Mastering Past Tense Verbs

1. The Basic Rule: From Infinitive to Past Tense

Forming the past tense in Russian follows a simple and consistent pattern. You start with the verb's infinitive form (the one you'd find in a dictionary, usually ending in -ть) and then modify the ending based on the subject.

Unlike the present tense, where the verb changes for every person (я, ты, он, etc.), the past tense only cares about two things:

1. Gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter)
2. Number (singular or plural)

Let's watch a video that breaks down this core rule.

As the video explained, the rule for most verbs is:
Remove -ть from the infinitive and add the appropriate suffix.

Here’s a summary table:

This visual provides another clear example with the verb де́лать (to do/make).

2. Gender Agreement: Я, Ты, Он, Она

A crucial point is that the past tense verb must agree with the gender of the subject, even for the pronouns "I" (я) and "you" (ты).

Let's quickly watch the next segment of the video that emphasizes this.

So, as a male speaker, you will always use the masculine ending -л when talking about yourself in the past.

• Я чита́л кни́гу. (I read a book.)
• Я игра́л в ко́мпьютерные и́гры. (I played computer games.)
• If you were speaking to a male friend, you'd ask: Ты чита́л э́ту кни́гу? (Did you read this book?)

A female speaker would use -ла: Я чита́ла, я игра́ла.

3. Past Tense of Reflexive Verbs (-ся/-сь)

You may have encountered reflexive verbs, which end in -ся or -сь (like учи́ться - to study). Forming their past tense is just as easy. You follow the same rule as above and simply keep the reflexive particle at the end.

• Remember the rule for the particle: use -сь after a vowel and -ся after a consonant.

Since the masculine past tense ending is -л (a consonant), the full ending will be -лся. The other endings are vowels, so they take -сь.

• Он учи́л + ся → Он учи́лся (He studied)
• Она́ учи́ла + сь → Она́ учи́лась (She studied)
• Они́ учи́ли + сь → Они́ учи́лись (They studied)

4. Reading and Practice

Now, let's consolidate this with a comprehensive reading resource. The following article summarizes all the rules we've discussed and provides many useful examples, including for the verb быть that you learned last time.

Time to Practice

Let's apply these rules. Using the time word вчера́ (yesterday), translate the following sentences into Russian. Remember to use the masculine -л ending for "I".

1. Yesterday I played a game. (игра́ть в игру́)
2. Yesterday I drew a picture. (рисова́ть карти́ну)
3. Yesterday she watched a movie. (смотре́ть фильм)
4. Yesterday they were at home. (быть до́ма)

Conclusion

Отли́чно! (Excellent!) You've now unlocked the ability to talk about past actions in Russian. The system is logical and much less complex than present tense conjugation.

Key Takeaways:

• To form the past tense, remove -ть from the infinitive verb.
• Add the ending that matches the subject's gender and number:
  • Masculine singular: -л (я, ты, он)
  • Feminine singular: -ла (я, ты, она́)
  • Neuter singular: -ло (оно́)
  • Plural: -ли (мы, вы, они́)
• Reflexive verbs keep their -ся/-сь particle after the past tense ending.

Preview of the next lesson:
Now that you can form the past tense, a new question arises. How do you say "I was reading a book" versus "I read the book (and finished it)"? In English, we use different tenses (Past Continuous vs. Past Simple). In Russian, this distinction is handled by something called verb aspect. In our next lesson, we will explore the difference between imperfective verbs (for processes) and perfective verbs (for results), which is a core concept in Russian grammar.