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Beginner Lesson 3.4. Verbs Intro

1. Russian verbs change form depending on the subject of the sentence, similar to the English verb "to be". 2. There are two main categories of Russian verbs - Class I and Class II - which determine the verb endings. Class I verbs typically end in -а- or -я- while Class II verbs end in -ить or -еть. 3. Verb endings change based on the person (я, ты, он etc.), with some following spelling rules or undergoing consonant mutations in certain forms. Learning the infinitive, я, and ты forms of each new verb reveals how it conjugates.

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44 views

Beginner Lesson 3.4. Verbs Intro

1. Russian verbs change form depending on the subject of the sentence, similar to the English verb "to be". 2. There are two main categories of Russian verbs - Class I and Class II - which determine the verb endings. Class I verbs typically end in -а- or -я- while Class II verbs end in -ить or -еть. 3. Verb endings change based on the person (я, ты, он etc.), with some following spelling rules or undergoing consonant mutations in certain forms. Learning the infinitive, я, and ты forms of each new verb reveals how it conjugates.

Uploaded by

Olena RussianTutor
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Урок 8. Глаголы.

Вступление
Verbs. Introduction

1. Conjugation (Склонение) in grammar refers to changes in the verb form


that depend on the subject. The subject in a sentence is the 'actor'.

2. The subject can be one of six persons:


person singular plural
1st person я мы
2nd person ты вы
3rd person он, она, оно они

3. In Russian, as in many other languages, the form of the verb changes


depending on the subject. In English this happens with the verb 'to be': am,
are, is.

4. In the present tense, Russian has a different ending for each person.

5. Verb endings in Russian are added to the stem of a verb. When we do


this, quite often changes take place in the stem. For example, if the last letter
of the stem is a consonant, it may disappear, or it may be replaced by another
consonant.

6. Russian verbs may be looked at as falling into two basic categories,


depending on the type of endings they will take: Class I and Class II. You
may also see them referred to as conjugation I and conjugation II.

7. Verb conjugation refers to the endings a verb will take with each of
the subject pronouns:

Например: читать = to read


я читаю мы читаем
ты читаешь вы читаете
он читает они читают

8. In Russian, then, you can tell who is doing the working, for example,
even if a pronoun is not used. You do this by looking at the ending of the
verb. Often, the use of a pronoun is redundant.
Например: -Что вы делаете? -Читаем.
Первое склонение глаголов Второе склонение глаголов
First conjugation Second conjugation

The stem of most first conjugation The infinitive form of most second
verbs ends in the letters -а- or -я-. conjugation verbs ends in -ить or -
еть.
The chart below shows the present
tense endings for verbs of the first To get the stem, you must drop these
conjugation: endings.
person ending examples
я -ю работаю, The present tense stem of second
делаю conjugation verbs will always end in
ты -ешь работаешь a consonant.
, делаешь
он, -ет работает, Let us look at the basic endings for
она делает second conjugation verbs:
мы -ем работаем, person ending говор-ить
делаем я -ю/-у говорю
вы -ете работаете, ты -ишь говоришь
делаете он, -ит говорит
они -ют работают, она
делают мы -им говорим
вы -ите говорите
The stem of some conjugation 1 они -ят/-ат говорят
verbs ends in a consonant, as in the
verb жить (to live) below: For first person singular and third
person ending жить person plural, remember to observe
я -у живу the spelling rule that says that after
ты -ёшь живёшь the letters к, г, х, ч, ж, ш, щ, ц instead
он, -ёт живёт of ю write у, and instead of я write а.
она
мы -ём живём Verbs whose stem ends in a "lip"
вы -ёте живёте consonant (п, б, в, ф, м) will add an -
они -ут живут л- to the stem in the first person
endings in the I pers. sing. (-у), and singular before the ending: любить -
3 pers. plural (-ут), have the letter я люблю.
-у- instead of -ю- (all I conj. verbs
with a stem ending in a consonant).
the -е- in the rest of the endings of Certain consonants that are the last
this verb is replaced by an -ё-. This consonant of the stem change, or
happens in Russian any time the mutate into some other consonant.
ending is accented. This is called ‘Consonant mutation’.
видеть - я вижу, ты видишь

Hint: when you learn a new verb, learn the infinitive


and also the я and ты forms. These three forms reveal
all you need to know about the verb.
§ The infinitive is the dictionary form.
§ The я form is a frequent hiding place for irregularities
that the other forms do not disclose.
§ The ты form is a true goldmine of information. It will
tell you what vowels you need in the он, мы, вы,
endings, whether it is a I or II conjugation verb, and
when you compare to the я form, you'll be able to see
if there are any consonant or stress pattern changes.

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