→ Verb tenses
There are three tenses in Russian: the present, past And future.
Only verbs have present tense Not perfect form. Depending on the personal endings, two conjugations are distinguished - first And second.
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Number |
Face |
First conjugation |
Second conjugation |
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Vowels e, And in the personal endings of verbs of the first and second conjugation, stress is clearly distinguished; in the unstressed position they are pronounced almost identically, but in their spelling the differences remain.
In a number of verbs when forming the 1st l. units h. the final consonant of the stem alternates, for example: I drive/carry(cf. carry), love/like(cf. be in love).
Several verbs combine personal endings of the first and second conjugations. These features are indicated in the dictionary.
There are two forms of the future tense in Russian: the future is complicated And future simple.
The future is complicated
is formed only from imperfective verbs and consists of personal forms of the future tense of the verb be (will, will, will, will, will, will) and indefinite shape conjugated verb: I will do (fear, know, sit, be able); You will do (fear, know, sit, be able to) etc.
The future complex denotes an action that will happen in the future, without indicating whether it will end or whether it will bring any result.
Future simple is formed only from perfective verbs and in form coincides with the present tense of imperfective verbs: I'll take it, bring it, read it etc. (cf. I carry, I read).
The future simple denotes an action that will happen in the future and will be completed, which will begin in the future or will happen once.
Personal endings of verbs in the present (or future simple) tense (table):
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Number |
Face |
First conjugation |
Second conjugation |
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Eat (eat) |
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Ete (-yote) |
The past tense of imperfective and perfective verbs is formed from the base of the indefinite form by adding a suffix -l And generic endings: -A- for the feminine gender, -O- for the neuter gender, -And- for all plural genders; In the masculine gender, the past tense form has no ending.
Personal endings of verbs in the past tense (table):
Some masculine past tense verbs do not have a suffix -l, which appears in the feminine and neuter gender and in plural: take care - take care (take care of, take care of, take care of),
carry - carried (carried, carried, carried).
Verb go and all its derivatives have a different base in the past tense that does not coincide with the base of the indefinite form: go - walked, walked, walked, walked.
Past tense verbs do not change according to persons.
Past tense of imperfective verbs denotes that an action took place in the past, without indicating whether it was completed.
Past tense of perfective verbs means that the action was completed, gave a certain result, or that it was performed once.
How to determine the past tense of a verb? Answer to asked question you will get from the presented article. In addition, we will tell you how the past tense of a verb is formed in English.
Before we talk about what the past tense of a verb is, we should find out what it even is.
A verb is a part of speech that denotes the state or action of an object, and also answers the questions “what to do?” or “what should I do?” It should be especially noted that they vary in mood, are transitive and intransitive, and can refer to the perfective or imperfective form.
This part of speech can be used in the following tenses:
The part of speech that stands in shows that this or that action has taken place up to the present moment. However, when describing past situations or events in life, the present tense is often used instead of the past tense.
The past tense of a verb in Russian is formed from the initial form (that is, the infinitive) by adding the suffix -l- (ran, wanted, talked, helped, etc.). However, this rule has exceptions. Thus, verbs that are in an indefinite form, imperfect form and ending in -thread, -ti or -ch, are transformed into the past tense (in singular masculine) without using the above-mentioned suffix (cut - cut, etc.).
The past tense of the verb allows the verb to change in number. In turn, the singular number can easily be declined according to gender. It should also be noted that verbs in the past tense in the plural do not change according to persons.
Verbs in the past tense can have a perfect and aorist meaning (only the perfect form). Let's look at them in more detail:
Verbs in the past tense can have the following grammatical meanings (imperfective only):
As mentioned above, the past tense is a form of a verb that indicates an action that has already been performed. In English, this change in words is called "Past Tenses". It should also be noted that such time differs in duration and quality. In other words, in English there is a simple past tense called "Past Simple", a continuous past tense called "Past Continuous", and a past perfect tense called "Past Perfect". Let's look at each of the forms in more detail.
This tense expresses absolutely any action that took place in the past. Past Simple is formed quite simply: if the word refers to irregular verb, then for this you need to take its second form from the table. If the verb is correct, then it is added to it. If it is necessary to pose a question, then the auxiliary word did should be used.
