Infinitive: быть — "to be" Aspect: imperfective (its perfective partner побы́ть means "to spend some time / stay a while" and is a separate verb; быть itself has no everyday perfective) Type: the single most irregular and most essential verb in Russian
быть is unlike any verb you'll meet, for one headline reason: in the present tense it normally disappears. "I am a student" is just Я студе́нт — two words, no verb. The full life of быть happens in the past and future, where it is alive and well, plus a handful of present-tense survivals (есть, the imperative). This page lays out every form, then walks through what each one is for.
Present tense — the zero copula
In the modern language the present-tense forms of быть are simply not used as an ordinary copula. To link a subject to a noun, adjective, or location in the present, you put nothing between them.
| Person | "Form" | What you actually say |
|---|---|---|
| я | — (zero) | Я студе́нт. — "I am a student." |
| ты | — (zero) | Ты до́ма. — "You're home." |
| он / она́ / оно́ | есть (only when needed; see below) | Он врач. — "He's a doctor." |
| мы | — (zero) | Мы гото́вы. — "We're ready." |
| вы | — (zero) | Вы пра́вы. — "You're right." |
| они́ | — (zero) | Они́ здесь. — "They're here." |
The one present-tense form that does survive in everyday speech is есть ("there is / there are / exists"), used for emphatic existence and possession, not as a plain copula. Its main home is the "have" construction у + genitive + есть:
У меня́ есть вопро́с.
I have a question. — literally 'by me there-is a question'; есть marks existence/possession.
Здесь есть свобо́дные места́?
Are there any free seats here? — есть = 'is there / are there'.
There is also a third-person-plural archaic form суть ("are"), which you will only ever meet in old texts, philosophical writing, or set phrases — (archaic), never in speech. Recognise it; don't produce it.
Past tense — fully alive, agreeing in gender and number
In the past, быть is a normal, fully present verb — and it agrees with the subject in gender and number (like every Russian past tense, which is historically a participle). Note the end-stressed feminine была́.
| Gender / number | Affirmative | Negative (stress shift!) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | был | не́ был |
| feminine | была́ | не была́ |
| neuter | бы́ло | не́ было |
| plural | бы́ли | не́ были |
The negative forms hide a famous stress quirk: with не, the stress jumps onto the particle in three of the four forms — не́ был, не́ было, не́ были — but the feminine keeps end-stress: не была́. This is a fixed, idiomatic pattern that natives produce automatically and learners routinely get wrong.
Вчера́ я был на рабо́те.
I was at work yesterday. (masculine speaker → был)
Она́ была́ о́чень ра́да тебя́ ви́деть.
She was very glad to see you. (feminine subject → была́, end-stress)
Меня́ не́ было до́ма.
I wasn't home. — note не́ было with stress on не; the impersonal 'X was absent' uses не́ было + genitive.
На собра́нии бы́ло мно́го люде́й.
There were a lot of people at the meeting. (neuter бы́ло agreeing with the impersonal construction)
Future tense — the бу́ду paradigm
The future of быть is a normal, regular-looking set of endings. These six forms are worth memorising perfectly, because they pull double duty (see "Key uses" below).
| Person | Future |
|---|---|
| я | бу́ду |
| ты | бу́дешь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет |
| мы | бу́дем |
| вы | бу́дете |
| они́ | бу́дут |
За́втра я бу́ду до́ма весь день.
Tomorrow I'll be home all day. — future of 'to be'.
Ты бу́дешь на ве́черинке?
Will you be at the party? — бу́дешь = 'will you be'.
Imperative
| Addressee | Form |
|---|---|
| ты (informal) | будь |
| вы (formal / plural) | бу́дьте |
Будь осторо́жен на доро́ге!
Be careful on the road! (informal ты → будь)
Бу́дьте здоро́вы!
Bless you! / Be well! — the set phrase said after a sneeze (formal/plural бу́дьте).
Infinitive, verbal adverb, participles
| Form | Russian | Note |
|---|---|---|
| infinitive | быть | — |
| verbal adverb (imperfective) | бу́дучи | "being / while being" — (literary / formal) |
| participles | — | no ordinary active/passive participles in use |
The verbal adverb бу́дучи ("being / while being") is bookish — you'll meet it in literature and formal prose, rarely in speech.
Бу́дучи студе́нтом, он мно́го путеше́ствовал.
As a student (lit. 'being a student'), he travelled a lot. — бу́дучи + instrumental, literary register.
Key uses & collocations
1. Zero copula in the present
As shown above, "X is Y" in the present is just X Y with no verb: Я студе́нт, Он до́ма, Они́ за́няты.
2. The instrumental predicate in past and future
This is the most important grammatical fact about быть. When быть links a subject to a noun in the past or future, that noun normally goes into the instrumental case, not the nominative. The instrumental signals a role or temporary state ("served as / functioned as"), whereas a nominative would suggest a permanent identity.
Он был врачо́м.
He was a doctor. — predicate noun in the INSTRUMENTAL: врач → врачо́м.
Когда́ я вы́расту, я бу́ду учи́телем.
When I grow up, I'll be a teacher. — future быть + instrumental учи́телем.
Она́ была́ хоро́шим дру́гом.
She was a good friend. — instrumental predicate хоро́шим дру́гом.
This instrumental-after-быть pattern is the whole subject of the instrumental predicate page. The rule of thumb: present → zero copula + nominative; past/future → быть + instrumental.
