Уро́к 2
2.4 Грамма́тика – Introduction to Verbs
Грамма́тика
Have you noticed that you’ve started speaking Russian yet there’s something very conspicuously absent? Verbs, anyone?
We’re going to start by learning TWO verbs. Watch the following videos. You will need to commit these two verbs and their conjugations (the different forms) to memory.
1. Рабо́тать – to work
2. Учи́ться – to study (be a student)
This verb is shown in two parts.
Part 1 (Singular: I, You, He/She/It)
Part II (Plural: We, You / You all, They)
Verb Conjugation – What is it and why is it?
What does verb conjugation mean? In short, it means that the verb is inflected to ‘agree’ with a subject. This typically means that the ending of a verb changes depending on what the subject is (I, you, Boris, she, my parents, etc.). The subject of a sentence is not necessarily what the sentence is about. It is the doer of the verb, in a sense. If I say, “I love chocolate,” the one doing the loving of chocolate is “I” in the sentence.
The Conjugation Table
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st person | Я | Мы |
| 2nd person | Ты | Вы (also formal) |
| 3rd person | Он, Она́, Оно́ | Они́ |
- In the first row are the first person pronouns in Russian. First person always includes the person talking – the ‘I’. First person plural is just the speaker (I) plus someone else (=we).
- Likewise, the second row shows the second person. This isthe person to whom speech is directed – the ‘you’. The plural form is just more than one ‘you’ (= y’all). And, in Russian this is also used for one person in the ‘formal’ voice.
- And the third row shows the third person pronouns. These are the people about whom language is constructed (who is being talked about – the ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’ and ‘they’). Third person singular is for a single person or entity and plural is when there is more than one.
In the dictionary, Russian verbs are listed in their infinitive forms. Infinitives are non-conjugated forms, and most (not all) Russian infinitives end in –ть, as in:
- рабо́тать – ‘to work’
- учи́ться – ‘to study/be a student (somewhere)’
First-Conjugation Type
| рабо́тать – to work | |
| Я рабо́та-ю.
‘I work.’ |
Мы рабо́та-ем.
‘We work.’ |
| Ты рабо́та-ешь
‘You work.’ |
Вы рабо́та-ете.
‘You (all) / You (formal) work.’ |
| Он /Она / Оно рабо́та-ет.
‘He/She/It works.’ |
Они рабо́та-ют.
‘They work.’ |
*Dashes are used solely as a visual aide to illustrate the various components of the conjugated forms.
*Note the four present tense forms in English!
Second Conjugation Type
|
учи́ться – to be a student / to study (somewhere) |
|
| Я уч-у́–сь.
‘I study. / I’m a student (somewhere).’ |
Мы у́ч-им-ся.
‘We study / are students.’ |
| Ты у́ч-ишь-ся.
‘You study. / You’re a student.’ |
Вы у́ч-ите-сь.
‘Y’all study / are students.’ |
| Он / Она у́ч-ит-ся.
‘S/H studies / is a student.’ |
Они у́ч-ат-ся.
‘They study / are students.’ |
Например
Pay attention to the English translations for these Russian sentences.
Note that the verb учи́ться means to study or be a student in general. It is NOT used to talk about what you study.
Вы у́читесь или работаете?
‘Are your a student or do you work?’
Я учу́сь.
‘I’m a student. / I go to school.’
Где?
‘Where?’
Я учу́сь в университете в Остине. А Вы? Выу́читесь или рабо́таете?
‘I study at a university in Austin. And you? Do you study or work?’
Я рабо́таю.
‘I work.’
Где?
‘Where?’
Я рабо́таю в фи́рме Самсунг.
‘I work at the firm/company Samsung.’
If you feel like you could benefit from more detail from me or want to go over that one more time, watch the following video in which I sum up what we just talked about for the two words above and give some examples.
Notice that the present tense in Russian can be translated into English as the present simple (I work), the present continuous (I am working), the present perfect (I have worked), or the present perfect continuous (I have been working), depending on the context.
