Infinitive (imperfective): брать — "to take (as a process / habitually)" Infinitive (perfective): взять — "to take (one completed act)" Type: a suppletive aspect pair — the two members are built on entirely different roots (бр- vs возьм-/взя-)
брать / взять is one of the first verbs you will need every day — "take a seat," "grab your bag," "I'll have the soup," "the bank takes a fee" — and it is also one of the most irregular. The two aspects are not related forms of one stem: they are two separate verbs glued into a single pair by meaning. Imperfective брать runs on the root бр-/бер- (беру́, берёшь); perfective взять runs on возьм-/взя- (возьму́, взял). This is called супплетиви́зм (suppletion) — the same phenomenon English shows in go / went, where the past tense comes from a different root than the present. Russian has only a handful of such pairs, and this is the commonest of them. Everything below is worth memorising as raw forms, because no rule will generate them for you.
Present tense (брать, imperfective)
A perfective verb has no present tense, so only брать has a present. The endings are the textbook first-conjugation set, but notice the stem vowel: the stressed -е- of беру́ / берёшь is part of the root, and the stress sits on the ending throughout.
| Person | брать — PRESENT |
|---|---|
| я | беру́ |
| ты | берёшь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | берёт |
| мы | берём |
| вы | берёте |
| они́ | беру́т |
The infinitive брать gives you no clue about the present stem — you simply have to know that it switches to бер-. Wherever you see ё, the stress is automatically on it (Russian ё is always stressed), so берёшь, берёт, берём, берёте are end-stressed; the outer я and они́ forms (беру́, беру́т) are end-stressed too.
Я обы́чно беру́ ко́фе без са́хара.
I usually take (have) my coffee without sugar. — present беру́; a habit, so imperfective.
Ты берёшь зо́нтик? На у́лице дождь.
Are you taking an umbrella? It's raining outside. — берёшь = are you taking (in general / about to).
Они́ беру́т кре́дит на кварти́ру.
They're taking out a loan for an apartment. — беру́т кре́дит, a fixed collocation 'take a loan'.
Past tense
Both members build a normal gender-marked past, but watch the stress. брать and взять share the same end-stress pattern: the feminine is end-stressed (брала́, взяла́), while masculine, neuter, and plural are stem-stressed. This is the same был / была́ pattern you may know from быть.
| Gender / number | брать (impf) | взять (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | брал | взял |
| feminine | брала́ | взяла́ |
| neuter | бра́ло | взя́ло |
| plural | бра́ли | взя́ли |
The aspect contrast is the usual one: брал views the taking as a repeated or ongoing event with no single endpoint ("I used to take / I would take / I was taking"); взял views it as one completed act with a result ("I took / I've taken"). A single, finished "I took it" is almost always взял.
Я взял после́днее такси́ и успе́л на по́езд.
I grabbed the last taxi and made my train. — взял: one completed act with a result, perfective.
Она́ взяла́ о́тпуск на две неде́ли.
She took two weeks off. — feminine взяла́ (end-stress); a single decision, perfective.
В де́тстве я ча́сто брал кни́ги в библиоте́ке.
As a kid I often took books out of the library. — брал: a repeated habit, imperfective.
Future tense
This is where suppletion shows its full face. The two members form the future in two different ways, exactly as the aspect system predicts.
- брать (imperfective) → compound future: бу́ду брать "I'll be taking / will keep taking."
- взять (perfective) → simple future (the возьм- forms), each meaning one completed future act: возьму́ "I'll take (it)."
| Person | брать → бу́ду брать | взять → simple future |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду брать | возьму́ |
| ты | бу́дешь брать | возьмёшь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет брать | возьмёт |
| мы | бу́дем брать | возьмём |
| вы | бу́дете брать | возьмёте |
| они́ | бу́дут брать | возьму́т |
The forms возьму́, возьмёшь… возьму́т look like a present tense but are in fact the future, because взять is perfective and a perfective can never describe the present moment. The intrusive -о- (возьм-, not вз-) and the soft sign make these forms hard to spell from the infinitive — learn them as a block. In everyday speech возьму́ is the default for "I'll get / I'll have / I'll take" when you mean a single, concrete act.
Я возьму́ суп и сала́т, пожа́луйста.
I'll have the soup and a salad, please. — возьму́ = perfective simple future; ordering one specific thing.
Мы возьмём маши́ну напрока́т в аэропорту́.
We'll rent a car at the airport. — возьмём напрока́т, the fixed phrase 'take on hire / rent'.
Imperative
The imperative also splits by root, and the aspect contrast carries the usual nuance.
| Addressee | брать (impf) | взять (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | бери́ | возьми́ |
| вы (formal / plural) | бери́те | возьми́те |
возьми́ asks for one specific thing to be taken now ("take this," "grab that") and is the default for a concrete request. бери́ is the imperfective — "go ahead and take, help yourself, keep taking" — and is the form you use to offer, to invite, and (importantly) for negated commands.