3. быть as the imperfective-future auxiliary
The бу́ду paradigm has a second job that you will use constantly: it builds the compound (imperfective) future. бу́ду / бу́дешь /… + an imperfective infinitive = "will be doing / will do (over time)."
За́втра я бу́ду рабо́тать весь день.
Tomorrow I'll be working all day. — бу́ду + imperfective infinitive рабо́тать = compound future.
Мы бу́дем смотре́ть фильм ве́чером.
We'll watch a film this evening. — бу́дем + смотре́ть.
So бу́ду is both "I will be" (a thing) and the helper for "I will be doing" (an action). The mechanics are on the imperfective compound future page.
4. Existence and location: есть, был, бу́дет
For "there is / there was / there will be" and possession, use the existence forms: present есть, past был/была́/бы́ло/бы́ли, future бу́дет/бу́дут.
У нас за́втра бу́дет встре́ча.
We'll have a meeting tomorrow. — future existence: бу́дет.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я есть студе́нт.
Incorrect — no present copula. Drop the verb entirely: Я студе́нт. (есть is only for existence/possession.)
✅ Я студе́нт.
I am a student.
❌ Он был врач.
Incorrect — a predicate noun after past/future быть goes into the instrumental: врачо́м.
✅ Он был врачо́м.
He was a doctor.
❌ Она́ был до́ма. / Я была́ (said by a man).
Incorrect — the past agrees in gender: feminine была́, masculine был. Match it to the actual subject/speaker.
✅ Она́ была́ до́ма.
She was home.
❌ Я не был до́ма (with stress on был).
Stress error — the negative shifts onto the particle: не́ был, не́ было, не́ были (but не была́). Pronounce НЕ́ был.
✅ Меня́ не́ было до́ма.
I wasn't home.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду прочита́ть кни́гу.
Incorrect — the бу́ду future takes an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive. With a perfective, use its own simple future (прочита́ю), no бу́ду.
✅ За́втра я бу́ду чита́ть кни́гу.
Tomorrow I'll be reading the book. (or: Я прочита́ю кни́гу — 'I'll read it through'.)
Key Takeaways
- Present = zero. "X is Y" is just X Y (Я студе́нт; Он до́ма). The only surviving present form in speech is есть (existence/possession: У меня́ есть…). суть is archaic.
- Past: был / была́ / бы́ло / бы́ли — agrees in gender/number, feminine была́ is end-stressed. Negative shifts stress to the particle: не́ был, не́ было, не́ были, but не была́.
- Future: бу́ду / бу́дешь / бу́дет / бу́дем / бу́дете / бу́дут.
- Imperative: будь / бу́дьте.
- Instrumental predicate: in the past/future, a predicate noun takes the instrumental — Он был врачо́м, Я бу́ду учи́телем.
- бу́ду doubles as the imperfective-future auxiliary: бу́ду чита́ть = "I'll be reading." It pairs only with imperfective infinitives.
- Verbal adverb бу́дучи (literary); no ordinary participles.
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- The Verb Быть (To Be)A1 — Russian's verb 'to be' is unusual: in the present it is simply omitted (Я студе́нт, Она́ до́ма — no verb at all), with есть surviving only for emphatic existence/possession. The past agrees by gender (был/была́/бы́ло/бы́ли) and the future conjugates normally (бу́ду, бу́дешь, бу́дет…), doubling as the imperfective-future auxiliary. After past/future быть, a predicate noun goes into the instrumental: Он был врачо́м.
- Nominal Sentences and the DashA2 — Russian says 'X is Y' with no verb in the present tense — the copula is simply absent (Я студе́нт). When both halves are nouns, a dash stands in for the missing verb (Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и). In the past and future the verb reappears as был/бу́дет, and — the feature that catches every English speaker — the predicate noun then goes into the INSTRUMENTAL case (Он был врачо́м), not the nominative.
- Instrumental as Predicate (Profession, Becoming)B1 — When 'to be / become / work as / seem' link a subject to a role or state, the role takes the instrumental — especially in the past and future: Он был врачо́м, Она́ ста́ла учи́тельницей. The key contrast: the PRESENT tense uses the nominative (Он врач), but past/future быть and the verbs стать, рабо́тать, каза́ться switch the predicate to the instrumental. Являться always takes the instrumental, even in the present.
- The Imperfective (Compound) FutureA2 — Russian builds the imperfective future from two words: the conjugated future of быть (бу́ду, бу́дешь, бу́дет, бу́дем, бу́дете, бу́дут) plus an imperfective infinitive — Я бу́ду чита́ть 'I'll be reading / I'll read.' Only the auxiliary бу́ду changes; the lexical verb stays in the infinitive forever. It expresses ongoing, repeated, or habitual future action, and it works ONLY with imperfectives (буду + a perfective is ungrammatical). The same бу́ду-forms also mean 'will be' on their own (Я бу́ду до́ма).
- Everyday Verbs: Жить, Знать, Любить in the PresentA1 — Three ultra-high-frequency present-tense verbs taught as worked models. ЖИТЬ ('to live') inserts a в (живу́, живёшь, живёт…) and shows the present-for-duration use (Я живу́ здесь два го́да = 'I've lived here two years'). ЗНАТЬ ('to know') is perfectly regular (зна́ю, зна́ешь…). ЛЮБИ́ТЬ ('to love/like') is second-conjugation with the labial mutation in the я-form (люблю́, but лю́бишь, лю́бят). Together they front-load the whole conjugation system's main surprises into three words you'll use daily.