Russian Verb Aspect and Conjugation: How to Learn 127 Flashcards in Pairs
Learn Russian conjugation and aspect with 127 flashcards: endings, gendered past, хотеть, бы, aspect pairs, cue words like уже and всегда, plus fixes and gaps.
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Russian has only two conjugations, but every verb comes in two aspects, and aspect is where learners get stuck. The Flip It deck Russian Verb System: Conjugation & Aspect (deck code VK1193, 127 cards) has two parts. Cards 1-49 cover the forms: endings, the past tense, moods, irregular verbs and consonant mutations. Cards 50-127 cover usage: when to pick imperfective and when to pick perfective.
Study this deck: Russian Verb System: Conjugation & Aspect
1 / 10Conjugation classes does Russian have
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
Sample cards
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Present-future endings, 2nd conjugation singular | -у/-ю, -ишь, -ит |
| Unique about the Russian past tense | Gender-specific: -л, -ла, -ло, -ли |
| The future compound formed | быть + imperfective infinitive (Она будет читать) |
| Special about хотеть | 1st conjugation in singular, 2nd in plural |
| What consonant mutation occurs in любить | б → бл in 1st person singular (я люблю) |
| Aspect with 'уже' (already) | Usually perfective (Я уже прочитал) |
| 'Я не прочитал' (perf.) | 'I didn't finish reading' / 'I failed to read it' |
| Aspect in the imperative for invitations | Imperfective (Садитесь! / Входите!) |
| Ловить vs. поймать | try to catch (impf.) → succeed (perf.) |
What's inside
Infinitives in -ть/-ти/-чь; first-conjugation stems vs. second-conjugation stems (смотреть, видеть, терпеть, слышать, держать, молчать); -овать → -у- (рисую); мочь, печь, нести, вести, везти, бить, пить, шить; the reflexive -ся/-сь; the conditional with бы; imperatives in -и/-ь/-й plus -те; archaic forms of быть (есмь, суть); secondary imperfectives in -ыва-/-ива- (записывать, рассказывать); aspect pairs with different roots (говорить/сказать, брать/взять, класть/положить); biaspectual verbs (использовать, атаковать); and aspect cues: каждый день, всегда, долго, никогда (imperfective) vs. вчера, наконец (perfective).
Learn the second block as pairs, not definitions
Cards 50-58 repeat cards 3-8 and 48 almost word for word, so skip the duplicates in block 2. The real work is the 30-odd pairs from приходить/прийти to отвечать/ответить. For each one, write a two-sentence card: Я каждый день покупаю хлеб / Вчера я купил хлеб. A pair you've only seen as "impf. → perf." won't come back to you mid-sentence. The cue words (cards 78-117) work best as a single grid: one column per aspect.
Three corrections and gaps
- Card 113 uses Окно было открыто to show the imperfective for a state. But открыто is a short passive participle of the perfective открыть: it describes the result of a completed action. Replace it with a true imperfective background description, such as Шёл дождь, дул ветер ("It was raining, the wind was blowing").
- Card 33 lists брезжить among the "five irregular verbs". That's an odd choice: it conjugates like a regular second-conjugation verb (брезжит). Most textbooks list хотеть, бежать, есть, дать and быть.
- Two topics are missing. Verbs of motion (идти/ходить, ехать/ездить) appear only in prefixed form (приходить, уходить), so add the unidirectional/multidirectional pairs. Negative imperatives are missing too: Не открывай! is almost always imperfective, and Не забудь! (a warning) is the main exception.
Next step
Once the system makes sense, use these verbs in sentences with everyday vocabulary from Learn Russian A1 Essentials: 260 Spoken-Russian Flashcards.
Find Russian Verb System: Conjugation & Aspect (VK1193) in the library on Flip It.
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