Grammar: Verbs

Verbs in Russian - Present tense

Every Russian verb has two forms (aspects): imperfective and perfective. The imperfective describes an ongoing or incomplete action. The perfective describes a finished action or one that will be completed.
The present tense only exists in the imperfective aspect.

Conjugating the verb involves changing the ending of the verb stem based on the subject. Russian verbs are divided into two conjugation patterns: First Conjugation and Second Conjugation.
First conjugation verbs usually end in -ать, -ять, or -еть in their infinitive form. To form the present tense, change the endings as follows: -ю,-ешь,-ет,-ем,-ете,-ют.
Second conjugation verbs typically end in -ить in the infinitive. To form the present tense, change the endings to: -ю,-ишь,-ит,-им,-ите,-ат.

Past and Future tenses exist in both aspects.
To form the Past tense, remove the infinitive ending -ть and add the following endings: -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural).
The Future tense of imperfective verbs is formed using the verb быть (to be) in the future + the infinitive of the verb. For perfective verbs, use the present tense forms.

Russian employs verbs of motion to express movement, which are more complex than static verbs.
Verbs of motion are divided into two categories: unidirectional and multidirectional. Unidirectional verbs express movement in one direction. Multidirectional verbs express movement in various directions or frequent movement.

Reflexive verbs end with -ся or -сь in the infinitive form. They indicate that the subject is acting upon itself or reflect the result of the action back on the subject.
Reflexive verbs conjugate the same way as their non-reflexive counterparts, but remember to preserve the reflexive ending.

The imperative mood is used to give commands or make requests.
For most verbs, the imperative is formed by removing the infinitive ending -ть and adding -й (for “you” form) or -те (for “you(plural)” or formal “you”). For reflexive verbs, don’t forget to add reflexive ending -ся or -сь after the imperative ending.

Some verbs do not follow the regular conjugation patterns. These irregular verbs should be recognised and memorised separately.
Pay attention to verb pairs, i.e., the imperative and perfective forms of the same verb. The imperfective form is used for general, ongoing actions and the perfective form is used for specific, completed actions. The form used can change the meaning of the verb.