Appendix on Russian Conjugation and Imperfective Derivation

Appendix on Russian Conjugation and Imperfective Derivation

The conjugation of Russian verbs is quite challenging,yet very few textbooks and reference materials approach this problem in a systematic fashion. Dictionaries and vocabulary lists commonly cite only infinitives, neglecting to provide the learner with a means to reliably predict or recognize the conjugated forms for all verbs. Fortunately it is possible to describe Russian verbal forms in terms of a one-stem system, where every verb has a stem type and a stress type that will enable the learner to produce and recognize all of its forms. The one-stem system can also be used to understand the patterns involved in the derivation of imperfective verbs from perfective stems. This appendix will present the one-stem system, adapted from Townsend 1975 and Levin 1978. It will begin by presenting an outline of the one-stem system, followed by the verbal endings and an explanation of how verbal endings are added to verbal stems. Next comes a detailed discussion of the stem types, illustrated by complete conjugations and annotated for special features. This appendix concludes with a description of imperfective derivation.

Overview of the One-Stem System

The point of having a one-stem system is to understand how verbal stems and verbal endings combine to create forms of a verb. For this purpose, the end of a verbal stem (the last sound or sounds before any endings are added) is where the action is. The last sound or sounds can serve to identify the verb type because all verbs that have the same sound(s) at the end of their stem will be conjugated similarly. The stem types are classified according to the final sound(s), which are given in capital Cyrillic letters.

There are two broad categories of stem types: ones that have a suffix and ones that do not. Stem types that have a suffix have a stem classification with a hyphen (like -И, Ж-А). Suffixed stems may end in either a vowel (like -Е) or the consonant [j], which is always written Й (as in the stem types -АЙ, -ЕЙ, -А(ВА)Й). Stem types that do not have a suffix do not have a hyphen and consist of or end in a consonant (like В, НИМ, Д).

NEED TO ADD ONE MORE TYPE OF STRESS P:P the prefixal for vy- verbs!!!!

Each verb has two stress patterns, one for the non-past tense, and one for the past. Stress patterns are noted with Latin letters, listing first the non-past tense stress, a colon (:), and then the past tense stress. Stress can be fixed on the stem (St), fixed on the ending (E), fixed on the prefix (P), or shifting (Sh). Shifting stress in the non-past tense means that the я form has stress on the ending, but all other non-past tense forms have stress on the stem. An example of shifting stress in the present is любитьi [-И Sh:St] ‘love’, which has the following forms: люблю, любишь, любит, любим, любите, любят. Only suffixed verbs and НИМ verbs may have shifting stress in the non-past. Shifting stress in the past tense means that the feminine form is stressed on the final -а, but all other forms have stress on the stem. An example of shifting stress in the past is житьi [В E:Sh] ‘live’, which has the following past forms: жил, жила, жило, жили. Only nonsuffixed verbs and n/s-А verbs may have shifting stress in the past. A few verbs have prefixal shifting stress (PSh) in the past, which means that the feminine has stressed -а, and all other forms have stress on the prefix. An example of prefixal shifting stress in the past is умеретьp [/Р E:PSh] which has the following past forms: умер, умерла, умерло умерли. The following is a list of all the stress types with an example for each one:

St:St = Stem stress in non-past and past

example: видетьi [-Е St:St] ‘see’
non-past / past
вижу / видел
видишь / видела
видит / видело
видим / видели
видите
видят

St:E лечь!!!

St:Sh быть!!!

E:E = Ending stress in non-past and past

example: нестиi,det [С E:E] ‘carry’
non-past / past
несу / нёс
несёшь / несла
несёт / несло
несём / несли
несёте
несут

P:P = Prefixal stress in non-past and past (used only with perfective verbs prefixed by вы-)

example: выбратьp [n/s-А P:P] ‘choose’
non-past / past
выберу / выбрал
выберешь / выбрала
выберет / выбрало
выберем / выбрали
выберете
выберут

E:St = Ending stress in non-past, stem stress in past

example: стричьi [Г E:St] ‘cut’
non-past / past
стригу / стриг
стрижёшь / стригла
стрижёт / стригло
стрижём / стригли
стрижёте
стригут

E:Sh = Ending stress in non-past, shifting stress in past

example: питьi [ИЙ E:Sh] ‘drink’
non-past / past
пью / пил
пьёшь / пила
пьёт / пило
пьём / пили
пьёте
пьют

E:PSh = Ending stress in non-past, shifting prefixal stress in past

example: начатьp [/Н E:PSh] ‘begin’
non-past / past
начну / начал
начнёшь / начала
начнёт / начало
начнём / начали
начнёте
начнут

Sh:St = Shifting stress in non-past, stem stress in past

писатьi [-А Sh:St] ‘write’
non-past / past
пишу / писал
пишешь / писала
пишет / писало
пишем / писали
пишете
пишут

Sh:E мочь!!!

