First Conjugation Verbs in Russian

In Brief

Russian first-conjugation verbs use the present-tense endings -у/-ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ут/-ют: читаю, читаешь, читает, читаем, читаете, читают. The ending changes with the person doing the action. Many verbs in -ать, -еть, and -овать follow this conjugation, but the infinitive alone does not identify every verb reliably.

Overview

A Russian verb changes its ending to show its person (the speaker, the listener, or someone else) and number (one person or more than one). This change is called conjugation. For example, English uses “I read” and “we read,” but Russian distinguishes them as я читаю and мы читаем. Learning the endings therefore gives you information that English usually expresses mainly through the subject pronoun.

Russian present-tense verbs are traditionally divided into two main conjugations. This article covers the first conjugation, the larger of the two groups. It includes very common verbs such as читать “to read,” работать “to work,” знать “to know,” and делать “to do or make.” This is an A1 foundation: once you know the pattern, you can describe routines, facts, preferences, and actions happening now.

The form listed in a dictionary, such as читать, is the infinitive (the basic “to …” form). Infinitive endings provide useful clues, but Russian conjugation is ultimately determined by the verb’s present-tense forms. At first, learn a new verb together with its я and они forms—for example, писать — пишу — пишут. Those forms reveal both the stem and the conjugation.

How It Works

The six present-tense forms

Here is the complete pattern with читать “to read.” The subject is the person or thing performing the action.

Person	Pronoun	Ending	читать
1st person singular	я (I)	-ю	я читаю
2nd person singular	ты (you, informal singular)	-ешь	ты читаешь
3rd person singular	он/она/оно (he/she/it)	-ет	он/она читает
1st person plural	мы (we)	-ем	мы читаем
2nd person plural	вы (you, plural or formal)	-ете	вы читаете
3rd person plural	они (they)	-ют	они читают

For a regular verb such as читать, remove the infinitive ending -ть and add the personal endings to the stem чита-:

• чита- + -ю → читаю
• чита- + -ешь → читаешь
• чита- + -ет → читает
• чита- + -ем → читаем
• чита- + -ете → читаете
• чита- + -ют → читают

This “remove -ть” method works neatly for verbs such as читать, работать, знать, and делать. It is a good beginner rule, but it is not universal: some first-conjugation verbs change their stem.

Choosing between -у/-ю and -ут/-ют

The two alternatives in the first and third persons are not extra sets that you choose freely. The verb’s stem determines which form appears.

Present stem pattern	я form	они form	Example
Stem remains vowel-final	-ю	-ют	читать → читаю, читают
Present stem ends in a consonant	-у	-ут	писать → пишу, пишут

For that reason, memorize я and они with verbs whose stem changes. Do not turn писать into the nonexistent forms писаю or писают.

Common regular patterns

Verbs in -ать

Many -ать verbs keep the stem visible throughout the paradigm.

Pronoun	работать (to work)	знать (to know)	делать (to do/make)
я	работаю	знаю	делаю
ты	работаешь	знаешь	делаешь
он/она	работает	знает	делает
мы	работаем	знаем	делаем
вы	работаете	знаете	делаете
они	работают	знают	делают

Verbs in -еть with a stable vowel stem

Some -еть verbs also follow the same transparent pattern. For example:

Pronoun	уметь (to know how to, be able to)
я	умею
ты	умеешь
он/она	умеет
мы	умеем
вы	умеете
они	умеют

Do not assume that every verb ending in -еть belongs here. Several frequent -еть verbs are second-conjugation verbs; these are discussed under “Beyond the Basics.”

Verbs in -овать/-евать

In many verbs ending in -овать or -евать, that part changes to -у-/-ю- in the present tense:

Pronoun	рисовать (to draw)	танцевать (to dance)
я	рисую	танцую
ты	рисуешь	танцуешь
он/она	рисует	танцует
мы	рисуем	танцуем
вы	рисуете	танцуете
они	рисуют	танцуют

These are still first-conjugation endings. The stem alternation is simply part of the verb’s pattern.

