Hi, everybody! Всем привет! Here we are! Spoonfed Russian and its Episode N11! Today we will learn how to use Russian verbs with nouns and pronouns.

Before we start:

• download Episode 11 - Verb Conjugation - Present time.pdf;
• and follow the topic.

 

 Episode 11 - Verbs - Present Tense: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What is a verb? Verb is a word which plays an action role in the sentence. For example: enjoy, smile, go etc.

In dictionaries verbs are given in infinitive form:

• the majority of infinitives ends in “-ть”: работать - to work, читать - to read, писать - to write;
• some verbs end in “-ти”: идти - to go, нести - to carry;
• few verbs end in “-чь”: мочь - to be able, печь - to bake.

In Russian we have only one Present Tense - it sounds great, isn’t it? “I speak” or “I’m speaking” we say the same way “Я говорю”. But we have to change verb endings depending on the person, what we actually do in English too but not that much, for example: “I smile”, but “He smiles”.

Russian verb endings are mainly changed according to one of the two rules known as Conjugation I and Conjugation II. There are some exceptions and irregular verbs but they are also changed quite similar.

Conjugations of some verbs you can find in the file of this episode. Please open it and follow me.

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Exercise. Упражнение.

Look at the sentence “I hear you”. In English we have to follow strict order in the sentence. In Russian we have to use “you” in accusative case (see pronouns in accusative case in Episode 9) and put it almost in any part of the sentence: Я слышу тебя or Я тебя слышу. Now try to translate yourself:

• You hear me.
• Do you hear me?
• I see you.
• I see him.
• Do you see her?

Answers are welcome to spoonfedrussian at gmail.com and you are always welcome to Spoonfed Russian! Увидимся! И до скорой встречи!