Russian Present Tense: How to Conjugate Verbs

Just as in most European languages, Russian verbs change their endings according to the person doing the action. Those endings come in two sets, called conjugations: the first and the second. In dictionaries and textbooks you will see them written with Roman numerals, I and II.

This article is about the present tense. The past tense works on a completely different principle — there the ending follows gender and number instead of person.

In this article I show only imperfective verbs as examples. One important note: perfective verbs (the ones that show a finished result, like прочита́ть) are conjugated in exactly the same way, but the result is the future tense. So this article is the foundation for everyone who is just starting out.

What the present tense covers

Я чита́ю covers three English tenses at once:

• I read
• I am reading
• I have been reading

The difference lives in the rest of the sentence, not in the verb:

• Я чита́ю ка́ждый день. — I read every day.
• Я чита́ю сейча́с. — I'm reading now.
• Я давно́ чита́ю. — I've been reading for a long time.
• За́втра я чита́ю до пяти́. — Tomorrow I’m reading until five. (A fixed plan can take the present tense, just as it can in English.)

So one set of forms covers a lot of ground. It's worth learning them properly.

Personal pronouns

In Russian there are eight personal pronouns:

The English word you can mean three different things in Russian. The singular informal you is ты — that's how we address people we know well, or people we have agreed to switch to ты with (перейти́ на ты, as we say). The plural you is вы, when we talk to more than one person. And the singular formal you is Вы — that's how we talk to people we don't know, when respect is required and when we keep our distance. In writing, the formal Вы is traditionally capitalized (in letters, emails, messages to one person), but in practice many people skip it.

We can divide personal pronouns into three persons and two numbers, singular and plural. Understanding grammatical person is important, and the idea is the same in every language. Think of it as three sides of a conversation: the first side is I and we, the second side is you, and the third side is he, she, it, and in the plural they.

And that is where the six verb endings of the present tense come from.

The six endings

You start from the infinitive — the dictionary form, which for almost every verb ends in -ть. Before you add an ending, you take part of it off: two letters (-ть) for first-conjugation verbs, three letters (-ть and the vowel in front of it) for second-conjugation verbs.

Here are both sets of endings side by side. The left column shows the subject — the person doing the action, which is what the ending agrees with (there is a fuller explanation in the article on the subject in a Russian sentence).

The я and они́ endings look like two endings each, but they aren't. -у and -ю are one ending with two spellings, and so are -ут / -ют and -ат / -ят. The rule is the same in both conjugations.

The spelling with у or а goes after a hard consonant and after ж, ш, ч, щ:

• я живу́, они́ живу́т — I live, they live
• я пишу́, они́ пи́шут — I write, they write
• я слы́шу, они́ слы́шат — I hear, they hear
• я лежу́, они́ лежа́т — I lie, they lie

The spelling with ю or я goes after a vowel or a soft consonant:

• я чита́ю, они́ чита́ют — I read, they read
• я де́лаю, они́ де́лают — I do, they do
• я говорю́, они́ говоря́т — I speak, they speak
• я стою́, они́ стоя́т — I stand, they stand

The reason is pronunciation. The letters ю and я exist to show that the consonant before them is soft, and after ж, ш, ч and щ there is nothing to show: ч and щ are always soft, and ж and ш are always hard (they hardened centuries ago, and the spelling never caught up). Since the information is already there in the consonant itself, the plain у and а do the job.

The я ending is the same in both conjugations. The four endings in between — ты, он, мы, вы — differ by a single letter: the first conjugation takes е, the second takes и. The other letters in those endings are the same. That's why you sometimes hear the first conjugation called the е-conjugation and the second the и-conjugation.

In the first conjugation that е sometimes appears as ё: ты ду́маешь, but ты живёшь. It depends on where the stress falls, and there is a section on it below.

Finding the conjugation

The simplest way to see which conjugation a verb belongs to is this table:

How to read it: each row pairs an ending with the verbs that break its rule, and each verb sits in the column of the conjugation it actually belongs to. Verbs ending in -ить are second conjugation — except жить and пить, which are on the first-conjugation side. Verbs ending in -еть, -ать and -ять are first conjugation — except the ones listed opposite them.

So the second conjugation is the smaller and more predictable group: verbs in -ить, plus those exceptions. Everything else is first conjugation, and that means most Russian verbs. The ones in the right-hand column are the exceptions you will meet earliest; there are more of them, so add them to the list as you come across them.

First-conjugation forms

Remove the last two letters — that is, -ть — and add the ending.