By the way, the past tense of the verb to be has 2 conjugations, namely were and was. As a rule, were is used with nouns only in the plural, and was - in the singular. In this case, with the pronoun you (translated as you or you) it is necessary to use only were.
This form differs from the previous one in that in in this case the action of the past is shown in process. As a cheat sheet, it is recommended to remember that the presented verb will have an imperfect form. It should also be noted that to form the Past Continuous, only knowledge of the following forms of the verb to be is required: were and was.
To form such a time, perfect knowledge of all forms and correct ones will be required). It should also be noted that for the Past Perfect it is necessary to have. By the way, the past tense has the following form: had.
It should also be noted that the Past Perfect also includes such a time as the Past Perfect Continuous, which has the following Russian meaning: perfect continuous past tense. To form it, you must use to be, which should be put in the Past Perfect form, that is, had been.
Knowing the basics of the formation of past tense verbs in Russian and English languages, you will be able not only to correctly deliver your speech during personal communication with foreigners or your compatriots, but also to write them a competent letter.
Verb tense expresses the relationship of the action denoted by the verb to the time of its implementation. Shapes stand out past, present And future tense.
In most cases, the use of tense forms is determined by the relationship to the moment of speech; This use of them is called absolute time.
In relatively rare cases, the starting point for the use of tenses is not the moment of speech, but other starting points, for example, the time of other actions reported in the speech. This is called the relative use of tenses. In additional (explanatory) subordinate parts of a complex sentence, the tense of verbs is determined by their relation to the time of action of the main part:
My brother said that he had sent (sending, will send) the book I needed.
The grammatical reference point for time here is the verb of the main part “reported”, in relation to which the action of the verb of the subordinate part has been performed, is being performed or will be performed. “Wrote that he works”: the present tense of the verb “works” indicates the coincidence of the time of the action not with the moment of speech, but with the time of the action expressed by the verb “wrote”.
Imperfective verbs have all three forms of tense (I decide - I decided - I will decide).
Verbs of the perfect form, denoting actions limited by a limit, are used only in the past and future (simple) tense (decided - I will decide), and do not have a present tense.
Past tense denotes an action preceding the moment of speech. It is formed by adding a formative suffix to the base of the infinitive -l-: write - wrote, read - read, count - count.
When forming past tense forms, some features are observed:
If the stem of the past tense ends in g, k, x, z, s, b, then when forming a masculine verb, the suffix -l- falls out: guarded, baked, sokh, carried, carried, rowed, but is retained in the feminine and neuter gender, and also in the plural: guarded, baked, dried, carried, carried, guarded.
Verbs in - heret in the past tense they lose the second in the full vowel combination e, and in the masculine gender they do not have the suffix -l-: erase - erased, die - died.
Verb go and derivatives from it form the past tense from another stem - shed- with the loss of the root d: walked, walked, walked, came, came, came.
The past tense allows the verb to change in number. In turn, the singular number can easily be declined according to gender. It should also be noted that verbs in the past tense in the plural do not change according to persons.
Verbs in the form present time denote an action that occurs at the moment of speech, for example: I am looking for a meeting with you. Verbs in the present tense change according to persons and numbers.
From verbs perfect form present tense forms are not formed: the concept of completeness, effectiveness, characteristic of perfective verbs, is incompatible with the concept of present tense.
Only verbs have present tense forms imperfect form . These forms are formed using personal endings depending on whether the verb belongs to the I or II conjugation.
I conjugations: -u (-yu), -eat, -et, -eat, -ete, -ut (-ut)
II conjugations: -у (-yu), -ish, -it, -im, -ite, -at (-yat)
Example of verb I conjugation:
1st person → I’m walking, we’re walking
2nd person → you are walking, you are walking
3rd person → he is walking, they are walking
Example of verb II conjugation:
1st person → I drive, we carry
2nd person → you carry, you carry
3rd person → he carries, they carry
The present tense has the following basic meanings:
shows that the action expressed by the verb coincides with the moment of speech: The Caucasus is below me. Again the ancient coniferous forest rustles above me solemnly and wisely (V. Belov);
denotes a permanent, timeless action; The earth revolves around the sun.; In communicating vessels, the surface of the liquid is set at the same level;
denotes an action that turns into a property. Compare: a boy reads a book and student Petrov reads Pushkin well; Birds fly in the garden and swallows fly faster than sparrows.
is used instead of the past to give life to the story and make the reader (listener) seem to be a witness to the event being depicted: I was walking down the street yesterday and I saw. This is the so-called real narrative (pictorial, historical);
The present tense is used to mean the future if we're talking about about an action that must certainly take place; I'm taking my last exam tomorrow and going on vacation. The use of present tense forms in this function is usually characteristic of verbs of motion - run, go, go. Sometimes the forms of the present tense convey the picture imagined by the author: Another day of this accursed inferno - and here you have a hungry winter, typhus, cattle are dying, children are dying (A. N. Tolstoy).
