Conjugation › Russian › Slyshat' / uslyshat'
Russian · Verb Tables · Intermediate
слышать / услышать (slyshat' / uslyshat') means "to to hear" in Russian. Present: я (ya) слышу [slyshu], ты (ty) слышишь [slyshish'], он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) слышит [slyshit], мы (my) слышим [slyshim], вы (vy) слышите [slyshite], они (oni) слышат [slyshat]. 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) | слышу [slyshu] |
| ты (ty) | слышишь [slyshish'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | слышит [slyshit] |
| мы (my) | слышим [slyshim] |
| вы (vy) | слышите [slyshite] |
| они (oni) | слышат [slyshat] |
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) | слышал [slyshal] / слышала [slyshala] |
| ты (ty) | слышал [slyshal] / слышала [slyshala] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | слышал [slyshal] / слышала [slyshala] / слышало [slyshalo] |
| мы (my) | слышали [slyshali] |
| вы (vy) | слышали [slyshali] |
| они (oni) | слышали [slyshali] |
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) | услышал [uslyshal] / услышала [uslyshala] |
| ты (ty) | услышал [uslyshal] / услышала [uslyshala] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | услышал [uslyshal] / услышала [uslyshala] / услышало [uslyshalo] |
| мы (my) | услышали [uslyshali] |
| вы (vy) | услышали [uslyshali] |
| они (oni) | услышали [uslyshali] |
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 слышать [slyshat'] |
| ты (ty) | будешь слышать [slyshat'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | будет слышать [slyshat'] |
| мы (my) | будем слышать [slyshat'] |
| вы (vy) | будете слышать [slyshat'] |
| они (oni) | будут слышать [slyshat'] |
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) | услышу [uslyshu] |
| ты (ty) | услышишь [uslyshish'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | услышит [uslyshit] |
| мы (my) | услышим [uslyshim] |
| вы (vy) | услышите [uslyshite] |
| они (oni) | услышат [uslyshat] |
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) | слышал [slyshal] бы / слышала [slyshala] бы |
| ты (ty) | слышал [slyshal] бы / слышала [slyshala] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | слышал [slyshal] бы / слышала [slyshala] бы / слышало [slyshalo] бы |
| мы (my) | слышали [slyshali] бы |
| вы (vy) | слышали [slyshali] бы |
| они (oni) | слышали [slyshali] 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) | услышал [uslyshal] бы / услышала [uslyshala] бы |
| ты (ty) | услышал [uslyshal] бы / услышала [uslyshala] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | услышал [uslyshal] бы / услышала [uslyshala] бы / услышало [uslyshalo] бы |
| мы (my) | услышали [uslyshali] бы |
| вы (vy) | услышали [uslyshali] бы |
| они (oni) | услышали [uslyshali] 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) | слышь [slysh'] (archaic/colloquial: not literally "hear!", but a filler interjection meaning "hey, listen") |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть услышит [pust' uslyshit] (rare) |
| мы (my) | давайте услышим [davayte uslyshim] (rare, barely used) |
| вы (vy) | услышьте [uslysh'te] (literary/emphatic plea, e.g. "hear me out") |
| они (oni) | пусть услышат [pust' uslyshat] (rare) |
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 слышь [ne slysh'] (unnatural/unused) |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть не слышит [pust' ne slyshit] (unnatural/unused) |
| мы (my) | давайте не будем слышать [davayte ne budem slyshat'] (unnatural/unused) |
| вы (vy) | не слышьте [ne slysh'te] (unnatural/unused) |
| они (oni) | пусть не слышат [pust' ne slyshat] (unnatural/unused) |
| Я вас плохо слышу, связь плохая. Ya vas plokho slyshu, svyaz' plokhaya. | I can't hear you well, the connection is bad. |
| Я бы услышал, если бы вы постучали. Ya by uslyshal, yesli by vy postuchali. | I would have heard you if you'd knocked. |
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