Unstressed and stressed endings

The same endings may be stressed. When е in a first-conjugation ending is stressed, it is normally written ё: жить — живёшь, живёт, живём, живёте. The plural is живут. In ordinary Russian text, writers sometimes print е instead of ё, but dictionaries and learner materials often preserve ё because it shows both pronunciation and meaning clearly.

Person	Unstressed: читать	Stressed: жить
я	читаю	живу
ты	читаешь	живёшь
он/она	читает	живёт
мы	читаем	живём
вы	читаете	живёте
они	читают	живут

Present tense and verb aspect

The present tense is formed only from imperfective verbs—verbs that present an action as ongoing, repeated, habitual, or viewed without a completed endpoint. Thus я читаю can mean “I am reading” or “I read,” depending on context. Russian does not use separate simple-present and present-progressive forms as English does.

A perfective partner describes an action as a complete whole. Its “present-looking” conjugated forms normally have future meaning. For example, я прочитаю книгу means “I will read the book through / I will finish reading the book,” not “I am reading the book.” Aspect is a separate topic, but this distinction explains why not every Russian verb can describe the present.

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
Я читаю новости утром.	I read the news in the morning.	Habit; 1st person singular
Ты читаешь эту книгу?	Are you reading this book?	Action happening now
Анна читает по-русски.	Anna reads in Russian.	A noun is the subject
Мы читаем текст вместе.	We are reading the text together.	1st person plural
Вы читаете очень быстро.	You read very quickly.	Plural or formal “you”
Дети читают в комнате.	The children are reading in the room.	3rd person plural
Я работаю дома по пятницам.	I work at home on Fridays.	Repeated routine
Где ты работаешь?	Where do you work?	Common conversational question
Мои друзья работают в Москве.	My friends work in Moscow.	Plural subject
Мы знаем ответ.	We know the answer.	Stable -а- stem
Она делает кофе каждое утро.	She makes coffee every morning.	делать can mean “do” or “make”
Что вы делаете сейчас?	What are you doing now?	Context gives progressive meaning
Я умею готовить.	I know how to cook.	уметь + infinitive
Он рисует карту.	He is drawing a map.	-овать changes to -у-
Они танцуют по субботам.	They dance on Saturdays.	-евать changes to -ю-

Common Mistakes

Using one form for every subject

• Wrong: Я читает книгу.
• Right: Я читаю книгу.
• Why: English changes few present-tense verb forms, but Russian requires a person-specific ending. With я, use the first-person singular form.

Attaching endings to the whole infinitive

• Wrong: Ты читатьешь по-русски.
• Right: Ты читаешь по-русски.
• Why: The infinitive -ть is removed before the personal ending is added. Start from чита-, not читать-.

Mixing singular and plural endings

• Wrong: Мы работаю дома.
• Right: Мы работаем дома.
• Why: Мы means “we” and takes -ем/-ём. The ending -у/-ю belongs to я.

Treating every -ать verb as perfectly regular

• Wrong: Я писаю письмо.
• Right: Я пишу письмо.
• Why: Писать is first conjugation, but its present stem changes: пишу, пишешь, …, пишут. “First conjugation” identifies the ending set, not a promise that the stem never changes.

Choosing -ют after every first-conjugation verb

• Wrong: Они пишют письма.
• Right: Они пишут письма.
• Why: Verbs with a consonant-final present stem commonly use -у and -ут. Learn писать — пишу — пишут as a three-form unit.

Assuming every -еть verb is first conjugation

• Wrong: Она смотреет телевизор.
• Right: Она смотрит телевизор.
• Why: Смотреть is a second-conjugation exception. The infinitive ending is a clue, not an absolute test.

Usage Notes

Russian and English present-tense meanings

A single Russian imperfective present can match more than one English construction:

• Я работаю дома. — “I work at home” or “I am working at home.”
• Она читает книгу. — “She reads a book” or “She is reading a book.”

Time expressions and the surrounding situation choose the natural English translation. Words such as каждый день “every day” suggest a habit, while сейчас “now” suggests an action in progress.

