Conjugation › Russian › Chitat' / prochitat'
Russian · Verb Tables · Intermediate
читать / прочитать (chitat' / prochitat') means "to to read" in Russian. Present: я (ya) читаю [chitayu], ты (ty) читаешь [chitayesh'], он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) читает [chitayet], мы (my) читаем [chitayem], вы (vy) читаете [chitayete], они (oni) читают [chitayut]. Below: all 9 tenses we teach, with examples.
Formed from the imperfective present stem plus personal endings (1st or 2nd conjugation). It covers habitual actions, general truths, and actions happening right now; perfective verbs have no present tense at all.
| я (ya) | читаю [chitayu] |
| ты (ty) | читаешь [chitayesh'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | читает [chitayet] |
| мы (my) | читаем [chitayem] |
| вы (vy) | читаете [chitayete] |
| они (oni) | читают [chitayut] |
Drop -ть from the infinitive and add -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter) or -ли (plural), agreeing with the subject's gender and number, never with person. Describes an action that was ongoing, repeated, or habitual in the past, or simply names a past fact without stressing that it was completed — this single form covers what English splits into "simple past" and "was doing."
| я (ya) | читал [chital] / читала [chitala] |
| ты (ty) | читал [chital] / читала [chitala] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | читал [chital] / читала [chitala] / читало [chitalo] |
| мы (my) | читали [chitali] |
| вы (vy) | читали [chitali] |
| они (oni) | читали [chitali] |
Same -л/-ла/-ло/-ли formation, but on the perfective stem. Presents the action as a single completed event, usually with a result that still matters — this is the form that does the job of English's "present perfect" ("I have read it") as often as its simple past.
| я (ya) | прочитал [prochital] / прочитала [prochitala] |
| ты (ty) | прочитал [prochital] / прочитала [prochitala] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прочитал [prochital] / прочитала [prochitala] / прочитало [prochitalo] |
| мы (my) | прочитали [prochitali] |
| вы (vy) | прочитали [prochitali] |
| они (oni) | прочитали [prochitali] |
Compound future: the future of быть (буду, будешь, будет, будем, будете, будут) plus the imperfective infinitive. Used for an action that will be ongoing, repeated, or habitual in the future, without saying whether it will be finished.
| я (ya) | буду читать [chitat'] |
| ты (ty) | будешь читать [chitat'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | будет читать [chitat'] |
| мы (my) | будем читать [chitat'] |
| вы (vy) | будете читать [chitat'] |
| они (oni) | будут читать [chitat'] |
Perfective verbs take the same personal endings as the present tense, but on the perfective stem, giving a one-word simple future. Describes a single action that will be completed.
| я (ya) | прочитаю [prochitayu] |
| ты (ty) | прочитаешь [prochitayesh'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прочитает [prochitayet] |
| мы (my) | прочитаем [prochitayem] |
| вы (vy) | прочитаете [prochitayete] |
| они (oni) | прочитают [prochitayut] |
Бы + the imperfective past (-л/-ла/-ло/-ли) form. Used for general or repeated hypotheticals, polite wishes, and requests where completion isn't the point.
| я (ya) | читал [chital] бы / читала [chitala] бы |
| ты (ty) | читал [chital] бы / читала [chitala] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | читал [chital] бы / читала [chitala] бы / читало [chitalo] бы |
| мы (my) | читали [chitali] бы |
| вы (vy) | читали [chitali] бы |
| они (oni) | читали [chitali] бы |
Бы + the perfective past form. Used for a single hypothetical action seen as completed — the closest match to English's "would have done."
| я (ya) | прочитал [prochital] бы / прочитала [prochitala] бы |
| ты (ty) | прочитал [prochital] бы / прочитала [prochitala] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прочитал [prochital] бы / прочитала [prochitala] бы / прочитало [prochitalo] бы |
| мы (my) | прочитали [prochitali] бы |
| вы (vy) | прочитали [prochitali] бы |
| они (oni) | прочитали [prochitali] бы |
Ты/вы forms come from the present/future stem plus -й/-йте (or -и/-ите after a consonant cluster); мы uses давай(те) + infinitive or the perfective 1st-plural future; the 3rd persons use пусть + present/future.
| я (ya) | — |
| ты (ty) | прочитай [prochitay] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть прочитает [pust' prochitayet] |
| мы (my) | давайте прочитаем [davayte prochitayem] |
| вы (vy) | прочитайте [prochitayte] |
| они (oni) | пусть прочитают [pust' prochitayut] |
Не + the same forms, almost always built on the imperfective aspect (не читай, not не прочитай) even when the corresponding affirmative command would be perfective — a perfective negative instead warns against an accidental action (не забудь, "don't forget"), which is a separate, narrower use not covered here.
| я (ya) | — |
| ты (ty) | не читай [ne chitay] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть не читает [pust' ne chitayet] |
| мы (my) | давайте не будем читать [davayte ne budem chitat'] |
| вы (vy) | не читайте [ne chitayte] |
| они (oni) | пусть не читают [pust' ne chitayut] |
| Я читаю договор, тут много мелкого шрифта. Ya chitayu dogovor, tut mnogo melkogo shrifta. | I'm reading the contract, there's a lot of small print. |
| Вы уже прочитали письмо из налоговой? Vy uzhe prochitali pis'mo iz nalogovoy? | Have you already read the letter from the tax office? |
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