Здравствуйте! Welcome back to our lessons.
In the last lesson, you learned how to describe who you are by stating your profession and nationality. You can now build sentences like Я инжене́р (I am an engineer) or Я студе́нт (I am a student).
Today, we move from describing who you are to describing what you do. This is a huge step that will allow you to talk about your actions, habits, and hobbies. To do this, we need to learn about verbs. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to conjugate first-conjugation verbs (those ending in -ать/-ять) in the present tense to describe actions. This is the most common verb pattern in Russian, and mastering it will unlock countless new sentences.
1. Verbs and Conjugation: The Basics
In English, verbs change slightly depending on the subject: "I play," but "he plays." In Russian, this change is more pronounced, and every single pronoun (I, you, he, etc.) gets its own unique verb ending. This process is called conjugation.
The good news, as you may have heard, is that Russian has only one present tense. So, "I read," "I am reading," and "I do read" are all expressed with a single verb form: Я чита́ю.
Russian verbs are divided into two main categories, or "conjugation groups," which follow different patterns. Today, we'll focus on the first and most common group.
Let's watch a short video to introduce this concept.
Lesson 6 | Russian Verbs Explained: Tense, Aspect & Conjugations PART1 #russianforbeginners
This video from 'Natasha RusNow' gives a quick and clear overview of why Russian verbs need to be conjugated and introduces the idea of the two conjugation groups.
Please watch from 01:10 to 02:17. Pay attention to two key ideas: Every pronoun has its own verb ending. Verbs in Group 1, which we are learning today, often end in -ать or -ять in their dictionary form (the infinitive).
2. The Pattern of the First Conjugation
As the video mentioned, we can often identify first-conjugation verbs because their infinitive (dictionary) form ends in -ать or -ять. Examples include:
- читáть (to read)
- игрáть (to play)
- понимáть (to understand)
- гуля́ть (to walk/stroll)
The process of conjugating these verbs follows a simple, three-step pattern:
- Start with the infinitive: чита́ть
- Remove the final -ть to get the "stem": чита-
- Add the personal ending that matches the pronoun.
The resource below explains this process clearly and provides the table of endings.
This article from RussianLessons.net provides a step-by-step guide to the first conjugation. It includes several useful examples with audio pronunciation.
Please read the section titled 'The first conjugation'. Focus on the rule for forming the verb and study the conjugation tables for рабо́тать (to work), понима́ть (to understand), and знать (to know). Try listening to the audio for each form to practice pronunciation.
To summarize and organize the endings from the article, here is the master table for the first conjugation:
| Pronoun | Ending | Example: читáть (to read) |
|---|---|---|
| я (I) | -ю | Я читáю (I read) |
| ты (you, informal) | -ешь | Ты читáешь (You read) |
| он/онá/онó (he/she/it) | -ет | Он читáет (He reads) |
| мы (we) | -ем | Мы читáем (We read) |
| вы (you, formal/plural) | -ете | Вы читáете (You read) |
| они́ (they) | -ют | Они́ читáют (They read) |
This pattern is very consistent for verbs ending in -ать and -ять.
3. Let's Practice with Your Interests
Now, let's apply this rule to verbs that relate to your interests in gaming, writing, and illustration.
For gaming: игрáть (to play)
- Я игрáю в видеои́гры. (I play video games.)
- Ты игрáешь? (Do you play?)
- Онá игрáет ча́сто. (She plays often.)
For writing and reading: писáть (to write) and читáть (to read)
- Мы читáем кни́гу. (We are reading a book.)
- Вы пи́шете расска́з. (You are writing a story.)
Note: The verb писать is a first-conjugation verb, but it has a consonant change (с->ш) that we will cover later. For now, just observe the pattern in the endings.
For illustration: рисовáть (to draw)
Let's conjugate this one together:
- Infinitive: рисовáть
- Stem: рисова-
- Я рисова + ю → Я рису́ю (I draw)
- Ты рисова + ешь → Ты рису́ешь (You draw)
- Он рисова + ет → Он рису́ет (He draws)
- Мы рисова + ем → Мы рису́ем (We draw)
- Вы рисова + ете → Вы рису́ете (You draw)
- Они́ рисова + ют → Они́ рису́ют (They draw)
This image provides a great visual summary of the conjugation for читать, писать, and работать (to work).
4. Practice Exercise
Time to put your knowledge to the test. Complete the sentences below by conjugating the verb in parentheses.
- Я не ______ по-ру́сски. (понима́ть)
- Что ты ______? (де́лать - to do)
- Мой друг ______ в видеои́гры. (игрáть) (Hint: "My friend" is "he")
- Мы ______ в университе́те. (рабóтать - to work)
- Вы ______ ру́сскую литерату́ру? (читáть)
- Студе́нты хорошо́ ______. (отвечáть - to answer) (Hint: "Students" is "they")
Click for answers
- Я не понима́ю по-ру́сски. (I don't understand Russian.)
- Что ты де́лаешь? (What are you doing?)
- Мой друг игрáет в видеои́гры. (My friend plays video games.)
- Мы рабóтаем в университе́те. (We work at the university.)
- Вы читáете ру́сскую литерату́ру? (Do you read Russian literature?)
- Студе́нты хорошо́ отвечáют. (The students answer well.)
Conclusion
Fantastic job! You've just learned the single most important verb pattern in the Russian language. This skill is a building block for expressing almost any action in the present.
Key Takeaways:
- Russian has one present tense but requires verbs to be conjugated for each pronoun.
- Most verbs ending in -ать and -ять belong to the first conjugation.
- The conjugation process is: take the infinitive (e.g., читать), remove -ть (to get чита-), and add the correct personal ending (-ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ют).
Preview of the next lesson:
In the practice exercise, you saw the sentence "Я не понимаю." You've learned how to make positive statements like "I understand." In our next lesson, we will officially learn how to form negative sentences by simply adding the particle не (not) before the verb.