знать → зна- → зна́ю, зна́ешь, зна́ет…

Because the stem already ends in a vowel, first-conjugation forms usually have two vowels in a row:

• он чита́ет — he reads
• мы ду́маем — we think
• они́ де́лают — they do
• я понима́ю — I understand
• ты зна́ешь — you know

Verbs that follow знать exactly:

• ду́мать (to think) — я ду́маю, ты ду́маешь, они́ ду́мают
• де́лать (to do) — я де́лаю, ты де́лаешь, они́ де́лают
• чита́ть (to read) — я чита́ю, ты чита́ешь, они́ чита́ют
• понима́ть (to understand) — я понима́ю, ты понима́ешь, они́ понима́ют
• рабо́тать (to work) — я рабо́таю, ты рабо́таешь, они́ рабо́тают
• отдыха́ть (to rest) — я отдыха́ю, ты отдыха́ешь, они́ отдыха́ют
• гуля́ть (to take a walk) — я гуля́ю, ты гуля́ешь, они́ гуля́ют
• игра́ть (to play) — я игра́ю, ты игра́ешь, они́ игра́ют
• обе́дать (to have lunch) — я обе́даю, ты обе́даешь, они́ обе́дают
• изуча́ть (to study a subject) — я изуча́ю, ты изуча́ешь, они́ изуча́ют (on the difference between this one and учи́ть, see учить, учиться and изучать)

I give three forms for every verb — я, ты and они — because the four forms in the middle (ты, он/она́/оно́, мы, вы) almost always share the same stem and the same stress. The ты form is one of them, so it hands you он, мы and вы as well. In most verbs there is nothing to notice, because the stem doesn't change at all. This matters for the verbs that do change, and those come further down.

Second-conjugation forms

Remove three letters — -ть plus the vowel in front of it. The stem usually ends in a consonant, so, unlike the first conjugation, you don't get two vowels in a row.

говори́ть → говор- → говорю́, говори́шь, говори́т…

And verbs that follow говори́ть:

• кури́ть (to smoke) — я курю́, ты ку́ришь, они́ ку́рят
• смотре́ть (to watch) — я смотрю́, ты смо́тришь, они́ смо́трят
• слы́шать (to hear) — я слы́шу, ты слы́шишь, они́ слы́шат
• держа́ть (to hold) — я держу́, ты де́ржишь, они́ де́ржат

Notice that смотре́ть, слы́шать and держа́ть end in -еть and -ать, so they look like first-conjugation verbs. They are not: they are the exceptions from the right-hand column of the table above.

Stem changes

Not every verb simply drops -ть and keeps the stem it had. Three different things can happen here, and each one works differently.

A consonant changes

The last consonant of the stem turns into a different one, and the change runs through all six forms. This is called alternation.

• писа́ть (to write) — я пишу́, ты пи́шешь, они́ пи́шут (с → ш)
• иска́ть (to look for) — я ищу́, ты и́щешь, они́ и́щут (ск → щ)
• ре́зать (to cut) — я ре́жу, ты ре́жешь, они́ ре́жут (з → ж)

The stress on писа́ть does real work here. The same letters with the stress on the first syllable, пи́сать, are a different verb — regular, first conjugation: я пи́саю, ты пи́саешь, они́ пи́сают. It means to pee.

The stem takes a different shape

Here nothing swaps one consonant for another — the stem itself comes out different, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. There is no rule to apply, so these are learned with their forms:

• жить (to live) — я живу́, ты живёшь, они́ живу́т (жи- → жив-)
• пить (to drink) — я пью, ты пьёшь, они́ пьют (пи- → пь-)
• петь (to sing) — я пою́, ты поёшь, они́ пою́т (пе- → по-)
• брать (to take) — я беру́, ты берёшь, они́ беру́т (бра- → бер-)

Verbs in -овать and -евать

This one is a rule rather than an exception, and it covers a large family of verbs. The -ова- or -ева- disappears, -у- takes its place, and then the ordinary first-conjugation endings follow:

• рисова́ть (to draw) — я рису́ю, ты рису́ешь, они́ рису́ют
• танцева́ть (to dance) — я танцу́ю, ты танцу́ешь, они́ танцу́ют
• чу́вствовать (to feel) — я чу́вствую, ты чу́вствуешь, они́ чу́вствуют
• сове́товать (to advise) — я сове́тую, ты сове́туешь, они́ сове́туют

So once you recognize -овать or -евать in the infinitive, you already know what the present tense will look like.

I know it feels random and complicated, but believe me, with time you'll start to group verbs, and every new one will just join a group you already know.

Stressed endings: -ёшь

In the first conjugation, the vowel е in the ending becomes ё whenever the stress falls on the ending:

• ты ду́маешь — stress on the stem, so е
• ты ждёшь — stress on the ending, so ё

Take ждать (to wait). The change runs through four of the six forms: ты ждёшь, он ждёт, мы ждём, вы ждёте. The я and они́ forms have a different vowel anyway, so nothing happens there: я жду, они́ ждут.

Common verbs that work this way:

• ждать (to wait) — я жду, ты ждёшь, они́ ждут
• жить (to live) — я живу́, ты живёшь, они́ живу́т
• пить (to drink) — я пью, ты пьёшь, они́ пьют
• петь (to sing) — я пою́, ты поёшь, они́ пою́т
• брать (to take) — я беру́, ты берёшь, они́ беру́т

All of these except ждать change their stem too — you have just seen them in the section above.