Subject pronouns are not always omitted

Because the verb ending identifies the person, Russian can omit a pronoun when the context is clear: Работаю дома “I’m working at home.” This is especially natural in answers, messages, diary-like notes, and connected conversation. However, Russian does not drop subject pronouns as consistently as some languages do. At A1, using я, ты, мы, and вы is normally safe; omit them only when the intended subject is obvious.

Third-person forms do not show gender in the present tense: он читает and она читает use exactly the same verb. In the plural, они читают is used for all genders.

Ты and вы

Both ты and вы translate as “you,” but they take different endings. Use ты with one person in an informal relationship. Use вы for more than one person, and also as polite singular address. Polite singular Вы may be capitalized in letters or direct personal correspondence; the verb remains plural in form: Вы работаете здесь? “Do you work here?”

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all the following points at A1, but they explain forms that you will meet very early in real Russian.

Infinitive endings are only a starting point

Most verbs in -ить belong to the second conjugation, while many verbs in -ать, -ять, -еть, -овать, and -евать belong to the first. There are important exceptions. The first-conjugation verbs брить “to shave” and стелить “to spread or lay” end in -ить. Conversely, several frequent verbs outside -ить use second-conjugation endings, including гнать, держать, дышать, слышать, смотреть, видеть, ненавидеть, зависеть, терпеть, обидеть, and вертеть.

Lists of school-style exceptions are useful, but actual present forms are more dependable than spelling rules. A dictionary normally gives enough information to identify an irregular stem. Learning three forms—infinitive, я, and они—is an efficient long-term habit.

Stem alternations within the first conjugation

Many common first-conjugation verbs have regular first-conjugation endings but a changing stem:

Infinitive	я	ты	они	Meaning
писать	пишу	пишешь	пишут	to write
искать	ищу	ищешь	ищут	to look for
плакать	плачу	плачешь	плачут	to cry
звать	зову	зовёшь	зовут	to call
брать	беру	берёшь	берут	to take

Changes such as с → ш, ск → щ, or к → ч reflect Russian sound history and pronunciation patterns. It is usually easier to learn them through whole forms than to reconstruct them from a long list of sound rules.

A few verbs do not fit one conjugation neatly

Some high-frequency verbs have mixed or highly irregular paradigms. Хотеть “to want” combines forms associated with both conjugations (хочу, хочешь, хочет, хотим, хотите, хотят), while есть “to eat” and дать “to give” have special forms. Treat these as separate paradigms rather than forcing them into the regular first-conjugation model.

Present forms used with different time references

The imperfective present can occasionally describe a planned future, especially with a clear time phrase: Завтра мы работаем дома “Tomorrow we are working from home.” It can also create a vivid narrative effect when recounting events, similar to the English historical present: Я открываю дверь и вижу… “I open the door and see…” These uses do not change the conjugation; only the context changes the time reference.

Practice Tips

1. Build each verb as a six-form ladder. Say я читаю, ты читаешь, он читает, мы читаем, вы читаете, они читают. Then repeat with работать, знать, and делать. This links each ending directly to its pronoun.
2. Record three forms for every new verb. Write читать — читаю — читают or писать — пишу — пишут. If the present stem changes, you notice it immediately instead of inventing a form later.
3. Contrast habit and “right now.” Make paired sentences with каждый день and сейчас: Я читаю каждый день and Я сейчас читаю. The same Russian present form handles both English meanings.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Personal Pronouns (Nominative) — connect я, ты, он/она, мы, вы, and они with the six verb endings.
• Next step: Reflexive Verbs -ся/-сь — add the reflexive marker to conjugated verb forms.
• Next step: Imperative Mood — learn how Russian forms commands and requests.
• Related irregular verbs: Хотеть and Мочь — two essential verbs with forms that require separate attention.
• Related motion verbs: Going: идти vs. ехать — compare two common irregular present-tense paradigms.
• Later tense: Past Tense — unlike the present, Russian past forms show gender and number rather than person.