25 Most Common Russian Verbs

In this lesson, you will learn 25 of the most common and useful verbs in Russian.

I will explain the meaning of all the verbs and give examples for each of them.

To memorize the verbs, I recommend that you create a flashcard for each of them, so you can review them later.

Here is a list of the verbs you are going to learn:

хотеть
любить
смотреть
говорить
читать
жить
учить
думать
писать
готовить
понимать
слушать
делать
ходить
знать
видеть
слышать
покупать
уметь
ждать
есть
мыть
верить
сидеть
гулять

The above verbs have links. If there is any verb you would like to learn first, you can click on it and go straight to that part of the lesson.

To find out more information about these verbs, make sure to look them up in our dictionary.

хотеть

The verb хотеть means ‘to want’.

Хотеть can be followed by another verb in the infinitive. For example:

Я хочу спать.
(I want to sleep)
Он не хочет учиться.
(He doesn't want to study)

Note that the infinitive is the base form of the verb. This is the form of the verb that we usually see in the dictionary.

Хотеть can also be followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Хочешь кофе?
(Do you want coffee?)
Он хочет новую машину.
(He wants a new car)

If you don’t know yet how to use the Accusative Case in Russian, you can check out our complete lesson about it by clicking here.

Here is how to conjugate the verb хотеть in the present and past tense:

любить

The verb любить can mean ‘to love’ or ‘to like’.

Любить can be followed by another verb in the infinitive. For example:

Я люблю читать.
(I like reading)
Что ты любишь делать?
(What do you like to do?)

Любить can also be followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я люблю тебя.
(I love you)
Мы любим историю.
(We like history)

Here is how to conjugate the verb любить in the present and past tense:

смотреть

The verb смотреть can mean ‘to watch’ or ‘to look’.

Смотреть is usually followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я смотрю телевизор.
(I’m watching TV)
Они смотрят фильм.
(They're watching a movie)
Мы смотрим фотографии.
(We’re looking at photos)
Они смотрели квартиру.
(They looked at the apartment)

When смотреть means ‘to look’, it can also be followed by the preposition на plus a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Он смотрел на меня.
(He was looking at me)
Они смотрят на небо.
(They are looking at the sky)

Here is how to conjugate the verb смотреть in the present and past tense:

говорить

The verb говорить can mean ‘to speak’ or ‘to talk’.

When говорить is used to talk about speaking a language, it is usually followed by an adverb that starts with по. For example:

Я говорю по-русски.
(I speak Russian)
Он хорошо говорит по-французски.
(He speaks French well)

Note that it is wrong to use a noun, such as русский or французский, after the verb говорить. Instead, you need to use an adverb that starts with по, such as по-русски or по-французски.

Говорить is also commonly used to say that you talk or speak to someone or about something.

When you want to say that you talk or speak to someone, говорить is usually followed by the preposition с plus a person in the Instrumental Case. For example:

Он говорил с братом.
(He was talking to his brother)
Я говорю со своей девушкой.
(I am talking to my girlfriend)

If you don’t know yet how to use the Instrumental Case in Russian, you can check out our complete lesson about it by clicking here.

When you want to say that you talk or speak about something, говорить is usually followed by the preposition о plus a noun in the Prepositional Case or the preposition про plus a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Они любят говорить о политике.
(They like talking about politics)
Мы говорили про тебя.
(We were talking about you)

If you don’t know yet how to use the Prepositional Case in Russian, you can check out our complete lesson about it by clicking here.

Here is how to conjugate the verb говорить in the present and past tense:

читать

The verb читать means ‘to read’.

Читать is usually followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Он любит читать книги.
(He likes to read books)
Она читает газету.
(She is reading a newspaper)
Что ты читаешь?
(What are you reading?)

Here is how to conjugate the verb читать in the present and past tense:

жить

The verb жить means ‘to live’.

Жить is usually followed by the preposition в plus a location in the Prepositional Case. For example:

Она живёт в России.
(She lives in Russia)
Мы живём в большом городе.
(We live in a big city)
Где ты хочешь жить?
(Where do you want to live?)

Here is how to conjugate the verb жить in the present and past tense:

учить

The verb учить can mean ‘to learn’, ‘to study’ or ‘to teach’.

When учить is used to say that someone learns or studies something, it is usually followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я учу русский.
(I am learning Russian)
Она учит математику.
(She is studying maths)

When учить is used to say that someone teaches something, the subject which is taught is in the Dative Case. For example:

Он учит математике.
(He teaches maths)
Я учу русскому языку.
(I teach the Russian language)

If you don’t know yet how to use the Dative Case in Russian, you can check out our complete lesson about it by clicking here.