And ё always carries the stress, so wherever you see it, you know where to put it. The second conjugation has nothing of the kind: its ending is -ишь, with no е in it to change.

The я form in the second conjugation

Many second-conjugation verbs change the last consonant of the stem in the я form — and only there. The other five forms keep the stem as it is:

• ви́деть (to see) — я ви́жу, ты ви́дишь, они́ ви́дят (д → ж)
• ненави́деть* (to hate) — я ненави́жу, ты ненави́дишь, они́ ненави́дят (д → ж)
• люби́ть (to love) — я люблю́, ты лю́бишь, они́ лю́бят (б + л)
• спать (to sleep) — я сплю, ты спишь, они́ спят (п + л)
• ходи́ть (to walk) — я хожу́, ты хо́дишь, они́ хо́дят (д → ж)
• плати́ть (to pay) — я плачу́, ты пла́тишь, они́ пла́тят (т → ч)
• проси́ть (to ask for) — я прошу́, ты про́сишь, они́ про́сят (с → ш)

* Ненави́деть has ви́деть sitting inside it, and it conjugates exactly like it. Russian does this all the time: a prefix goes on the front of a verb you already know, and the endings stay the same. So whenever you recognize a familiar verb inside a longer one, you already know how the longer one behaves.

The stress likes to move in many of these verbs too. In the я form it sits on the ending, and from the ты form onwards it jumps back onto the stem: хожу́ but хо́дишь, плачу́ but пла́тишь, смотрю́ but смо́тришь. That is why the я form is better to learn on its own — it can differ from the rest both in its consonant and in its stress.

Хотеть: both conjugations in one verb

Хоте́ть (to want) ends in -еть, so by the table it should be first conjugation. In the singular it is. In the plural it switches to the second. It is the best-known verb that mixes both conjugations, and it is also one of the first verbs you will need, so it gets learned on its own terms.

Singular — first-conjugation endings, stem хоч-:

• я хочу́ — I want
• ты хо́чешь — you want
• он, она́, оно́ хо́чет — he, she, it wants

Plural — second-conjugation endings, stem хот-:

• мы хоти́м — we want
• вы хоти́те — you want
• они́ хотя́т — they want

The consonant tells you where you are: ч in the singular, т in the plural. The stress moves as well — it sits on the ending in хочу́ and in all three plural forms, but on the stem in хо́чешь and хо́чет. And the spelling rule from earlier applies here too: after ч comes у, so it's хочу́.

In a sentence, хоте́ть is often followed by another verb in the infinitive, which doesn't change at all:

• Я хочу́ пить. — I want to drink. / I'm thirsty.
• Я хочу́ спать. — I want to sleep. / I'm sleepy.
• Он хо́чет чита́ть кни́гу. — He wants to read a book.
• Они́ не хотя́т смотре́ть фильм. — They don't want to watch the film.
• Ты хо́чешь во́ду? — Do you want water? (A noun works here instead of a verb, and it goes into the accusative case.)

Irregular verbs

A few verbs don't follow the patterns above. There are not many of them, but they are among the most used words in the language, so they are learned one by one.

Дава́ть leads a small group of its own: встава́ть (to get up) and узнава́ть (to find out) work the same way, losing their -ва- — я встаю́, ты встаёшь, они́ встаю́т; я узнаю́, ты узнаёшь, они́ узнаю́т.

Хоте́ть belongs on this list too, but it is common enough to have its own section just above.

Learning a new verb

A conjugation table tells you which group a verb belongs to, but not what its stem does — and the stem is what you need in order to speak.

The good news is that you never deal with all six forms at once. The four in the middle — ты, он/она́/оно́, мы, вы — almost always share one stem and one stress, so the ты form already tells you он, мы and вы. Only я and они́ can go their own way.

There's also something you can hear. When the ending is stressed, the two conjugations sound completely different: говори́шь and ждёшь could never be confused. When the stress is on the stem, as in смо́тришь and пи́шешь, your ear can't help you — and those are exactly the verbs where memorizing pays off.

That's what I was taught at school as a native speaker: when you don't know whether the ending has е or и, try the они́ form. Its endings, -ут/-ют or -ат/-ят, are easy to hear, and they tell you the conjugation. For a beginner this doesn't help much, though — you may never have heard that form of the verb before.

Fortunately, unstressed е and и in the endings sound almost the same, so while you are speaking nobody can tell which letter you had in mind. My advice is to speak and not worry about getting it wrong. The intuition builds with time, and one day it will simply be obvious.

Two conjugations, six endings, one table. Most of the verbs you meet will fit it without any trouble, and the ones that don't tend to be verbs you use so often that they settle in on their own.

What turns all of this into a skill is practice — not later, when you feel ready, but now. Reading about endings and never using them leaves you exactly where you started. Head to the Exercises tab at the top of the page.