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Russian Verb System: Conjugation & Aspect

127 cards · 🇺🇸 English

Conjugation classes, tenses, moods and the imperfective/perfective aspect system.

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Conjugation classes does Russian have

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1Conjugation classes does Russian have
Two: first conjugation and second conjugation
2Infinitive ending in Russian
-ть or -ти (after consonants), or -чь (from fusion of final consonant + -ть)
3Two main aspects in Russian verbs
Imperfective (несовершенный вид - continuous) and perfective (совершенный вид - completed)
4Perfective verbs usually formed from imperfective ones
Usually with a prepositional prefix, but occasionally using a different root
5Example: an aspect pair
спать (to sleep - imperfective) → поспать (to take a nap - perfective)
6What tenses do Russian verbs have
Past tense and present-future tense (future has two forms: simple and compound)
7The future simple formed
By perfective verbs with personal endings (e.g., Она прочитает 'She will read/will have read')
8The future compound formed
Future form of быть (to be) + infinitive of imperfective verb (e.g., Она будет читать 'She will be reading')
9Present-future endings for 1st conjugation singular
1st: -у/-ю, 2nd: -ешь, 3rd: -ет
10Present-future endings for 1st conjugation plural
1st: -ем, 2nd: -ете, 3rd: -ут/-ют
11Present-future endings for 2nd conjugation singular
1st: -у/-ю, 2nd: -ишь, 3rd: -ит
12Present-future endings for 2nd conjugation plural
1st: -им, 2nd: -ите, 3rd: -ат/-ят
13When is -у/-ут/-ат used vs -ю/-ют/-ят
-у/-ут/-ат after hard consonant or ж, ш, щ, ч; otherwise -ю/-ют/-ят
14Verb stems use the first conjugation
Stems ending in: consonant, -у/-ы, -о/-я, -е (some exceptions), -а not preceded by a hush
15Verb stems use the second conjugation
Stems ending in: -и, -е (specific verbs like смотреть, видеть), -а preceded by a hush (ж, ш, щ, ч)
16Example: common 2nd conjugation verbs ending in -еть
смотреть, видеть, ненавидеть, обидеть, зависеть, терпеть, вертеть, сидеть, лететь
17Example: 2nd conjugation verbs with -а after a hush
слышать, дышать, держать, лежать, дрожать, стучать, кричать, молчать
18Conjugate читать (to read) in present - 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular
я читаю, ты читаешь, он/она/оно читает
19Conjugate говорить (to speak) in present - 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular
я говорю, ты говоришь, он/она/оно говорит
20Unique about the Russian past tense
It is gender-specific: -л (masc), -ла (fem), -ло (neut), -ли (plural)
21How would a male speaker say 'I slept'
я спал
22How would a female speaker say 'I slept'
я спала
23Past tense of сделать (to make/do) for all genders
он сделал (masc), она сделала (fem), оно сделало (neut), они сделали (plural)
24Origin of the Russian past tense forms
They are participles from an originally periphrastic perfect formed with the present tense of быть (to be), now omitted
25Moods do Russian verbs have
Three: indicative (изъявительное), conditional (сослагательное), imperative (повелительное)
26The imperative formed for 2nd person singular
From present-future stem: -и (stressed ending), -ь (unstressed, one consonant), -й (unstressed, vowel stem)
27The plural imperative formed
By adding -те to the singular imperative (e.g., говори → говорите)
28Some examples of imperative forms
делай/делайте (do!), рисуй/рисуйте (draw!), тронь/троньте (touch!), верни/верните (return!)
29The conditional mood formed in Russian
Past tense form + particle бы (e.g., я спал бы 'I would sleep' - male speaker)
30Example: conditional for male and female speakers
я бы сказал (male: I would say), я бы сказала (female: I would say)