Future denotes an action (process) that is upcoming or subsequent in relation to the moment of speech. It has two forms: synthetic (simple) and analytical (complex). These forms differ from each other both in their structure and in their meaning.
The synthetic form is characteristic of verbs of the perfect form (I will write, I will tell, I will read), the analytical form is characteristic of verbs of the imperfect form (I will write, I will tell, I will read).
The future tense of the analytical form is formed from the personal forms of the future tense of the verb be and an infinitive (necessarily imperfect form). Acting as a service component, the auxiliary verb be forms with an infinitive one grammatical form.
The future complex always denotes an unlimited, limitless action that will take place after the moment of speech and cannot be used in the meaning of another time: We will continue to consistently defend the cause of peace.
The form of the future tense from perfective verbs is simple: it coincides with the present tense form of imperfective verbs: I will read, you will read, you will read, we will read, you will read, they will read; build, build, build, build, build.
The future of the synthetic form (from perfective verbs) has various meanings:
its main meaning is the expression of upcoming (future) actions that have a limit, completeness: We will obtain, understand and open everything: the cold pole and the blue arch (V. Lebedev-Kumach);
denotes an action that turns into the property: Whatever problem you give him, he will definitely solve it (you cannot say he solves or has solved). The future tense in this meaning is often used in proverbs: Tell the truth - the truth will help you out. On a crooked road you will break your legs.
denotes a repeated action (in descriptions next to the present one):
The storm covers the sky with darkness (present tense),
Whirling snow whirlwinds
The way she howls like a beast,
Then he will cry like a child (A. Pushkin);
with negation does not indicate the impossibility of action in the present: will not read quickly (cannot read quickly), will not say simply (cannot say simply), will not see at a far distance (cannot see at a far distance);
used in the past tense: During the day she mostly dozed. He sits in a chair in front of the table... and dozes (present tense). Then he will shudder, wake up, look out the window and for a long time, without any conscious thought, does not take his eyes off (present tense) from the endless distance stretching out (M. Saltykov-Shchedrin).
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A verb is a part of speech that denotes an action. Verbs change according to number, person and tense. In addition, they have conjugations, types and moods. In the Russian language, there are three main forms of verb tense: past, present and future. Let's talk in more detail about how to understand verb tenses.
Verbs come in perfect and imperfect forms. Perfect verbs indicate that an action has already been done (or will be done) and the result has been achieved. The question “what to do?” is suitable for such verbs. U perfect verbs There are only two tenses: past and future.
Imperfect verbs can be in the past, present or future tense. They answer the question “what to do?”
The main signs that a verb refers to the past tense are:
To understand that a verb is in the past tense, depending on its gender and number, you need to substitute the following questions:
In the present tense, the verb reflects the action taking place at the moment of speech. The general defining question of such verbs is:
As noted above, only imperfect verbs can be in the present tense.
The ending of the verb in the present tense will depend on whether it belongs to the 1st or 2nd conjugation.
Singular: -у, -у (first person); -eat (second person); -et (third person). Example: I carry, you carry, carries; reading, reading, reading
Plural: -em, -em (first person); -ete, -ete (second person); -ut, -yut (third person) Example: we carry, we carry, we carry; read, read, read.
Singular: -у, -у (first person); -ish (second person); -it (third person). Example: lying, lying, lying; building, building, building.
Plural: - ending -im (first person); -ite (second person); -at, -yat (third person). Example: lying, lying, lying; build, build, build.
Verbs in the future tense reflect an action that is planned to be done or an action that will be done in the future. Determining questions for singular verbs:
Questions for plural verbs:
U imperfect verbs one appears in the future tense interesting feature- they turn into complex verbs. The verb “to be” is added to the infinitive in the appropriate form. For example: I will walk, I will run, I will play.
