoroshiy fil’m.)

Now it’s time to make our English sentence more difficult. Translate this one:

• “I watched a good movie yesterday.”

Don’t panic! There are two ways to make this sentence:

• Вчера я посмотрел хороший фильм. (Vchera ya posmotrel khoroshiy fil’m.)
• Я посмотрел хороший фильм вчера. (Ya posmotrel khoroshiy fil’m vchera.)

Now try to translate the question:

• Did I watch a good movie yesterday?

There are two correct ways to translate it:

• Посмотрел ли я вчера хороший фильм? (Posmotrel li ya vchera khoroshiy fil’m?)
• Посмотрел ли я хороший фильм вчера? (Posmotrel li ya khoroshiy fil’m vchera?)

Sometimes there’s more than one appropriate way to express your thoughts in Russian.

7. Conclusion 

You’ve learned a lot about Russian sentence structure and word order. We gave you not only the basic rules, but also some advanced techniques to build complex Russian sentences. Of course, it may seem too difficult right now. But don’t forget that Russian people don’t even think about how to combine words while speaking or writing. You only need some practice to do the same.

No one can fully cover the theme of sentence structure in Russian in one article, because this language is too rich. We’re sure you still have some questions: how to structure a sentence in Russian if there are two subjects and two verbs, how to form complex questions, how Russian sentence structure works in sentences with relative clauses, etc.

If you want to know more about this theme and find the answers to the above-mentioned questions, explore RussianPod101.com. Here you’ll find lots of free materials regarding vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. You’ll be able to download some useful information about Russian sentence structure.Do you want to try personal coaching? You can check our Premium PLUS service MyTeacher and take the assessment test to get started.

This article is the result of a diligent inquiry into the question of how native Russians are actually telling time in Russian. If you’ve taken a peek at this topic before, you probably know that Russians usually add one of the following words to the number of hours:

• утра (utra) — “of the morning”
• дня (dnya) — “of the day”
• вечера (vechera) — “of the evening”
• ночи (nochi) — “of the night” 

But how would you define three a.m.? Is it still night or is it already morning? 

Well, the Russian language is very flexible, so both options are possible depending on the context and what you want to emphasize. If you’re talking about early wakeups, saying Сегодня я встал в 3 утра (Segodnya ya vstal v tri utra), or “Today I woke up at three in the morning,” will be just right.

If you want to put an extra dose of indignation because something has woken you up in the middle of the night, then it will be perfect to say: В три ночи меня разбудил звонок от начальника (V tri nochi menya razbudil zvonok ot nachal’nika), meaning “At three of the night I’ve been woken up by a call from my boss.”

Exciting, isn’t it?

Understanding the limits of language flexibility will help you feel more comfortable using the Russian language for telling time in Russian. In this article, we’ll also explore Russian hours and minutes, and learn how to ask the time in Russian. So, let’s take a bite from this delicious, juicy piece of knowledge!

→ If you want to learn about both date and time in Russian, RussianPod101 has prepared an article on Russian Dates for you. The two go hand-in-hand, after all!

Table of Contents

1. How to Ask the Time in Russian
2. Russian Hours
3. Minutes in Russian
4. Useful Patterns
5. Conclusion

1. How to Ask the Time in Russian

So, how do you say “What time is it?” in Russian? There are two main phrases:

• Сколько времени? (Skol’ko vremeni?) — “What time is it?”
• Который час? (Kotoryy chas?) — (lit.) “Which hour is it?” / “What time is it?”

These phrases are used equally for asking about time in Russian, depending on the speaker’s preference. Let’s have a closer look at each phrase so that you can decide which one to use in your active vocabulary. 

1- Сколько времени? (Skol’ko vryemeni?)

“What time is it?” in the Russian language is Сколько времени? (Skol’ko vremeni?).

Let’s have a closer look at the words in this question and see how we can expand on it to sound better.

