Conjugation › Russian › Zhit' / prozhit'
Russian · Verb Tables · Intermediate
жить / прожить (zhit' / prozhit') means "to to live" in Russian. Present: я (ya) живу [zhivu], ты (ty) живёшь [zhivyosh'], он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) живёт [zhivyot], мы (my) живём [zhivyom], вы (vy) живёте [zhivyote], они (oni) живут [zhivut]. 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) | живу [zhivu] |
| ты (ty) | живёшь [zhivyosh'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | живёт [zhivyot] |
| мы (my) | живём [zhivyom] |
| вы (vy) | живёте [zhivyote] |
| они (oni) | живут [zhivut] |
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) | жил [zhil] / жила [zhila] |
| ты (ty) | жил [zhil] / жила [zhila] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | жил [zhil] / жила [zhila] / жило [zhilo] |
| мы (my) | жили [zhili] |
| вы (vy) | жили [zhili] |
| они (oni) | жили [zhili] |
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) | прожил [prozhil] / прожила [prozhila] |
| ты (ty) | прожил [prozhil] / прожила [prozhila] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прожил [prozhil] / прожила [prozhila] / прожило [prozhilo] |
| мы (my) | прожили [prozhili] |
| вы (vy) | прожили [prozhili] |
| они (oni) | прожили [prozhili] |
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 жить [zhit'] |
| ты (ty) | будешь жить [zhit'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | будет жить [zhit'] |
| мы (my) | будем жить [zhit'] |
| вы (vy) | будете жить [zhit'] |
| они (oni) | будут жить [zhit'] |
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) | проживу [prozhivu] |
| ты (ty) | проживёшь [prozhivyosh'] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | проживёт [prozhivyot] |
| мы (my) | проживём [prozhivyom] |
| вы (vy) | проживёте [prozhivyote] |
| они (oni) | проживут [prozhivut] |
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) | жил [zhil] бы / жила [zhila] бы |
| ты (ty) | жил [zhil] бы / жила [zhila] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | жил [zhil] бы / жила [zhila] бы / жило [zhilo] бы |
| мы (my) | жили [zhili] бы |
| вы (vy) | жили [zhili] бы |
| они (oni) | жили [zhili] 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) | прожил [prozhil] бы / прожила [prozhila] бы |
| ты (ty) | прожил [prozhil] бы / прожила [prozhila] бы |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | прожил [prozhil] бы / прожила [prozhila] бы / прожило [prozhilo] бы |
| мы (my) | прожили [prozhili] бы |
| вы (vy) | прожили [prozhili] бы |
| они (oni) | прожили [prozhili] 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) | живи [zhivi] |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть живёт [pust' zhivyot] |
| мы (my) | давайте жить [davayte zhit'] |
| вы (vy) | живите [zhivite] |
| они (oni) | пусть живут [pust' zhivut] |
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 живи [ne zhivi] (idiomatic, e.g. "don't live in the past") |
| он / она / оно (on / ona / ono) | пусть не живёт [pust' ne zhivyot] (rare) |
| мы (my) | давайте не будем жить [davayte ne budem zhit'] (rare/artificial) |
| вы (vy) | не живите [ne zhivite] (rare) |
| они (oni) | пусть не живут [pust' ne zhivut] (rare) |
| Я живу в России уже три года. Ya zhivu v Rossii uzhe tri goda. | I've been living in Russia for three years now. |
| Мы прожили в этой квартире два года и переехали. My prozhili v etoy kvartire dva goda i pereyekhali. | We lived in this flat for two years and then moved. |
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