Infinitive (imperfective): ве́рить — "to believe, to trust (as a state / habitually)" Infinitive (perfective): пове́рить — "to come to believe, to believe (one act of conviction)" Type: regular second-conjugation verb with a meaning-driven split in its government
ве́рить is a verb English speakers think they understand until they have to choose a case. The trouble is that English believe covers two quite different ideas with one word — "I believe you" (I trust what you say) and "I believe in ghosts" (I hold that they exist) — and Russian splits those two ideas across two grammatical patterns. Trusting a person or their words takes the dative (dative case): ве́рить дру́гу. Belief in the existence or value of something takes в + accusative: ве́рить в Бо́га, ве́рить в себя́. Getting this split right is the whole point of the page, so it is marked on every example below. The conjugation itself is entirely regular second-conjugation, stem-stressed throughout.
Present tense (ве́рить, imperfective) — second conjugation, stem-stressed
Only the imperfective ве́рить has a present. The perfective пове́рить column shows the future with the identical endings.
| Person | ве́рить — PRESENT | пове́рить — FUTURE (perfective) |
|---|---|---|
| я | ве́рю | пове́рю |
| ты | ве́ришь | пове́ришь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | ве́рит | пове́рит |
| мы | ве́рим | пове́рим |
| вы | ве́рите | пове́рите |
| они́ | ве́рят | пове́рят |
These are the textbook second-conjugation endings (-ю, -ишь, -ит, -им, -ите, -ят). Unlike its famous neighbour звони́ть, ве́рить is stem-stressed — the stress sits on ве́- in every form and never moves. There is no consonant mutation and no shifting accent, so once you have ве́рю you have the whole paradigm.
Я тебе́ ве́рю, не волну́йся.
I believe you, don't worry. — ве́рю + dative тебе́; trusting a person.
Она́ не ве́рит в приме́ты.
She doesn't believe in omens. — ве́рит в + accusative; belief in the existence of something.
Мы ве́рим в тебя́ — у тебя́ всё полу́чится.
We believe in you — you'll pull it off. — ве́рим в + accusative тебя́; faith in someone's ability.
Past tense
A regular, gender-marked past off the -и- stem. Stress stays on ве́- throughout — no shifts.
| Gender / number | ве́рить (impf) | пове́рить (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | ве́рил | пове́рил |
| feminine | ве́рила | пове́рила |
| neuter | ве́рило | пове́рило |
| plural | ве́рили | пове́рили |
The aspect contrast is especially clear with this verb. Imperfective ве́рил describes belief as a lasting state ("I believed / I used to believe / I trusted him all along"). Perfective пове́рил marks the moment of becoming convinced — the switch flipping from doubt to belief ("I believed him [at that point]," "I bought it"). Russian thus distinguishes "I believed in God for years" (ве́рил) from "I came to believe" / "I was persuaded" (пове́рил).
Снача́ла я не пове́рил свои́м уша́м.
At first I couldn't believe my ears. — пове́рил: the momentary reaction; + dative уша́м (fixed idiom).
Он всю жизнь ве́рил, что добро́ побежда́ет.
All his life he believed that good wins out. — ве́рил: a lifelong state, imperfective; что-clause.
Future tense
The pair forms its future the two standard ways.
- ве́рить (imperfective) → compound future: бу́ду ве́рить "I'll keep believing / will go on trusting."
- пове́рить (perfective) → simple future (conjugated above): пове́рю "I'll believe (it), I'll be persuaded."
| Person | ве́рить → бу́ду ве́рить | пове́рить → simple future |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду ве́рить | пове́рю |
| ты | бу́дешь ве́рить | пове́ришь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет ве́рить | пове́рит |
| мы | бу́дем ве́рить | пове́рим |
| вы | бу́дете ве́рить | пове́рите |
| они́ | бу́дут ве́рить | пове́рят |
The perfective пове́рю means "I will (come to) believe" — often in conditions: "I'll believe it when I see it." The compound бу́ду ве́рить means "I'll keep my faith / I won't stop believing." The mechanics are on the perfective simple future page.
Пове́рю, то́лько когда́ уви́жу свои́ми глаза́ми.
I'll believe it only when I see it with my own eyes. — пове́рю: the future moment of conviction.
Что бы ни случи́лось, я бу́ду ве́рить в тебя́.
Whatever happens, I'll keep believing in you. — бу́ду ве́рить в + accusative; ongoing faith.
Imperative
Regular, stem-stressed for both aspects.
| Addressee | ве́рить (impf) | пове́рить (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | верь | пове́рь |
| вы (formal / plural) | ве́рьте | пове́рьте |
The perfective Пове́рь мне ("trust me, believe me") is by far the most common — a one-off appeal to be believed in this instance. The imperfective Верь is broader and more emotive — "have faith, keep believing" — and is the form for the open-ended encouragement Верь в себя́ "believe in yourself."
