If you have learnt some basic Russian phrases, it is time to start forming your own Russian sentences. To do this you need to learn about Russian verbs and pronouns. When you are learning to speak Russian it is easiest to start by just using short sentences. Often you can break a long sentence into several short ones.

Definitions

Verbs are action words, they are things you can do. For example: run, walk, love, eat, want.

Pronouns are words that can replace names. For example: I, you, he, she, him, her, it.

In the sentence "I love him". "love" is the verb. The subject is "I", and the object is "him".

Russian Pronouns

Here are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the subject of a sentence. (Known as the nominative case.)

Я - I

Ты - You (informal)

Он - He, It (m)

Она - She, It (f)

Оно - It (n)

Мы - We

Вы - You (formal, or plural)

Они - They

Вы is used as the formal singular "you", and the plural "you" (slang: "yous" or "you all") when talking to more than one person.

Here are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the object of a sentence. (Known as the accusative case)

Меня - Me

Тебя - You (informal)

Его - ("yevo") - Him, It (m,n)

Её - Her, It (f)

Нас - Us

Вас - You (formal, or plural)

Их - Them

You should be familiar with using different pronouns for the subject and object of a sentence ("me" instead of "I"). Just remember that unlike English,Russian uses an extra version of the word "you". You should memorise these pronouns.

Russian Verbs

You will be pleased to know that Russian has only one present tense. In Russian there is only one way of saying "I work", "I am working" and "I do work".

Russian verbs change their endings depending on the subject. This happens a little in English, but not as much. (Example: I work, he works). This happens according to two different patterns known as the first conjugation, and the second conjugation. (There are also some irregular verbs). Both these patterns are quite similar, and once you get the hang of it, it is not too difficult.

The first conjugation

The first conjugation is used for verbs ending in "ть" but not "ить". It is the most common.

To form the verb for each person you need to drop the last two letters of the infinitive (normally "ть"), and add the appropriate ending ("ю", "ешь", "ет", "ем", "ете" or "ют").Let’s take a look at a verb that uses the first conjugation: работать (to work).

Работать - To work. (infinitive, dictionary form)

Я работаю - I work

Ты работаешь - You work

Он, Она, Оно работает - He, She, It works.

Мы работаем - We work

Вы работаете - You work.

Они работают - They work.

The second conjugation

Verbs where the infinitive ends in "ить" use the second conjugation.

Now we will introduce some verbs from the second conjugation. There are also some other verbs that use this conjugation.

The second conjugation uses the endings "ю" (or "у") "ишь" "ит" "им" "ите" "ят" (or "ат"), which replace "ить".

Note 1: The second conjugation is affected by the spelling rules.

Note 2: The first person singuar is affected by the rule of consonant mutation. Remember, this only applies to the first-person singular (Я).

Говорить - To speak. (infinitive, dictionary form)

Я говорю - I speak.

Ты говоришь - You speak.

Он, Она, Оно говорит - He, She, It Speaks.

Мы говорим - We speak.

Вы говорите - You speak.

Они говорят - They speak.

Irregular Verbs

There are a number of irregular verbs in Russian. (Verbs that don't exactly follow the above rules). However, often once you know the stem of the verb, you can often predict the endings. Even irregular verbs normally follow a similar pattern to those above.

Some examples:

Ехать - To go (by transport).

Я еду - I go (by transport).

Ты едешь - You go (by transport).

Он, Она, Оно едет - He, She, It goes (by transport).

Мы едем - We go (by transport).

Вы едете - You go (by transport).

Они едут - They go (by transport).

Notice that once you know the stem "Ед" it almost follows the first conjuction, except that "у" replaces "ю".

Russian for foreigners

Source: russianlessons.net