Sh:Sh = Shifting stress in non-past and past (rare; used only with НИМ verbs)

снятьp [НИМ Sh:Sh] ‘take off’
non-past / past
сниму / снял
снимешь / сняла
снимет / сняло
снимем / сняли
снимете
снимут

The consonant [j] ( which sounds like y in the English word yes) plays an extremely important role in the one-stem system of Russian verbs, but unfortunately it can be spelled three ways in Russian, depending upon where it appears in a word:

1) When there is no vowel following it or at the end of the word [j] has its own letter: й, as in the imperative forms of делатьi [-АЙ St:St] ‘do’: делай! and делайте! We also see the spelling й in the present tense forms of the Й/М stem type, such as понятьp [Й/М E:Sh], which has present tense forms пойму, поймёшь, поймёт, поймём, поймёте, поймут.

2) After a consonant, the hard sign (ъ) or the soft sign (ь) is combined with one of the soft vowel letters (я, е, и, ё, or ю) to indicate the presence of [j] between a consonant and a vowel. We frequently encounter this use of the hard sign (ъ) in verbs that have a prefix ending in a consonant and a root beginning in [j], such as объяснитьp [-И E:St] ‘explain’ (which can be thought of as a combination of об- and -яснить). We find the use of the soft sign (ь) to indicate [j] in the conjugated forms of ИЙ verbs, for example the present tense forms of питьi [ИЙ E:Sh] ‘drink’: пью, пьёшь, пьёт, пьём, пьёте, пьют.

3) At the beginning of a word or after a vowel, we simply use a soft vowel letter (я, е, и, ё, or ю) to indicate the presence of [j]. [j] is the one consonant that appears most frequently at the end of a verbal stem, which is why it is so important to the one-stem system. In our classification system we always use the letter Й to represent [j], because it is the only Cyrillic letter that uniquely identifies [j]. The presence of [j] is essential to the identification of -АЙ, -ЕЙ, -А(ВА)Й, Й, ИЙ, and ОЙ stems, and when these stems add a verbal ending that begins in a vowel, a soft vowel letter is used to indicate that there is a [j] between vowels. Here are some examples of how они forms of these verb stems ending in [j] are spelled with the soft vowel letter ю: делатьi [-АЙ St:St] ‘do’ > они делают, иметьi [-ЕЙ St:St] ‘possess’ > они имеют, даватьi [-А(ВА)Й St:St] ‘give’ > они дают, дутьi [Й St:St] ‘blow’ > они дуют, питьi [ИЙ E:Sh] ‘drink’ > они пьют, крытьi [ОЙ St:St] ‘cover’ > они кроют.

Some verbal stems have a mobile vowel between consonants in conjugation and/or in imperfective derivation; the symbol / is used to indicate the place where a vowel will appear. For example, the verb умеретьp [/Р E:PSh] ‘die’ removes the vowel е in its present tense forms, умру, умрёшь, умрёт, умрём, умрёте, умрут, and adds the vowel и in its imperfective умиратьi [-АЙ St:St]. Parentheses are used to identify suffixes or portions of suffixes that are sometimes deleted. For example -(НУ) verbs lose their НУ suffix in the past tense, as we see in the masculine past form мёрз of the verb мёрзнутьi [-(НУ) St:St] ‘freeze’, and ва is deleted from -А(ВА)Й verbs in their present tense forms, as we see in the forms of даватьi [-А(ВА)Й St:St]: даю, даёшь, даёт, даём, даёте, дают. There are several additional phenomena that regularly take place when verbal stems are combined with verbal endings, mainly involving the deletion of a stem-final vowel or consonant or changes in stem-final consonants. These phenomena will be discussed under the section entitled “How to Combine Verbal Stems with Verbal Endings” below.

An outline of the one-stem system given here is for orientational purposes only. This is merely a list of all the stem types, with an example of each type. Each verb is cited in its infinitive form, the я and ты forms of the present tense, and the она and они past forms. The basic stem, which ends in + (to indicate the boundary between the stem and ending) is also listed. Complete conjugations, detailed notes on special phenomena, and lists of relevant verbs appear below in the Illustration of Stem Types.

