The past tense is formed by removing the infinitive ending -ть and adding a suffix that agrees with the subject in gender and number.
| Subject | Suffix | Example: читать → |
|---|---|---|
| он (masculine) | -л | читал |
| она (feminine) | -ла | читала |
| оно (neuter) | -ло | читало |
| они (plural) | -ли | читали |
Important
- Both imperfective and perfective verbs can form the past tense.
- If the infinitive stem ends in a consonant (e.g., нести → нёс), the past tense drops the -л in the masculine form.
- Быть (to be) in the past: был, была, было, были.
Related Topics
Alphabet and Pronunciation
Stress
Nouns: Gender
Nouns: Singular and Plural
Personal Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns: мой, твой, наш, ваш
Demonstratives: этот, эта, это, эти
Basic Sentence Structure
Present Tense Verbs
Basic Future: я буду читать
Adjectives: Gender and Plural Agreement
Basic Adverbs
Question Words
Numbers, Days, Months
Basic Prepositions: в, на, у, с, из, к
Fixed Case Patterns: у меня есть, у меня нет and more