When учить is used to say that someone teaches something to someone, the person being taught is in the Accusative Case.

Она любит учить детей.
(She likes to teach children)
Он никогда не учил взрослых.
(He never taught adults)

If you want to say that someone teaches something to another person, you can use the Accusative Case and the Dative Case together in one sentence. For example:

Он учит подругу математике.
(He teaches maths to his friend)
Я учу сына русскому языку.
(I teach my son the Russian language)

As you can see, cases are particularly important when using the verb учить as the meaning of the verb changes depending on which noun is in the Accusative or Dative Case.

Here is how to conjugate the verb учить in the present and past tense:

думать

The verb думать means ‘to think’.

Думать is usually followed by the preposition о plus a noun or pronoun in the Prepositional Case. For example:

Я думаю о семье.
(I think about my family)
Он думает о работе.
(He’s thinking about work)

Думать can also be followed by the preposition про plus a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я думал про неё.
(I was thinking about her)
Они думают про учёбу.
(They are thinking about their studies)

Here is how to conjugate the verb думать in the present and past tense:

писать

The verb писать means ‘to write’.

Писать is usually followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я пишу текст.
(I am writing a text)
Она любит писать стихи.
(She likes to write poems)

To say that someone writes about something, писать can also be followed by the preposition о plus a noun in the Prepositional Case. For example:

Они всегда пишут о политике.
(They always write about politics)
Она писала о любви.
(She wrote about love)

Here is how to conjugate the verb писать in the present and past tense:

готовить

The verb готовить can mean ‘to cook’ or ‘to prepare’.

Готовить can be used on its own or followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Она любит готовить.
(She likes cooking)
Я готовлю каждый день.
(I cook every day)
Она готовит ужин.
(She is preparing dinner)
Он готовит документы.
(He is preparing the documents)

Here is how to conjugate the verb готовить in the present and past tense:

понимать

The verb понимать means ‘to understand’.

Понимать is usually followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я понимаю тебя.
(I understand you)
Он ничего не понимает.
(He doesn’t understand anything)

Here is how to conjugate the verb понимать in the present and past tense:

слушать

The verb слушать means ‘to listen’.

Слушать is usually followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я люблю слушать музыку.
(I like listening to music)
Мы никогда не слушаем радио.
(We never listen to the radio)
Ты не слушаешь меня.
(You are not listening to me)

Here is how to conjugate the verb слушать in the present and past tense:

делать

The verb делать can mean ‘to do’ or ‘to make’.

Делать is usually followed by a noun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я не люблю делать уроки.
(I don't like doing homework)
Она редко делает ошибки.
(She seldom makes mistakes)
Он делает вкусный кофе.
(He makes delicious coffee)

Here is how to conjugate the verb делать in the present and past tense:

ходить

The verb ходить can mean ‘to go’ or ‘to walk’.

When ходить is used to say that someone goes to some place, it is usually followed by the preposition в or на plus a destination in the Accusative Case. For example:

Дети ходят в школу.
(Kids go to school)
Мы ходим в супермаркет каждую пятницу.
(We go to the supermarket every Friday)

When ходить is used to talk about walking, we usually mean the ability to walk - not walking for pleasure. For example:

Ребёнок уже умеет ходить.
(The child can already walk)
Я хожу медленно.
(I walk slowly)

Here is how to conjugate the verb ходить in the present and past tense:

знать

The verb знать means ‘to know’.

Знать is usually followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я знаю этот город.
(I know this town)
Они плохо знают этот предмет.
(They don't know this subject well)
Она не знала эту песню.
(She didn't know this song)

Here is how to conjugate the verb знать in the present and past tense:

видеть

The verb видеть means ‘to see’.

Видеть is usually followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я не вижу тебя.
(I can't see you)
Он никогда не видел эту птицу.
(He’s never seen this bird)
Она видела его вчера.
(She saw him yesterday)

Here is how to conjugate the verb видеть in the present and past tense:

слышать

The verb слышать means ‘to hear’.

Слышать can be followed by a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example:

Я слышу шум.
(I hear some noise)
Ты слышишь это?
(Can you hear that?)

Слышать can also be used to say that someone hears about or of something.

In this situation, слышать is usually followed by the preposition о plus a noun or pronoun in the Prepositional Case or the preposition про plus a noun or pronoun in the Accusative Case. For example: