We are continuing our list of the most common verbs in Russian. Make sure you read Part I, too!

6. Cтать — to become, to start

Стать is a perfective verb and refers to the result of becoming something or someone. Think of the game “Кто хочет стать миллионером?” (literal translation, “Who wants to become a millionaire”). As such, стать does not have any present-tense forms. Its imperfective counterpart, which describes the process of becoming, is становиться.

Past tense

masculine	стал
feminine	ста́ла
neuter	ста́ло
plural	ста́ли

• Он стал ча́сто прогу́ливать уро́ки (He began skipping classes often).
• Мы так и не ста́ли бога́тыми (We never got rich).

Future tense

	singular	plural
1st person	ста́ну	ста́нем
2nd person	ста́нешь	ста́нете
3rd person	ста́нет	ста́нут

• Ско́ро тебе́ ста́нет лу́чше (You’ll start feeling better soon; literally “Soon, to you, it will become better”).
• Че́рез де́сять лет я ста́ну дире́ктором фирмы (In ten years, I’ll become the firm’s director).

7. Хотеть — to want

Хотеть is an imperfective verb that refers to wanting something. The corresponding perfective verb is захотеть.

Present tense

	singular	plural
1st person	хочу́	хоти́м
2nd person	хо́чешь	хоти́те
3rd person	хо́чет	хотя́т

Note that the present conjugation is irregular, popular song by Grechka notwithstanding. You’ll see -е- endings and the stress on the root for ты and он/она/оно but -и- endings and stress on the ending for мы and вы.

• Я не хочу́ рабо́тать по выходны́м (I don’t want to work weekends).

Past tense

masculine	хоте́л
feminine	хоте́ла
neuter	хоте́ло
plural	хоте́ли

In addition to “wanted to,” past forms of хотеть can refer to “meant to.”

• Он не хоте́л тебя́ оби́деть (He didn’t mean to hurt your feelings).

Future tense

Future tense forms consist of the conjugated future form of быть + хоте́ть. This usage is pretty rare because it is close to “will be wanting something.” It’s more common to use the perfective counterpart, захоте́ть, to talk about specific desires in the future.

8. Идти́ — to go, to walk

This verb refers to going somewhere on foot. Идти is a verb of motion, meaning that there are 2 imperfective forms: идти́ for movement in one direction and ходи́ть for repeated movement or going there and back. One possible perfective counterpart is пойти́.

Present tense

	singular	plural
1st person	иду́	идём
2nd person	идёшь	идёте
3rd person	идёт	иду́т

• Мы идём в кино́ (We’re going to the cinema — on this specific occasion).
• Compare this to: Мы ча́сто хо́дим в кино́ (We often go to the cinema).

Past tense

masculine	шёл
feminine	шла
neuter	шло
plural	шли

Again, this refers to a specific trip or a one-way trip in the past.

• Мы шли на рабо́ту и встре́тили знако́мого (We were walking to work and ran into an acquaintance).

Future tense

Быть (future congujated form) + идти́ for an action in progress. Use conjugated forms of пойти for one-time planned trips, like За́втра мы пойдём в парк (We’ll go to the park tomorrow).

• Пешко́м ты бу́дешь идти́ до ры́нка 3 часа́ (It will take you 3 hours to walk to the market; literally, “On foot, you will be walking to the market for 3 hours”).

9. Име́ть — to have

Note that, in most cases, you will use constructions like “У меня́ есть…” to say “I have.” See the conjugation of the verb быть, to be, in Part I of this post. However, име́ть is used in several fixed expressions like име́ть в виду́ (to mean) or поня́тия не име́ть (to have no idea). Иметь is an imperfective verb.

Present tense

	singular	plural
1st person	име́ю	име́ем
2nd person	име́ешь	име́ете
3rd person	име́ет	име́ют

• Поня́тия не име́ю, о чём говори́т преподава́тель (I have no idea what the instructor is on about).

Past tense

masculine	име́л
feminine	име́ла
neuter	име́ло
plural	име́ли

• Что вы име́ли в виду́? (What did you mean?)

Future tense

Быть (future conjugated form) + име́ть. Note that constructions with быть like “У меня́ бу́дет…” etc. are much more common.

10. Видеть — to see

This is an imperfective verb; its perfective counterpart is уви́деть.

Present tense

	singular	plural
1st person	ви́жу	ви́дем
2nd person	ви́дешь	ви́дете
3rd person	ви́дет	ви́дят

• Я не ви́жу, что напи́сано на доске́ (I can’t see what’s written on the board).

Past tense

masculine	ви́дел
feminine	ви́дела
neuter	ви́дело
plural	ви́дели

• Мы уже́ ви́дели э́тот фильм (We’ve already seen this film).

Future tense

Быть (future congujated form) + видеть

• По́сле опера́ции я бу́ду лу́чше ви́деть (I’ll be able to see better after the surgery).

So this is it for the top 10 most common verbs in Russian! Knowing their forms will make speaking and understanding Russian much easier for you.

As we near the end of the year, I would like to wish our readers happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy (belated) Hanukkah and Yalda, and Happy Kwanzaa and New Year! You can read more about Christmas and New Year’s traditions on this blog.