Stem Type / Example Verb
SUFFIXED STEMS
SECOND CONJUGATION VOWEL STEMS
-И / любитьi [-И Sh:St] ‘love’: люблю, любишь, любила, любили; люб-и+
-Е / видетьi [-Е St:St] ‘see’: вижу, видишь, видела, видели; вид-е+
Ж-А / лежатьi [Ж-А E:St] ‘lie’: лежу, лежишь, лежала, лежали; леж-а+
FIRST CONJUGATION VOWEL STEMS
-A / писатьi [-А Sh:St] ‘write’: пишу, пишешь, писала, писали; пис-а+
n/s-А / братьi [n/s-А E:Sh] ‘take’: беру, берёшь, брала, брали; б/р-а+
-ОВА / требоватьi [-ОВА St:St] ‘need’: требую, требуешь, требовала, требовали; треб-ова+
-О / боротьсяi [-О Sh:St] ‘fight’: борюсь, борешься, боролась, боролись; бор-о+ -ся
-НУ / крикнутьp [-НУ St:St] ‘shout’: крикну, крикнешь, крикнула, крикнули; крик-ну+
-(НУ) / мёрзнутьi [-(НУ) St:St] ‘freeze’: мёрзну, мёрзнешь, мёрзла, мёрзли; мёрз-(ну)+
FIRST CONJUGATION CONSONANT STEMS
-АЙ / делатьi [-АЙ St:St] ‘do’: делаю, делаешь, делала, делали; дел-ай+
-ЕЙ / иметьi [-ЕЙ St:St] ‘possess’: имею, имеешь, имела, имели; им-ей+
-А(ВА)Й / даватьi [-А(ВА)Й Е:St] ‘give’: даю, даёшь, давала, давали; да-(ва)й+
NONSUFFIXED STEMS (ALL ARE FIRST CONJUGATION)
В / житьi [В E:Sh] ‘live’: живу, живёшь, жила, жили; жив+
Н / детьi [Н St:St] ‘put’: дену, денешь, дела, дели; ден+
Й / дутьi [Й St:St] ‘blow’: дую, дуешь, дула, дули; дуй+
ОЙ / крытьi [ОЙ St:St] ‘cover’: крою, кроешь, крыла, крыли; крой+
ИЙ / питьi [ИЙ E:Sh] ‘drink’: пью, пьёшь, пила, пили; пий+
/Р / умеретьp [/Р E:Psh] ‘die’: умру, умрёшь, умерла, умерли; ум/р+
/М / жатьi [/М E:St] ‘press’: жму, жмёшь, жала, жали; ж/м+
/Н / начатьp [/Н E:PSh] ‘begin’: начну, начнёшь, начала, начали; нач/н+
Й/М / понятьp [Й/М E:PSh] ‘understand’: пойму, поймёшь, поняла, поняли; пой/м+
НИМ / снятьp [НИМ Sh:Sh] ‘take off’: сниму, снимешь, сняла, сняли; сним+
Д / вестиi,det [Д E:E] ‘lead’: веду, ведёшь, вела, вели; вед+
Т / плестиi [Т E:E] ‘weave, braid’: плету, плетёшь, плела, плели; плет+
Б / грестиi [Б E:E] ‘row, dig’: гребу, гребёшь, грела, грели; греб+
З / везтиi,det [З E:E] ‘convey’: везу, везёшь, везла, везли; вез+
С / нестиi,det [С E:E] ‘carry’: несу, несёшь, несла, несли; нес+
Г / стричьi [Г E:St] ‘cut’: стригу, стрижёшь, стригла, стригли; стриг+
К / печьi [К E:E] ‘bake’: пеку, печёшь, пекла, пекли; пек+

Verbal Endings

Every verbal form can be understood as a combination of the basic stem + a verbal ending. Russian verbal endings can be divided into two types: ones that begin with a consonant and ones that begin with a vowel. Some verbal forms have two or more possible endings, and their distribution among stem types is indicated here. This section will present the verbal endings, and the next section will explain how to add verbal endings to the stems of verbs.

verbal endings that begin with a vowel

(note that the vowel е is always ё when stressed, е when unstressed)

first conjugationpresent tense: these endings are used for most stem types

+у/+ю 1sg +ешь 2sg +ет 3sg

+ем 1pl +ете 2pl +ут/+ют 3pl

example: вестиi,det [Д E:E] ‘lead’: веду, ведёшь, ведёт, ведём, ведёте, ведут

example: делатьi [-АЙ St:St] ‘do’: делаю, делаешь, делает, делаем, делаете, делают

second conjugation present tense: these endings are used for -И, -Е, and Ж-А verbs

+у/+ю 1sg ишь 2sg +ит 3sg

+им 1pl +ите 2pl +ат/+ят 3pl

example: лежатьi [Ж-А E:St] ‘lie’: лежу, лежишь, лежит, лежим, лежите, лежат

example: любитьi [-И Sh:St] ‘love’: люблю, любишь, любит, любим, любите, любят

present gerund: +а/+я

example: лежатьi [Ж-А E:St] ‘lie’: лёжа ‘while lying’

example: вестиi,det [Д E:E] ‘lead’: ведя ‘while leading’

present active participle:

+ущий/+ющий this ending is used for first conjugation verbs

example: вестиi,det [Д E:E] ‘lead’: ведущий ‘leading’

example: делатьi [-АЙ St:St] ‘do’: делающий ‘doing’

+ащий/+ящий this ending is used for second conjugation verbs

example: лежатьi [Ж-А E:St] ‘lie’: лежащий ‘lying’

example: любитьi [-И Sh:St] ‘love’: любящий ‘loving’

present passive participle:

+емый this ending is used for first conjugation verbs

требоватьi [-ОВА St:St] ‘need’: требуемый ‘needed (now)’

+имый this ending is used for second conjugation verbs

видетьi [-Е St:St] ‘see’: видимый ‘seen (now)’

imperative: +0 indicates a zero ending (an ending that does not add anything) [note that although these endings do not all start with a vowel, they behave as if they do]