Russian present tense: first-conjugation verbs (читать, знать)

Я читаю книгу. Ты читаешь газету.I'm reading a book. You're reading a newspaper.

Russian verbs change their ending for each person, and the biggest group of verbs follows what is called the first conjugation. Most of its endings contain an -е- (or -ё-): -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете. Once you know them for one verb, you know them for hundreds.

Quick shortcut: for most verbs in -ать / -ять, drop -ть from the infinitive and add -ю · -ешь · -ет · -ем · -ете · -ют (after a consonant, -у and -ут replace -ю and -ют).

The endings

Take читать (to read) and знать (to know). Remove -ть to get the stem чита- and зна-, then add the endings:

The table shows the pattern for verbs whose stem ends in a vowel (чита-, зна-). When the stem ends in a consonant, the first-person and third-person-plural endings are spelled -у and -ут instead of -ю and -ют, as in писать → пишу, пишут (see the stem-change lesson below). The pronouns are in Personal pronouns. Every person has its own ending, so each of the six forms sounds different, and the same ending goes with он, она and оно.

Two endings are easy to mix up: ты ends in -ешь, and the 3rd person singular ends in -ет, where the final -т is easy to forget (✅ читает, never ❌ читае).

Which verbs belong here

This is the largest group, and it covers many of the first verbs you will meet:

• Most verbs whose infinitive ends in -ать or -ять: читать, знать, делать (to do, make), работать (to work), думать (to think), играть (to play), понимать (to understand), отдыхать (to rest), гулять (to go for a walk).
• Verbs in -овать / -евать change that part to -у-: рисовать (to draw) → рисую, рисуешь, рисует, рисуем, рисуете, рисуют; танцевать (to dance) → танцую, танцуешь…

Not every verb with -е- endings follows the pattern so neatly: some change the stem or have an extra spelling (писать → пишу, идти → иду). Those, and verbs like нести → несу, have their own lesson in Present tense: common stem changes and irregular verbs. The infinitive ending is a helpful shortcut rather than a guarantee: a few common verbs in -ать (держать, дышать, слышать) belong to the second conjugation instead. The other big group of verbs, with -и- endings, is in Present tense: second conjugation.

One present tense for "now" and "usually"

Russian has a single present tense. Я читаю means both "I read" (as a habit) and "I am reading" (right now), and the context shows which:

• Я читаю каждый день. (I read every day.)
• Сейчас я читаю книгу. (I'm reading a book now.)

There is no separate "-ing" form, and no extra helping verb.

Negatives and questions

A negative puts не before the verb: Я не знаю. (I don't know.) Он не работает. (He isn't working.) The full pattern is in Negation with "не".

A yes/no question usually keeps the same word order and is marked by intonation, with the voice rising on the key word: Ты знаешь? (Do you know?) Вы работаете? (Do you work? / Are you working?)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Я читаешь. → ✅ Я читаю. (я takes -ю)
• ❌ Ты читаю. → ✅ Ты читаешь. (ты takes -ешь)
• ❌ Он читаем. → ✅ Он читает. (3rd person singular takes -ет)
• ❌ Они читаеют. → ✅ Они читают. (the они ending after the vowel stem чита- is -ют; the -е- is not added again)
• ❌ Я читать книгу. → ✅ Я читаю книгу. (the verb needs a person ending, not the infinitive, after a subject)

Quick check

Which form fits each gap?

1. (делать) Мы ____ уроки.
2. (знать) Они ____ английский.
3. (работать) Ты ____ дома?
4. (думать) Я ____, что это правильно.
5. (играть) Вы ____ в футбол?

Key takeaways

• First-conjugation verbs like читать take -ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ют on the stem (the infinitive without -ть): читаю, читаешь, читает, читаем, читаете, читают; after a consonant the endings are -у and -ут.
• This is the largest group, including most verbs in -ать / -ять; verbs in -овать use -у- (рисую).
• One present form covers both "I read" and "I am reading".
• A negative puts не before the verb; a yes/no question keeps the word order and is marked by intonation.