Infinitive (imperfective): продава́ть — "to sell (as a process / habitually / to be selling)" Infinitive (perfective): прода́ть — "to sell (one completed transaction)" Type: a prefixed pair built on the дава́ть / дать base with про- — and so it inherits two of Russian's most distinctive irregularities
If you already know дава́ть / дать, this verb is almost free: продава́ть / прода́ть is simply дава́ть / дать with the prefix про- ("through, all the way / off"), and it reuses both halves of that irregular paradigm exactly. The imperfective продава́ть drops its -ва- in the present (прода́ю, not продава́ю), and the perfective *прода́ть conjugates athematically — прода́м, прода́шь, прода́ст… — patterning with дать and есть. Adding the prefix changes only the past stress (про́дал, not дал) and the meaning, "to sell" rather than "to give." Stress is marked on every form, since the past in particular has a mobile pattern worth consulting.
Present tense — only продава́ть has one
Only the imperfective has a present tense, and it shows the family signature: the -ва- of the infinitive disappears, leaving an end-stressed first-conjugation verb.
| Person | продава́ть (imperfective present) |
|---|---|
| я | прода́ю |
| ты | продаёшь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | продаёт |
| мы | продаём |
| вы | продаёте |
| они́ | прода́ют |
Note the same shape as даю́ / даёшь: the я- and они́-forms keep -а- (прода́ю, прода́ют), while the middle forms take -ёшь / -ёт / -ём / -ёте with ё (always stressed). As the imperfective, продава́ть describes selling as an ongoing business, a habit, or a process — "sells, is selling, deals in."
Они́ продаю́т све́жие о́вощи пря́мо с фе́рмы.
They sell fresh vegetables straight from the farm. — продаю́т, an ongoing business (imperfective).
Ско́лько лет ты уже́ продаёшь маши́ны?
How many years have you been selling cars now? — продаёшь, a continuing activity.
Магази́н на углу́ продаёт всё, что ну́жно.
The shop on the corner sells everything you need. — продаёт, a standing fact about the shop.
Past tense
Both verbs build the past on the infinitive stem. продава́ть keeps a fixed stress; прода́ть has the mobile, somewhat tricky stress inherited from дать and reshaped by the prefix.
| Gender / number | продава́ть (impf) | прода́ть (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | продава́л | про́дал |
| feminine | продава́ла | продала́ |
| neuter | продава́ло | про́дало |
| plural | продава́ли | про́дали |
The perfective past is the form to study. Masculine, neuter, and plural pull the stress to the prefix — про́дал, про́дало, про́дали — while the feminine alone jumps to the very end: продала́. This is the same "end-stressed feminine" pattern as дала́, была́, взяла́; the prefix про- catches the stress in the non-feminine forms (про́дал), which is why it sounds different from bare дал. The aspect contrast is the standard one: продава́л = "was selling / used to sell / kept selling" (process or habit), про́дал = "sold" (one completed transaction with a result — the thing changed hands).
Он про́дал маши́ну и купи́л велосипе́д.
He sold the car and bought a bike. — perfective про́дал: one completed transaction (про́дал, stress on the prefix).
Она́ продала́ кварти́ру за неде́лю.
She sold the flat in a week. — feminine продала́ (end-stress); a single completed sale.
Ра́ньше он продава́л кни́ги на ры́нке.
He used to sell books at the market. — продава́л, a past habit (imperfective).
Future tense
The two aspects build the future the two standard ways — and the perfective shows the athematic дать paradigm with про- in front.
продава́ть (imperfective) → compound future with бу́ду + the infinitive:
| Person | продава́ть → compound future |
|---|---|
| я | бу́ду продава́ть |
| ты | бу́дешь продава́ть |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет продава́ть |
| мы | бу́дем продава́ть |
| вы | бу́дете продава́ть |
| они́ | бу́дут продава́ть |
прода́ть (perfective) → simple future — the athematic paradigm of дать, prefixed. These six forms look like a present tense but mean the future (perfectives have no present):
| Person | прода́ть (perfective simple future) |
|---|---|
| я | прода́м |
| ты | прода́шь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | прода́ст |
| мы | продади́м |
| вы | продади́те |
| они́ | продаду́т |
This is exactly дам / дашь / даст / дади́м / дади́те / даду́т with про- in front. The singular прода́м / прода́шь / прода́ст take no linking vowel; the plural продади́м / продади́те / продаду́т revive the -д- and become end-stressed. Note прода́ст has no -т doubled and no -ит ending — it is not *прода́ит. This template covers the whole дать family (созда́ть, переда́ть, сда́ть, разда́ть); learn it once.
Я прода́м э́тот телефо́н и куплю́ но́вый.
I'll sell this phone and buy a new one. — perfective future прода́м: one planned transaction.
Ду́маешь, они́ продаду́т дом в э́том году́?
Do you think they'll sell the house this year? — продаду́т (3rd person plural), one completed future sale.
Пока́ есть спрос, мы бу́дем продава́ть э́ту моде́ль.
As long as there's demand, we'll keep selling this model. — бу́ду-future for ongoing future selling (imperfective).
Imperative
| Addressee | продава́ть (impf) | прода́ть (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | продава́й | прода́й |
| вы (formal / plural) | продава́йте | прода́йте |
The aspect split holds: прода́й / прода́йте asks for one specific sale ("sell it / sell me X"), while продава́й / продава́йте is habitual or general ("keep selling / go ahead and sell"), and the form for negated commands ("don't sell").
