Russian past tense: the -л form (читал, читала, читали)

Вчера я читал, а она работала.Yesterday I read, and she worked.

The Russian past tense is simpler than the present: there are no person endings at all. The verb takes -л and then an ending that shows the gender and number of the subject.

Quick shortcut: for most verbs, drop -ть from the infinitive and add -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter) or -ли (plural).

Forming the past tense

Take читать (to read) and делать (to do, make):

The verb agrees with the subject, so я and ты are masculine or feminine depending on who is speaking or being spoken to: a man says Я читал, a woman says Я читала. The pronouns are in Personal pronouns. A noun subject works the same way: Мама читала. Дети играли.

Вы takes -ли even for one person, because it is a plural form: Вы читали? (Did you read?)

One past tense for "did" and "was doing"

As in the present, one form covers several English meanings: Я читал can mean "I was reading", "I used to read" or "I read for a while", and the context shows which. A finished, one-off result ("I read the whole book") normally calls for a different verb form of the same verb, прочитал. Russian verbs often come in such pairs, which is a topic for later; the verbs in this lesson are the ordinary ones you meet first.

The past of "to be"

The verb быть, which is missing in the present (Zero copula and есть), comes back in the past:

• Он был дома. (He was at home.)
• Она была дома. (She was at home.)
• Окно было открыто. (The window was open.)
• Мы были в парке. (We were in the park.)

A few irregular verbs

Most verbs follow the pattern above. Some verbs whose infinitive does not end in -ть have a different masculine form, but still take -ла, -ло, -ли:

• идти (to go on foot) → шёл, шла, шло, шли
• мочь (can) → мог, могла, могло, могли
• нести (to carry) → нёс, несла, несло, несли

Reflexive verbs keep -ся at the end, written -ся after a consonant and -сь after a vowel: учиться (to study) → учился, училась, училось, учились.

Negatives and questions

A negative puts не before the verb: Я не знал. (I didn't know.) Она не работала. (She didn't work.) A yes/no question keeps the word order and is marked by intonation: Ты читал? (Did you read?) See Negation with "не".

Typical time words are вчера (yesterday), раньше (earlier), в прошлом году (last year).

Common mistakes

• ❌ Она читал. → ✅ Она читала. (the ending follows the subject: она takes -ла)
• ❌ Они читал. → ✅ Они читали. (the plural takes -ли)
• ❌ Вчера мы читаем. → ✅ Вчера мы читали. (a present form cannot describe yesterday)
• ❌ Вчера я быть дома. → ✅ Вчера я был дома. (the infinitive is not a past form)
• ❌ Он идл. → ✅ Он шёл. (идти has its own masculine past form)

Quick check

Which form fits each gap?

1. (делать) Вчера мы ____ уроки.
2. (работать) Она ____ дома.
3. (знать) Он ____ ответ.
4. (идти) Они ____ домой.
5. (быть) Вчера она ____ в парке.

Key takeaways

• Drop -ть and add -л / -ла / -ло / -ли: читал, читала, читало, читали.
• The ending shows the gender and number of the subject, not the person; вы always takes -ли.
• Быть returns in the past: был, была, было, были.
• A few verbs have an irregular masculine form (шёл, мог, нёс) but regular -ла, -ло, -ли.
• A negative puts не before the verb; one past form covers "was reading", "used to read" and "read for a while".