Singular: -у, -у (first person); -eat, -eat (second person); -et, -et (third person). Example: I’ll take it, you’ll take it, you’ll take it; read, read, read.
Plural: -em, -em (first person); -ete, -ete (second person); -ut, -ut (third person). Example: we’ll take it, you’ll take it, they’ll take it; read, read, read.
Singular: -у, -у (first person); -ish (second person); -it (third person). Example: I’ll lie down, you’ll lie down, you’ll lie down; I'll build, build, build.
Plural: - ending -im (first person); -ite (second person); -at, -yat (third person). Example: let's lie down, lie down, lie down; Let's build, build, build.
They change by tense, that is, the verb can determine the time at which the action it names occurs. There are three tenses of verbs in Russian:
Please note that the tense in which a verb can appear is related to the type of verb. Imperfective verbs can take all three tenses:
Past: slept, walked
The present: sleeping, walking
Future: will sleep, will walk
Perfective verbs can only take two tenses:
Past: fell asleep, took a walk
Future: will fall asleep, take a walk
Note: conditional verbs and imperative mood do not change over time.
Past tense verbs indicate that the action has already occurred, that is, it was performed in the past, before talking about it. They answer questions what did you do? what they were doing? or What did you do? what did you do?, For example:
All day yesterday(what did you do?) read .
Children in summer(what they were doing?) sunbathed .
Phone yesterday(What did you do?) turned off .
Birds in autumn(what did they do?) flew away .
Imperfect verbs in the past tense indicate that an action took place in the past, without indicating whether it was completed. Perfect Verbs in the past tense they indicate that the action was completed or performed once. Compare:
children (what did they do?) sunbathed- children (what did they do?) tanned .
In past tense verbs, after sibilants, the sound is pronounced under stress O, and the letter is written e, For example:
walked, came, burned, set fire
Word it happened together with verbs in different times, allows you to denote actions that occurred in the distant past and were repeated many times, for example:
Earlier it happened and a stove drowned .
in winter he used to come bear to the hut and treat asks .
You'll go, it happened to the lake, and then it starts to rain.
The past tense of a verb is formed from the indefinite form of the verb. The infinitive is dropped -th and the suffix is added -l- this is how the masculine past tense verb is formed:
erased t- erased l .
To form a feminine verb after a suffix -l ending is added -A
erased l- erased la .
To form a neuter verb after a suffix -l ending is added -O
erased l- erased lo .
To form a plural verb after a suffix -l ending is added -And
erased l- erased whether .
Please note that before the suffix -l the same vowels are written as in the indefinite form before the suffix -th, For example:
hum I th - hum I l, mesh A th - mesh A l, gift And t - gift And l
Some verbs have a masculine suffix in the past tense -l does not happen, for example:
saved, locked, carried, shook
Past tense verbs change according to numbers. Past tense verbs in the singular also change according to gender.
The gender of a verb can be determined by its ending:
Many past tense verbs have an accent on the stem, except for feminine verbs, in which the accent shifts to the ending -A, For example:
slept - slept, drove - drove, tore - tore
Please note that verbs in the past tense do not change by person:
I walked, You walked, He walked
We walked, You walked, They walked
Present tense verbs indicate that the action is being performed now, that is, at the moment when they are talking about it. They answer questions what is he doing? what are they doing?, For example:
Now he(what is he doing?) is reading .
Children(what are they doing?) sunbathing on the beach.
Verbs in the present tense can denote actions that are constantly occurring or last a long time (prolonged), not related to the time of their discussion, for example:
People sleeping at night.
Telephone works third year.
Please note that only imperfective verbs have the present tense.
Future tense verbs indicate that the action has not yet occurred, that is, it will take place in the future, after talking about it. They answer questions what will it do? what will they do? or what will he do? what will they do?, For example:
Tomorrow he(what will it do?) will read .
Children in summer(what will they do?) will be sunbathing .
Program(what will it do?) will be updated .
Birds in autumn(what will they do?) will fly away .
The future tense can be simple or complex:
1) Future simple tense have perfect verbs, for example:
I I'll draw portrait.
The future simple tense indicates that an action will be completed or will have a result.
2) Future difficult time have imperfect verbs. The future complex form consists of two words: a verb be, standing in the future simple tense, and the infinitive. For example:
I I'll draw portrait.
The future complex tense means that this action will happen or will be repeated.
