Russian Present Tense — Verbs

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Two conjugations, one pattern each: first-conjugation читать and second-conjugation говорить, plus negation and questions.

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Two conjugations

Russian verbs fall into two conjugations. First conjugation (the bigger one): читать (to read) gives я читаю, ты читаешь, он читает, мы читаем, вы читаете, они читают. Second conjugation: говорить (to speak) gives я говорю, ты говоришь, он говорит, мы говорим, вы говорите, они говорят. The endings rhyme by person — learn the six slots once and every regular verb follows.

Which conjugation?

The infinitive ending predicts it: verbs in -ать/-ять/-еть are usually first conjugation (читать, делать), verbs in -ить are usually second (говорить, учить) — with a famous gang of exceptions (жить, плыть and friends). Stress shifts in some verbs: писать gives я пишу (I write) with с→ш mutation. Dictionaries mark conjugation; textbooks drill the exceptions early.

Negation and questions

Negation is не before the verb: Я не знаю (I don't know), Он не говорит по-русски (he doesn't speak Russian). Questions need no inversion — intonation (ИК-3, the rise-fall) turns Ты говоришь по-русски? into "do you speak Russian?". Question words lead: Где ты живёшь? (where do you live?), Что ты делаешь? (what are you doing?).

The verbs you need first

Priority verbs: знать (know a fact), понимать (understand), жить (live — я живу), делать (do), читать (read), писать (write), говорить (speak), учить (learn/teach). Note по-русски (in Russian — adverb, never changes) vs русский язык (the Russian language, noun). Я не понимаю (I don't understand) is your shield; Повторите, пожалуйста (repeat, please) is your sword.

Person	читать (to read)
я	читаю
ты	читаешь
он / она	читает
мы	читаем
вы	читаете
они	читают

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