• The word cколько (skol’ko) is a basic question word which means “how much” or “how many.” For example, you can ask Сколько это стоит? (Skol’ko eto stoit?), meaning “How much does it cost?”

• The word время (vremya) means “time.” If you search online for время в России в Москве (vremya v Rossii v Moskve), or “time in Russia Moscow,” the search will show you what time it is in the Russian capital. (By the way, did you know that there are eleven time zones in Russia?)

You can also add “now” to this phrase. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it makes a phrase a bit longer and, thus, more polite. “Now” in Russian is cейчас (seychas). To remember this word, you can divide it into two parts. The first half cей (sey) is a word often found in old Russian literature that means “this.” The second half час (chas) means “hour.” So basically, the word cейчас (seychas) means “this hour.” Cool, right?

Now let’s put it in a phrase: Сколько сейчас времени? (Skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “What time is it now?”

The phrase became slightly more polite, but it’s still very informal. 

If you want to ask your colleague about the time in Russian, you need to add a special phrase in front of this question: 

• Ты не подскажешь, сколько сейчас времени? (Ty ne podskazhesh’, skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “Could you tell me, what time is it now?” 

Or this question:

• Вы не подскажете, сколько сейчас времени? (Vy ne podskazhete, skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “Could you tell me, what time is it now?” 

The word подсказать (podskazat’) means “prompt (to).” Use the first question if you’ve agreed to talk with your colleague in an informal way, or as Russians say на “ты” (na “ty”), meaning “using informal ‘you’.” Use the second sentence in all other cases; it’s very polite. If you want to know more about the differences between the Russian formal and informal “you,” read our article on Russian pronouns.

You can make this phrase even more polite, especially if you’re addressing a stranger on the street. Before the question, add Извините, пожалуйста (Izvinite, pozhaluysta), which means “Excuse me, please.” So, the whole phrase will be: 

• Извините, пожалуйста, вы не подскажете, сколько сейчас времени? (Izvinite, pozhaluysta, vy ne podskazhete, skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “Could you tell me, please, what time is it now?” 

This phrase will still sound very polite if you exclude the word пожалуйста (pozhaluysta), meaning “please”: 

• Извините, вы не подскажете, сколько сейчас времени? (Izvinite, vy ne podskazhete, skol’ko seychas vremeni?) — “Could you tell me, what time is it now?” 

It’s totally up to you to use it or not.

Such a transformation! Now you know the first phrase for how to ask the time in Russian both formally and informally. 

2- Который час? (Kotoryy chas?)

Now, it’s time to break down the second phrase.

• The word который (kotoryy) means “which” or “what.” For example, you can ask Который из двух тебе нравится? (Kotoryy iz dvukh tebe nravitsya?), meaning “Which one out of the two do you like?”

• In Russian, “hour” is час (chas). We’ve already seen it as part of the word cейчас (seychas), meaning “now.”

You can also add cейчас (yeychas), or “now,” in the middle of the phrase: 

• Который сейчас час? (Kotoryy seychas chas?) — “Which hour is it now?”

Also, you can add the polite expressions to the beginning—it works absolutely the same as with the first phrase: 

• Извините, вы не подскажете, который час? (Izvinite, vy ne podskazhete, kotoryy chas?) — “Could you tell me, what time is it?”

There you go! So, which phrase do you choose? How do YOU say “What time is it?” in Russian? Share in the comment section below! We’re really curious.

2. Russian Hours

When it comes to talking about time in Russian, it’s important to know which time system to use—twelve-hour or twenty-four-hour. In Russia, people use both systems in different situations. In a conversation, Russians prefer using the twelve-hour clock; in all kinds of official messages (e.g. TV programs, flight schedules, official meetings, etc.), they use the twenty-four-hour clock.

Below, you’ll learn how to use both systems properly for telling time in Russian.

