Conjugation › Russian › Chitat'
Russian · Verb Tables · Advanced
читать (chitat') 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 16 tenses we teach, with examples.
Imperfective verbs only — perfective verbs have no present tense. Stem + personal endings, expresses actions happening now, repeated/habitual actions, and general truths; also covers what English marks as the present continuous.
| 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) |
Perfective/imperfective distinction lives in the stem, not the ending: infinitive stem minus -ть + -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural) — the same ending set for every verb in the language. Does not mark person, only gender and number; agreement is with the real subject's gender, so "I"/"you (singular)" have separate masculine/feminine forms. Imperfective past describes an ongoing, repeated or general past action, or one whose completion is not in focus.
| я (ya) | читал / читала (chital / chitala) |
| ты (ty) | читал / читала (chital / chitala) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | читал / читала / читало (chital / chitala / chitalo) |
| мы (my) | читали (chitali) |
| вы (vy) | читали (chitali) |
| они (oni) | читали (chitali) |
Same -л/-ла/-ло/-ли endings, but on the perfective partner verb's stem (прочитать, поговорить); marks a single completed action or its result, the normal choice for narrating a sequence of finished events.
| я (ya) | прочитал / прочитала (prochital / prochitala) |
| ты (ty) | прочитал / прочитала (prochital / prochitala) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прочитал / прочитала / прочитало (prochital / prochitala / prochitalo) |
| мы (my) | прочитали (prochitali) |
| вы (vy) | прочитали (prochitali) |
| они (oni) | прочитали (prochitali) |
Future of быть (буду, будешь, будет, будем, будете, будут) + imperfective infinitive. Used for ongoing, repeated or general actions in the future, or when the aspect of the action is not being emphasized.
| я (ya) | буду читать (budu chitat') |
| ты (ty) | будешь читать (budesh' chitat') |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | будет читать (budet chitat') |
| мы (my) | будем читать (budem chitat') |
| вы (vy) | будете читать (budete chitat') |
| они (oni) | будут читать (budut chitat') |
The perfective verb's present-tense-shaped conjugation (same endings as an imperfective present) automatically carries future meaning, because a perfective verb cannot describe an ongoing present. Used for a single completed action that will happen once.
| 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) |
Past-tense form (either aspect) + the invariant, moveable particle бы. There is only one form for past, present and future hypotheticals — context and adverbs (тогда, сейчас, завтра) show the time meant. Used for hypothetical or unreal conditions (usually with если...бы), polite requests and suggestions, and wishes.
| я (ya) | читал бы / читала бы (chital by / chitala by) |
| ты (ty) | читал бы / читала бы (chital by / chitala by) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | читал бы / читала бы / читало бы (chital by / chitala by / chitalo by) |
| мы (my) | читали бы (chitali by) |
| вы (vy) | читали бы (chitali by) |
| они (oni) | читали бы (chitali by) |
чтобы (что + бы fused into one word) + past-tense form, used after verbs of wanting, asking, ordering something for someone else to do (хочу, чтобы...), in purpose clauses ("in order that"), and after жаль/жалко for regrets. The subordinate verb always takes this чтобы + past shape regardless of the real time of the wish.
| я (ya) | чтобы я читал / читала (chtoby ya chital / chitala) |
| ты (ty) | чтобы ты читал / читала (chtoby ty chital / chitala) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | чтобы он читал / она читала / оно читало (chtoby on chital / ona chitala / ono chitalo) |
| мы (my) | чтобы мы читали (chtoby my chitali) |
| вы (vy) | чтобы вы читали (chtoby vy chitali) |
| они (oni) | чтобы они читали (chtoby oni chitali) |
True 2nd-person imperative: stem + -й (after a vowel), -и (after a consonant, stressed), or -ь (after a single consonant, unstressed) for "you (singular)"; add -те for "you (plural/formal)". 1st-person plural uses давай(те) + infinitive ("let's..."); 3rd person uses пусть/пускай + the ordinary present or simple-future form (a jussive, not a true imperative). Positive commands typically use the perfective aspect for a single expected action.
| я (ya) | — |
| ты (ty) | читай (chitay) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть читает (pust' chitayet) |
| мы (my) | давайте читать (davayte chitat') |
| вы (vy) | читайте (chitayte) |
| они (oni) | пусть читают (pust' chitayut) |
не + the same imperative forms. Negative commands strongly prefer the imperfective aspect (не читай, not не прочитай), because a perfective negative imperative sounds like a warning against something happening accidentally rather than a plain prohibition.
| 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) |
Dictionary form, ending in -ть (or -ти/-чь for some consonant stems). Used after modal words (нужно, можно, хочу) and other conjugated verbs, and as a verbal noun.
| читать (chitat') |
Imperfective verbs only: 3rd-person-plural present stem + -щий, declined like an adjective for gender, case and number (citation form is masculine nominative singular). Means "[who/that is] verb-ing".
| читающий (chitayushchiy) |
Past-tense stem (either aspect) + -вший (or -ший after a consonant), declined like an adjective. Means "[who/that] verbed / has verbed".
| читавший / прочитавший (chitavshiy / prochitavshiy) |
Imperfective, mainly transitive verbs: 1st-person-plural present stem + adjective endings (-ый/-ая/-ое). Fairly bookish; not every verb forms one in everyday use (говорить rarely does — a paraphrase like о чём говорится is used instead).
| читаемый (chitayemyy) |
Mostly from perfective transitive verbs: stem + -нный/-тый, declined like an adjective; has a short form (-н/-т, agreeing only in gender/number) used as the predicate of passive sentences. The everyday way to say "is/was done".
| прочитанный, short прочитан/-а/-о/-ы (prochitannyy, prochitan/-a/-o/-y) |
Imperfective only: present stem + -я (-а after ж/ш/ч/щ). Invariable; describes an action simultaneous with the main verb's ("while verb-ing").
| читая (chitaya) |
Perfective only: past stem + -в (-вши before a reflexive -сь, or -ши after a consonant). Invariable; describes a completed action prior to the main verb's ("having verbed").
| прочитав (prochitav) |
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