Пове́рь мне, э́то того́ сто́ит.
Trust me, it's worth it. — perfective пове́рь + dative мне: a one-off appeal.
Верь в себя́ — и у тебя́ всё полу́чится.
Believe in yourself — and you'll succeed. — imperfective верь в + accusative: open-ended encouragement.
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | ве́рить (impf) | пове́рить (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle | ве́рящий "(the one) believing" | — (perfectives have none) |
| past active participle | ве́ривший | пове́ривший |
| verbal adverb | ве́ря "believing / trusting" | пове́рив "having believed" |
These are mostly (literary / written). The imperfective verbal adverb ве́ря ("believing, trusting") is reasonably common in elevated prose: ве́ря в лу́чшее "believing in the best." There is no past passive participle in normal use, since the verb is intransitive (it takes the dative, not the accusative, of a person).
Ве́ря ка́ждому его́ сло́ву, она́ отдала́ все де́ньги.
Believing his every word, she handed over all her money. — verbal adverb ве́ря + dative сло́ву.
Key uses & collocations
1. ве́рить + dative — trusting a person or their words
The default for "I believe you / him / the doctor" is the bare dative, no preposition: ве́рить мне, тебе́, дру́гу, врачу́, газе́там. This is the dative-government pattern: you are taking someone — or their statement, their promise — to be truthful. Note the special idioms ве́рить свои́м глаза́м / уша́м "believe one's eyes / ears."
Не верь спле́тням, спроси́ меня́ напряму́ю.
Don't believe the gossip, ask me directly. — ве́рить + dative спле́тням ('gossip').
2. ве́рить в + accusative — belief in existence, faith, confidence
For belief in something — its existence, its truth, its eventual success — use в + accusative (в + accusative): ве́рить в Бо́га "believe in God," ве́рить в себя́ "believe in oneself," ве́рить в успе́х "believe in success," ве́рить в любо́вь. This is faith and confidence, not trust-in-a-statement.
Учёные не ве́рят в чудеса́.
Scientists don't believe in miracles. — ве́рить в + accusative чудеса́; existence/reality.
3. ве́рить, что… — believing a proposition
To believe that something is so, use a что-clause: ве́рю, что всё бу́дет хорошо́ "I believe (that) everything will be fine." The comma before что is obligatory in Russian. This is the structure for believing a statement you frame yourself, rather than trusting a named person.
Я ве́рю, что мы спра́вимся.
I believe (that) we'll manage. — ве́рить, что + clause.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я ве́рю тебя́.
Case error — to trust a PERSON, ве́рить takes the dative, not the accusative: ве́рю тебе́. The accusative тебя́ only appears after the preposition в.
✅ Я ве́рю тебе́.
I believe you.
❌ Она́ ве́рит Бо́гу.
Government mismatch — belief in God's existence is ве́рить В Бо́га (в + accusative). Bare dative Бо́гу would mean 'trust what God says', which is not the intended sense.
✅ Она́ ве́рит в Бо́га.
She believes in God.
❌ Я ве́рю в тебе́.
Case error — after в in this sense use the ACCUSATIVE (в тебя́), not the prepositional. ве́рить в + accusative for faith/confidence.
✅ Я ве́рю в тебя́.
I believe in you.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду пове́рить тебе́.
Aspect error — the бу́ду future needs an imperfective infinitive. The perfective makes its own future: пове́рю (no бу́ду).
✅ Я пове́рю тебе́, е́сли ты пока́жешь дока́зательства.
I'll believe you if you show me proof.
❌ Я ве́рю что ты прав.
Punctuation error — Russian requires a comma before что introducing a clause: ве́рю, что…
✅ Я ве́рю, что ты прав.
I believe (that) you're right.
Key Takeaways
- ве́рить is a regular second-conjugation verb, stem-stressed everywhere: ве́рю / ве́ришь / ве́рит / ве́рим / ве́рите / ве́рят. No mutation, no stress shift.
- No perfective present. пове́рю looks like a present but is the future (perfective пове́рить = "come to believe").
- Past: ве́рил (a lasting state / belief held over time) vs пове́рил (the moment of being convinced).
- Future: imperfective compound бу́ду ве́рить (keep believing); perfective simple пове́рю ("I'll believe it [when…]").
- Imperative: пове́рь мне (one appeal) vs верь в себя́ (open-ended encouragement).
- Government splits by meaning: trust a person/their words → dative (ве́рить дру́гу); believe in existence, faith, confidence → в + accusative (ве́рить в Бо́га, в себя́); believe a proposition → что-clause (ве́рю, что…).
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- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Aspect is the spine of the Russian verb: nearly every verb belongs to a pair — imperfective (process, repetition, general fact) and perfective (a single completed whole with a result). This page explains the pair, the consequences for the tense system (perfectives have no present), and why you must decide 'process or result?' before you even pick a tense.
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