Прода́й мне свой ста́рый велосипе́д, а?
Sell me your old bike, would you? — perfective прода́й: one specific request.
Не продава́йте ква́ртиру в спе́шке.
Don't sell the flat in a hurry. — negated, general instruction takes the imperfective продава́йте.
Participles and verbal adverbs — and the short passive про́дан
| Form | Russian | Note |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle (impf) | продаю́щий | "(one) selling" — (formal / written) |
| verbal adverb (impf) | продава́я | "while selling / by selling" — (formal / written) |
| past passive participle, long (pf) | про́данный | "sold" (the sold X) — про́данный биле́т |
| past passive participle, short (pf) | про́дан / про́дана / про́дано / про́даны | predicate "is sold" — see below |
| verbal adverb (pf) | прода́в | "having sold" — (formal / written) |
The short passive participle is the high-frequency form here and worth real attention. про́дан / про́дана / про́дано / про́даны is the everyday way to say something has been sold — on signs, listings, and announcements. It agrees in gender and number with the subject: Биле́т про́дан (masc.), Кварти́ра про́дана (fem.), Все биле́ты про́даны (pl.). Stress sits on the про́- in every short form. This is the standard Russian passive of completed action and one of the most useful participles to recognise on sight.
Все биле́ты на конце́рт уже́ про́даны.
All the concert tickets are already sold (out). — short passive plural про́даны, agreeing with биле́ты.
Прода́в маши́ну, он почу́вствовал облегче́ние.
Having sold the car, he felt relieved. — verbal adverb прода́в (literary), compressing 'when he had sold'.
Key uses & collocations
1. Core frame: sell a THING (accusative) to a PERSON (dative)
The case frame matches дать exactly: the thing sold is the direct object (accusative) and the buyer is the dative recipient. The dative buyer is the same construction as on the dative indirect object page; the accusative object is covered on the accusative direct object page.
Сосе́д про́дал нам свою́ ста́рую ме́бель.
The neighbour sold us his old furniture. — нам (dative buyer) + ме́бель (accusative thing).
2. The price: за + accusative
To name the price you sold for, use за + accusative: прода́ть за ты́сячу рубле́й "to sell for a thousand roubles," за бесце́нок "for next to nothing," за полцены́ "at half price." This is the same "in exchange for" за found with платить and купить.
Они́ про́дали карти́ну за два миллио́на.
They sold the painting for two million. — за + accusative (за два миллио́на) for the price.
Я не прода́м его́ ни за каки́е де́ньги.
I won't sell it for any money. — за + accusative in the fixed 'not for any money' phrase.
3. Reflexive продава́ться — "to be on sale / to sell (well)"
The reflexive продава́ться means a thing is sold / is on sale / sells (well or badly), with the goods as subject: Здесь продаю́тся биле́ты "tickets are sold here," Кни́га хорошо́ продаётся "the book is selling well." Useful for signs and for talking about sales performance.
Э́та моде́ль о́чень хорошо́ продаётся.
This model sells very well. — reflexive продаётся, the goods as subject.
Common Mistakes
❌ Он прода́ит дом в сле́дующем году́.
Incorrect form — the он-form is прода́ст (athematic, like даст), not 'прода́ит'. The -ди- only appears in the plural: продади́м, продади́те.
✅ Он прода́ст дом в сле́дующем году́.
He'll sell the house next year.
❌ Она́ про́дал маши́ну. / Он продала́ маши́ну.
Incorrect — the past agrees in gender, and the feminine is end-stressed: про́дал (masc.) vs продала́ (fem.). Match it to the subject.
✅ Она́ продала́ маши́ну.
She sold the car.
❌ Все биле́ты про́дали (в значе́нии 'распро́даны', на табло́).
On a sign/announcement, the natural form is the short passive: Все биле́ты про́даны ('are sold out'). про́дали names an unspecified seller and sounds like a plain active sentence.
✅ Все биле́ты про́даны.
All tickets are sold out.
❌ Я продава́ю тебе́ маши́ну за́втра.
Aspect error — a single completed future sale needs the perfective: Я прода́м тебе́ маши́ну за́втра. The present продаю́ can't mean one future act.
✅ Я прода́м тебе́ маши́ну за́втра.
I'll sell you the car tomorrow.
❌ Я про́дал дом для сосе́да.
Government error — the buyer takes the DATIVE, not 'для + genitive': про́дал дом сосе́ду. (для marks a beneficiary, not the buyer.)
✅ Я про́дал дом сосе́ду.
I sold the house to the neighbour.
Key Takeaways
- продава́ть / прода́ть = дава́ть / дать + про-; it reuses both irregular halves exactly, only the past stress and the meaning change.
- Present (продава́ть only) drops -ва-: прода́ю, продаёшь, продаёт, продаём, продаёте, прода́ют — like даю́, встаю́.
- Perfective прода́ть is athematic: future прода́м, прода́шь, прода́ст, продади́м, продади́те, продаду́т (он-form прода́ст, never *прода́ит). Same template as дать, есть, созда́ть.
- Past: imperfective продава́л; perfective про́дал — продала́ (end-stressed feminine) — про́дало — про́дали.
- Short passive про́дан / про́дана / про́дано / про́даны = "is/are sold" — the everyday way to say "sold out" (Биле́ты про́даны).
- Case frame: sell a THING (accusative) to a PERSON (dative) for a PRICE (за + accusative): прода́ть дом сосе́ду за миллио́н.
- The reflexive продава́ться = "to be on sale / to sell (well)" with the goods as subject.
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