Present tense: -u, -esh, -et, -em, -ete, -ut
The present endings are short and steady: -u for I, -esh for you, -et for he or she, then -em, -ete, -ut. The pronoun is almost always dropped: rabotayu already means I work. For example: “Я работаю, а ты?” — I am working, and you? A rule from the Russian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The present endings are short and steady: -u for I, -esh for you, -et for he or she, then -em, -ete, -ut. The pronoun is almost always dropped: rabotayu already means I work.
Some frequent verbs swap their stem: idti gives idu, idyosh, idyot, and ekhat gives edu, edesh, edet. A couple of verbs — khotet, and est, to eat — ignore the rule entirely and are worth learning whole.
The letter yo in idyosh and pyosh is always written: without it the word reads as another.
Table
| Person | rabotat | idti | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | rabotayu | idu | I work / I go |
| you | rabotayesh | idyosh | you work / you go |
| he, she | rabotayet | idyot | he works / he goes |
| we | rabotayem | idyom | we work / we go |
| you (plural) | rabotayete | idyote | you work / you go |
| they | rabotayut | idut | they work / they go |
By example
- Я работаю, а ты?Ya rabotayu, a ty?I am working, and you?
- Он живёт в МосквеOn zhivyot v MoskveHe lives in Moscow
- Мы едем в город на автобусеMy edem v gorod na avtobuseWe are going to the city by bus
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Russian present tense endings?
The present endings are short and steady: -u for I, -esh for you, -et for he or she, then -em, -ete, -ut. The pronoun is almost always dropped: rabotayu already means I work.
How to conjugate Russian verbs in the present?
Some frequent verbs swap their stem: idti gives idu, idyosh, idyot, and ekhat gives edu, edesh, edet. A couple of verbs — khotet, and est, to eat — ignore the rule entirely and are worth learning whole.
Rabotayu vs idyot: why different stems?
The present endings are short and steady: -u for I, -esh for you, -et for he or she, then -em, -ete, -ut. The pronoun is almost always dropped: rabotayu already means I work.
Do you need ya in a Russian sentence?
The present endings are short and steady: -u for I, -esh for you, -et for he or she, then -em, -ete, -ut. The pronoun is almost always dropped: rabotayu already means I work.
What does it look like in a Russian example sentence?
“Я работаю, а ты?” (Ya rabotayu, a ty?) — I am working, and you? A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.