1- Twelve-hour Clock in Russian

At the beginning of this article, you already discovered that the time of day in Russian is added to the number of hours: 

утра (utra) — “of the morning” 

дня (dnya) — “of the day” 

вечера (vechera) — “of the evening” 

ночи (nochi) — “of the night” 

And Russians choose the word depending on what time of day it is for them. If three a.m. is already morning for you, then use утра (utra), or “of the morning.” If it’s still night, then use ночи (nochi), meaning “of the night.”

Here’s a list that will be helpful for telling time in Russian: 

• Час ночи (chas nochi) — “1 a.m.” 
• Два часа ночи (dva chasa nochi) — “2 a.m.”
• Три часа ночи (tri chasa nochi) — “3 a.m.”
• Четыре часа ночи (chetyre chasa nochi) — “4 a.m.”
• Пять часов утра (pyat’ chasov utra) — “5 a.m.”
• Шесть часов утра (shest’ chasov utra) — “6 a.m.”
• Семь часов утра (sem’ chasov utra) — “7 a.m.”
• Восемь часов утра (vosem’ chasov utra) — “8 a.m.”
• Девять часов утра (devyat’ chasov utra) — “9 a.m.”
• Десять часов утра (desyat’ chasov utra) — “10 a.m.”
• Одиннадцать часов утра (odinnadtsat’ chasov utra) — “11 a.m.”
• Двенадцать часов дня (dvenadtsat’ chasov utra) — “12 p.m.” or Полдень (polden’) — “Midday”
• Час дня (chas dnya) — “1 p.m.”
• Два часа дня (dva chasa dnya) — “2 p.m.”
• Три часа дня (tri chasa dnya) — “3 p.m.”
• Четыре часа дня (chetyre chasa dnya) — “4 p.m.”
• Пять часов вечера (pyat’ chasov vechera) — “5 p.m.”
• Шесть часов вечера (shest’ chasov vechera) — “6 p.m.”
• Семь часов вечера (sem’ chasov vechera) — “7 p.m.”
• Восемь часов вечера (vosem’ chasov vechera) — “8 p.m.”
• Девять часов вечера (devyat’ chasov vechera) — “9 p.m.”
• Десять часов вечера (desyat’ chasov vechera) — “10 p.m.”
• Одиннадцать часов вечера (odinnadtsat’ chasov vechera) — “11 p.m.”
• Двенадцать часов ночи (dvenadtsat’ chasov nochi) — “12 a.m.” or Полночь (polnoch’) — “Midnight”

You’re probably wondering why the word час (chas) behaves differently after numbers. The thing is that Russian nouns change their endings depending on the numbers that stand before them, according to Russian noun declension rules. 

After the number of hours, the noun should be in the genitive case. The only thing that changes is the grammatical number of the noun. For numbers from two to four, the noun should be in the singular form; for numbers five or above, the noun should be in the plural form. 

What about numbers like twenty-three? The last number is taken into consideration. Here, the last number is три (tri), or “three,” so the noun after it will behave according to the rules of “three.” By the way, the same rule applies to the word минута (minuta), or “minute,” which we’ll discuss in detail shortly. :)

Please note that Russians don’t usually add один (odin), or “one,” to the beginning of час ночи (chas nochi) meaning “1 a.m.” or час дня (chas dnya) meaning “1 p.m.”

Another thing that you should know is that, in informal speech, Russians usually exclude the word час (chas), or “hour.” So, for example, Одиннадцать часов утра (odinnadtsat’ chasov utra), or “11 a.m.,” will be одиннадцать утра (odinnadtsat’ utra), meaning “11 a.m.”

Now, practice telling time in Russian using the twelve-hour clock. Here are some examples:

• Я встаю в семь утра (Ya vstayu v sem’ utra) — “I wake up at 7 a.m.” 
• Сейчас восемь вечера (Seychas vosem’ vechera) — “It’s 8 p.m. now.”

