Russian Classroom-Verb Conjugation

The first conjugation

The first conjugation is used for verbs ending in “ть” but not “ить”. It is the most common. To form the verb for each person you need to drop the last two letters of the infinitive (normally “ть”), and add the appropriate ending (“ю”, “ешь”, “ет”, “ем”, “ете” or “ют”).Let’s take a look at a verb that uses the first conjugation: работать (to work).

работать – To work. (infinitive, dictionary form)

Я работаю – I work

Ты работаешь – You work

Он, Она, Оно работает – He, She, It works.

Мы работаем – We work

Вы работаете – You work.

Они работают – They work.

Let’s try some other Russian words from the first conjugation:

понимать – To understand. (infinitive, dictionary form)

Я понимаю – I understand.

Ты понимаешь – You understand.

Он, Она, Оно понимает – He, She, It understands

Мы понимаем – We understand.

Вы понимаете – You understand.

Они понимают – They understand.

Знать – To know. (infinitive, dictionary form)

Я знаю – I know.

Ты знаешь – You know.

Он, Она, Оно знает – He, She, It knows.

Мы знаем – We know.

Вы знаете – You know.

Они знают – They know.

Remember you can make a statement negative by using the word “не” (not). For example:

Я не знаю – I don’t know.

Я не понимаю – I don’t understand.

Он не понимает – He doesn’t understand.

You can also form questions:

Ты знаешь? – Do you know?

Ты понимаешь? – Do you understand?

Thus one Russian present tense corresponds to several English present tenses. Compare:

In Russian	In English
я читаю	I readI am readingI have been reading

2.

Verb Conjugation A Russian verb has six forms in the present tense, one for each of the subject pronouns (1st, 2nd and 3rd persons, singular and plural). By looking at the ending of the verb we can tell the person and the number of the verb. This is called verb conjugation.The Present tense form consists of a verb stem followed by an ending denoting person and number. Most Russian verbs fall into two groups: first conjugation and second conjugation.First conjugation verbs take the endings -ю(-у ); -ешь; -ет; -ем; -ете and -ют (- ут) in the Present Tense.Second conjugation verbs take the endings -ю (-у); -ишь; -ит; -им; -ите and -ят (-ат) in the Present Tense. Study the formation of the present tense:

1-st conjugation verbs                       2-nd conjugation verbs

Infinitive		читать to read	гулять to walk		говорить to speak	смотреть to watch	учить to learn (memorize)
я – I  ты – you  он, она – he,she  мы – we  вы – you  они – they		чита–ю  чита–ешь  чита–ет  чита–ем  чита–ете  чита–ют	гуля–ю  гуля–ешь  гуля–ет  гуля–ем  гуля–ете  гуля–ют		говор-ю  говор-ишь  говор-ит  говор-им  говор-ите  говор-ят	смотр-ю  смотр-ишь  смотр-ит  смотр-им  смотр-ите  смотр-ят	уч-у  уч-ишь  уч-ит  уч-им  уч-ите  уч-ат

Notes

• Conjugations are memorized with pronouns.
• To form the present tense of first conjugation verbs remove the ending -ть from infinitive and add the appropriate present tense ending.
• To form the present tense of second  conjugation verbs remove three final letters (и or е and -ть) from infinitive and replace them by the appropriate present tense ending.
• Never break a spelling rule when adding endings to verbs, i.e. after  к, г, х, ж, ш, щ, ч, ц  write у and а instead of юand я (я учу, они учат).

3.

First conjugation verbs with stems ending in a consonant For a few but common first conjugation verbs the stem of the present tense is different from the stem of the infinitive. Such verbs have present tense stems ending in a consonant which is not reflected in the infinitive stem. Memorize two of them for now: жить – to live (infinitive stem: жи-, present tense stem: жив-) and писать – to write (infinitive stem: писа-, present tense stem: пиш-).Study their present tense forms. Note the difference between the infinitive stem and the present tense stem:

Infinitive		жить to live	писать to write
я – I ты – you он, она – he,she мы – we вы – you они – they		жив-у  жив-ёшь  жив-ёт  жив-ём  жив-ёте  жив-ут	пиш-у  пиш-ешь  пиш-ет  пиш-ем  пиш-ете  пиш-ут

Notes

• First conjugation verbs with present tense stems ending in a consonant have the ending -у for я-form and -ут forони-form, instead of expected -ю, -ют. Compare: я читаю, они читают but я живу, они живут.
• The vowel е is replaced by ё under stress in verb endings (ты читаешь, ты пишешь but ты живёшь)
• Always learn both the infinitive and the conjugation of each verb.
• Past tense of all verbs is formed from the infinitive stem: он жил, она жила, оно жило, они жили; он писал, она писала, оно писало, они писали.

Russian Verbs

In Russian there is only one way of saying “I work”, “I am working” and “I do work”. Russian verbs change their endings depending on the subject.  (Example: I work, he works). This happens according to two different patterns known as the first conjugation, and the second conjugation. (There are also some irregular verbs). Both these patterns are quite similar, and once you get the hang of it, it is not too difficult.

The first conjugation

The first conjugation is used for verbs ending in “ть” but not “ить”. It is the most common. To form the verb for each person you need to drop the last two letters of the infinitive (normally “ть”), and add the appropriate ending (“ю”, “ешь”, “ет”, “ем”, “ете” or “ют”).Let’s take a look at a verb that uses the first conjugation: работать (to work).

работать – To work. (infinitive, dictionary form)

• Я работаю – I work
• Ты работаешь – You work
• Он, Она, Оно работает – He, She, It works.
• Мы работаем – We work
• Вы работаете – You work.
• Они работают – They work.

Let’s try some other Russian words from the first conjugation:

понимать – To understand. (infinitive, dictionary form)

• Я понимаю – I understand.
• Ты понимаешь – You understand.
• Он, Она, Оно понимает – He, She, It understands
• Мы понимаем – We understand.
• Вы понимаете – You understand.
• Они понимают – They understand.

Знать – To know. (infinitive, dictionary form)

• Я знаю – I know.
• Ты знаешь – You know.
• Он, Она, Оно знает – He, She, It knows.
• Мы знаем – We know.
• Вы знаете – You know.
• Они знают – They know.

Remember you can make a statement negative by using the word “не” (not). For example:

• Я не знаю – I don’t know.
• Я не понимаю – I don’t understand.
• Он не понимает – He doesn’t understand.

You can also form questions:

• Ты знаешь? – Do you know?
• Ты понимаешь? – Do you understand?

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