LinguaTwo tables and a short list of rebels
Everything this unit taught fits on one screen. A Russian verb belongs to the first conjugation, to the second, or to the small group that follows neither – and once you know which, the six endings follow automatically.
| Person | First | Second |
|---|---|---|
| я | -ю / -у | -ю / -у |
| ты | -ешь | -ишь |
| он, она | -ет | -ит |
| мы | -ем | -им |
| вы | -ете | -ите |
| они | -ют / -ут | -ят / -ат |
The ты row is the fastest diagnostic there is: -ешь or -ишь tells you the whole table.
What the ending buys you
Because the ending names the person, the pronoun is optional, and Russian drops it whenever the context already says who is acting. Работаю and я работаю mean the same thing; the second one merely puts a little more weight on the I.
Что делаешь? – Читаю.What are you doing? – Reading.
Questions and negation cost nothing
Russian has no auxiliary for asking and no linking verb in the present. A question is the statement with a rising voice, and a denial is the statement with не in front of the verb. That is the whole machinery.
| Statement | Question | Denial |
|---|---|---|
| Он понимает. | Он понимает? | Он не понимает. |
| Мы спешим. | Мы спешим? | Мы не спешим. |
Вы не помните моё имя?Do you not remember my name?
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| открывать | to open | Магазин открывает двери в девять. The shop opens its doors at nine. |
| закрывать | to close | Я закрываю окно. I am closing the window. |
| начинать | to begin | Мы начинаем в восемь. We begin at eight. |
| помогать | to help | Он помогает соседу. He helps his neighbour. |
| отвечать | to answer | Она отвечает быстро. She answers quickly. |
| спрашивать | to ask | Студенты часто спрашивают. The students ask a lot. |
| повторять | to repeat | Повторяйте за мной. Repeat after me. |
| забывать | to forget | Я всегда забываю ключи. I always forget my keys. |
| уметь | to know how to | Он умеет плавать. He knows how to swim. |
| всегда | always | Она всегда помогает. She always helps. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- fill the gap: 2
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Say that you always forget something: Я ___ забываю ключи.
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.