The verb БЫТЬ – “To be”
This verb is the most irregular verb in Russian language, even not only in Russian, but in almost all languages. Its conjugation just must be memorized. Everything you need to know about this verb is in the table below.
Important notice – the verb To Be – БЫТЬ is NOT used in present tense in Russian language!
| Present | Past | Future |
| Я (ЕСТЬ) | Я БЫЛ (male) Я БЫЛА (female) | Я БУДУ |
| ТЫ (ЕСТЬ) | ТЫ БЫЛ (male) ТЫ БЫЛА (female) | ТЫ БУДЕШЬ |
| ОН (ЕСТЬ) | ОН БЫЛ | ОН БУДЕТ |
| ОНА (ЕСТЬ) | ОНА БЫЛА | ОНА БУДЕТ |
| МЫ (ЕСТЬ) | МЫ БЫЛИ | МЫ БУДЕМ |
| ВЫ (ЕСТЬ) | ВЫ БЫЛИ | ВЫ БУДЕТЕ |
| ОНИ (ЕСТЬ) | ОНИ БЫЛИ | ОНИ БУДУТ |
But it has the form “ЕСТЬ” in present tense for all pronouns(Я есть, ты есть, он есть etc.), but it is used only in special cases.
Examples are after the lesson “to have”.
The verb “To have”
There is the verb ИМЕТЬ, and this verb is conjugated as all other verbs; this is a regular verb. ИМЕТЬ means “to have”. However, in Russian, this verb is not used in direct conjugation. Instead, one uses the construction: У + (pronoun in genitive case) + ЕСТЬ. In order to say “I have” in Russian, you have to say “У меня есть”. Learn more about genitive case in the lesson pronouns – cases, and nouns – cases.
| Present | ЕСТЬ | |
| У МЕНЯ | I have | |
| У ТЕБЯ | You have | |
| У НЕГО | He has | |
| У НЕЁ | She has | |
| У НАС | We have | |
| У ВАС | You have | |
| У НИХ | They have |
Essentially, in Russian language the construction “to have” is the verb “to be” with exact pronouns. If you don’t understand how it works, check the examples in this lesson in order to get it clear in practice.
| Past | БЫЛ/БЫЛА/БЫЛО/БЫЛИ | |
| У МЕНЯ | I had | |
| У ТЕБЯ | You had | |
| У НЕГО | He had | |
| У НЕЁ | She had | |
| У НАС | We had | |
| У ВАС | You had | |
| У НИХ | They had |
БЫЛ – for masculine, БЫЛА – for feminine, БЫЛО – for neuter, БЫЛИ – for plural.
| Future | БУДЕТ/БУДУТ | |
| У МЕНЯ | I will have | |
| У ТЕБЯ | You will have | |
| У НЕГО | He will has | |
| У НЕЁ | She will has | |
| У НАС | We will have | |
| У ВАС | You will have | |
| У НИХ | They will have |
EXAMPLES (for two previous lessons)
Я водитель, он инженер – I am a driver, he is an engineer
Она моя жена – She is my wife
Мы были там вчера – We have been there yesterday
Сергей и Ольга будут встречать нас завтра – Sergey and Olga will meet us tomorrow
У меня есть телефон – I have a phone
У них было пианино – They had a piano
У Андрея есть фотоаппарат – Andrey has a photo camera
У нас скоро будет новая машина – We will have a new car soon
Зачем мы будем искать работу если у нас она есть? – Why we will look for a job if we have it?
Note, that nouns in all of these examples are in appropriate cases.
У него скоро будет ребёнок – He will have a child soon
У моего папы есть машина – My dad has a car (МОЙ ПАПА – my dad, becomes МОЕГО ПАПЫ in the genitive case)
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