So, what time do you usually wake up? What time is it now? Share in the comments below. In Russian, of course. ;)

2- Twenty-four-hour Clock in Russian

Russians use the twenty-four-hour time system for official purposes. Learn how to tell time in Russian with twenty-four-hour time-tables: 

• Один час (chas nochi) — “01:00” 
• Два часа (dva chasa) — “02:00”
• Три часа (tri chasa) — “03:00”
• Четыре часа (chetyre chasa) — “04:00”
• Пять часов (pyat’ chasov) — “05:00”
• Шесть часов (shest’ chasov) — “06:00”
• Семь часов (sem’ chasov) — “07:00”
• Восемь часов (vosem’ chasov) — “08:00”
• Девять часов (devyat’ chasov) — “09:00”
• Десять часов (desyat’ chasov) — “10:00”
• Одиннадцать часов (odinnadtsat’ chasov) — “11:00”
• Двенадцать часов (dvenadtsat’ chasov) — “12:00”
• Тринадцать часов (trinadtsat’ chasov) — “13:00”
• Четырнадцать часов (chetyrnadtsat’ chasov) — “14:00”
• Пятнадцать часов (pyatnadtsat’ chasov) — “15:00”
• Шестнадцать часов (shestnadtsat’ chasov) — “16:00”
• Семнадцать часов (semnadtsat’ chasov) — “17:00”
• Восемнадцать часов (vosemnadtsat’ chasov) — “18:00”
• Девятнадцать часов (devyatnadtsat’’ chasov) — “19:00”
• Двадцать часов (dvadtsat’ chasov) — “20:00”
• Двадцать один час (dvadtsat’ odin chas) — “21:00”
• Двадцать два часа (dvadtsat’ dva chasa) — “22:00”
• Двадцать три часа (dvadtsat’ tri chasa) — “23:00”
• Ноль часов (nol’ chasov) — “00:00”

You can listen to our audio lesson to practice talking about time. 

Here are some examples for you:

• Совещание назначено на одиннадцать часов (Soveshchaniye naznacheno na odinnadtsat’ chasov) — “The meeting has been appointed to start at 11:00.” 

• Московское время двенадцать часов (Moskovskoe vremya dvenadtsat’ chasov) — “The Moscow time is 12:00.” 

Practice telling time in Russian by making your own sentences and writing them in the comments section at the end of this article.

3. Minutes in Russian 

“Minute” in Russian is минута (minuta). It’s pretty easy to tell the exact time with the twenty-four-hour clock using this word. Just remember the noun declension rule that we discussed for the word час (chas). Let’s see three possible forms of this word:

• Шестнадцать часов сорок одна минута (shestnadtsat’ chasov sorok odna minuta) — “16:41”
• Двадцать один час двадцать три минуты (dvadtsat’ odin chas dvadtsat’ tri minuty) — “21:23”
• Пятнадцать часов тридцать минут (pyatnadtsat’ chasov tridtsat’ minut) — “15:30”
• Пять часов шесть минут (pyat’ chasov shest’ minut) — “05:06”
• Восемь часов ноль минут (vosem’ chasov nol’ minut) — “08:00”

When Russians add minutes, they often omit the words минута (minuta) and час (chas). If there are zeros in the number of minutes, they are pronounced. So, the times above will be pronounced as:

• Шестнадцать сорок одна (shestnadtsat’ sorok odna) — “16:41”
• Двадцать один двадцать три (dvadtsat’ odin dvadtsat’ tri) — “21:23”
• Пятнадцать тридцать (pyatnadtsat’ tridtsat’) — “15:30”
• Пять ноль шесть (pyat’ nol’ shest’) — “05:06”
• Восемь ноль ноль (vosem’ nol’ nol’) — “08:00”

Now, let’s explore how to talk about time in Russia during a conversation.

In Russia, there are two scenarios for choosing a language pattern to give the minutes. The first one is used for the first half of the hour—the minutes from one to thirty. Russians look at the hour after the current one, and count how many minutes of this hour have already passed. For example, it’s 15:03. This means that three minutes of the fifteenth hour have already passed. 

Please note that you’ll need to use ordinal numbers. Read our article about Russian numbers to learn more.

Here are some examples:

• Пять минут четвертого (pyat’ minut chetvyortogo) — “3:05”
• Одна минута второго (odna minuta vtorogo) — “1:01 “
• Девятнадцать минут десятого (devyatnadtsat’ minut desyatogo) — “09:19”

This pattern might seem a bit complicated. Believe me, this is true even for Russians! That’s why some of them simply state the hours and minutes, omitting the words минута (minuta) and час (chas):

• Три ноль три (tri nol’ tri) — “3:03”
• Час ноль одна (chas nol’ odna) — “1:01 “
• Девять девятнадцать (devyat’ devyatnadtsat’) — “09:19”

The second pattern is used to talk about the second half of the hour. Russians count how many minutes are left before the upcoming hour. For example, it’s 15:40. This means that twenty minutes are left before the sixteenth hour. 

Here are some examples:

• Без двадцати четыре (bez dvadtsati chetyre) — “3:40”
• Без трёх минут девять (bez tryokh minut devyat’) — “8:57”
• Без восьми минут пять (bez vos’mi minut pyat’) — “4:52”

Please note that for the most-used increments of minutes, such as twenty, fifteen, ten, and five, the word “minutes” is almost always omitted.

What about утра (utra)—”of the morning,” дня (dnya)—”of the day,” вечера (vechera)—”of the evening,” and ночи (nochi)—”of the night?” Are they used when we add minutes? 

Yes, of course. But in most cases, they’re omitted when it’s clear from the context what part of the day it is.

4. Useful Patterns

Okay, so how do Russians tell time? It’s time to learn patterns that don’t need to include the word “minute.” The following patterns can be used only for the twelve-hour clock system:

• Половина (polovina) — here: “half an hour to” 

For example, половина третьего (polovina tryet’yego), meaning “02:30” or “half an hour to three.”

• Пол- (pol-) — here: “half an hour to” 

For example, полчетвёртого (polchetvyortogo), meaning “03:30” or “half an hour to four.” Please note that you don’t need to put a hyphen after пол- (pol-) except for with one number: одиннадцать (odinnadtsat’), or “11.” For this number, it will be пол-одиннадцатого (pol-odinnadtsatogo), or “10:30.” 

• Четверть (chetvert’) — here: “quarter past” 

For example, четверть седьмого (chetvert’ sed’mogo), meaning “06:15” or “quarter past six.” 

• Без четверти (bez chetverti) — here: “quarter to” 

For example, без четверти десять (bez chetverti desyat’), meaning “09:45” or “quarter to ten.” 

The following patterns can be used for both the twelve-hour and twenty-four-hour clock systems:

• Ровно (rovno) — “exactly” 

For example, ровно шесть утра (rovno shest’ utra), meaning “exactly 06:00.” Or ровно шесть ноль ноль (rovno shest’ nol’ nol’), meaning “exactly 06:00.” 

• Почти (pochti) — “almost” 

For example, почти пять часов (pochti pyat’ chasov), meaning “almost 05:00.”

Do you need more words and expressions of time in Russian? Here’s our vocabulary list to talk about time. Check it out!

5. Conclusion

Yaaay, you did it! Now, telling time in Russian shouldn’t feel that hard. You also know how to ask the time in Russian. 

To practice telling time in Russian, we strongly recommend that you do a listening practice with our special audio lesson about time. 

If you want to dig even more into the topic of time, learn the phrase “What time does it open?” from our audio lesson and check out our article on how to read dates in Russian.

Searching for a professional Russian tutor? Here’s RussianPod101’s MyTeacher program for Russian-learners. Native Russian teachers with impressive teaching backgrounds will help you to understand all the grammar rules and enrich your vocabulary. Just take a trial lesson to see how it works for you. ;-)

Before you go, let us know in the comments what new Russian nouns you learned today! Are there any you still want to know? We look forward to hearing from you!