Возьми́ зонт, на у́лице ли́вень!
Take an umbrella, it's pouring outside! — возьми́: one specific, urgent action, perfective.
Бери́ ско́лько хо́чешь, не стесня́йся.
Take as much as you like, don't be shy. — бери́: an open invitation, imperfective.
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | брать (impf) | взять (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle | беру́щий "taking" | — (perfectives have none) |
| past active participle | бра́вший | взя́вший |
| past passive participle | — | взя́тый "taken" |
| verbal adverb | беря́ "while taking" (rare) | взяв "having taken" |
The most useful of these is the perfective passive participle взя́тый "taken" (взя́тый го́род "a captured city," взя́тые на себя́ обяза́тельства "obligations one has taken on"). The verbal adverb взяв "having taken" is common in writing; the imperfective беря́ is rare and bookish.
Взяв такси́, мы успе́ли в аэропо́рт за полчаса́.
Having taken a taxi, we got to the airport in half an hour. — verbal adverb взяв (having taken).
Key uses & collocations
1. брать / взять + accusative — the thing taken
The object taken is a direct object in the accusative: взять кни́гу, биле́т, такси́, о́тпуск. With inanimate nouns the accusative looks like the nominative, so the case is mostly visible on feminine -а nouns (кни́га → кни́гу) and pronouns. See the accusative direct object page.
Возьми́ меня́ с собо́й!
Take me with you! — animate accusative меня́ ('me'); с собо́й = 'along, with you'.
2. "To have / order" food and drink
In a coffee shop or restaurant, "I'll have / I'll get X" is возьму́ X — Russian uses "take," not "have," for ordering. This is a very high-frequency use.
Что ты бу́дешь? — Возьму́ ка́пучино.
What are you having? — I'll get a cappuccino. — возьму́ for ordering.
3. "To charge / cost you money": брать (де́ньги) за + accusative
When a person or business charges for something, Russian uses брать де́ньги за + accusative ("take money for"). Here imperfective брать is normal because it describes a standing practice.
Ско́лько вы берёте за доста́вку?
How much do you charge for delivery? — берёте за + accusative; 'charge' = 'take money for'.
4. Fixed phrasal collocations
A cluster of set expressions uses this pair: взять себя́ в ру́ки "pull oneself together," брать приме́р с кого́-то "follow someone's example," взять сло́во "take the floor (to speak)," взять в долг "borrow," взять напрока́т "rent / hire." Treat each as a unit.
Возьми́ себя́ в ру́ки, всё бу́дет хорошо́.
Pull yourself together, everything will be fine. — fixed idiom взять себя́ в ру́ки.
Common Mistakes
❌ За́втра я бу́ду взять о́тпуск.
Incorrect — the бу́ду future takes an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive. The perfective взять makes its own future: возьму́ (no бу́ду).
✅ За́втра я возьму́ о́тпуск.
Tomorrow I'll take some time off.
❌ Сейча́с я возьму́ душ ка́ждое у́тро.
Aspect mismatch — for a repeated habit use the imperfective present беру́, not the perfective future возьму́: 'Я ка́ждое у́тро принима́ю/беру́…'. возьму́ is one future act.
✅ Я ка́ждое у́тро беру́ с собо́й термос.
Every morning I take a thermos with me.
❌ Она́ взял кни́гу. / Он взяла́ кни́гу.
Agreement error — the past agrees in gender: feminine взяла́ (end-stress), masculine взял. Match it to the subject.
✅ Она́ взяла́ кни́гу в библиоте́ке.
She took a book out of the library.
❌ Я вьзму / возму / взьму…
Spelling error — the perfective future is возьму́: it has the inserted -о- and a soft sign (возь-), not 'вз-'. Memorise возьму́ / возьмёшь / возьму́т as a block.
✅ Я возьму́ тебя́ за́втра в кино́.
I'll take you to the movies tomorrow.
❌ Я брал такси́ и успе́л на по́езд. (meaning: I caught it, one act)
Aspect mismatch — a single completed 'I grabbed a taxi (and it worked)' wants the perfective взял. The imperfective брал suggests a habit / repeated taking.
✅ Я взял такси́ и успе́л на по́езд.
I grabbed a taxi and made my train.
Key Takeaways
- брать / взять is suppletive: two different roots fused into one aspect pair (like English go / went). The root tells you the aspect — бр-/бер- = imperfective, возьм-/взя- = perfective.
- Present (брать only): беру́ / берёшь / берёт / берём / берёте / беру́т — first conjugation, end-stressed, stem switches to бер-.
- Past: брал / брала́ / бра́ло / бра́ли and взял / взяла́ / взя́ло / взя́ли — note the end-stressed feminine брала́, взяла́.
- Future: imperfective compound бу́ду брать; perfective simple возьму́ / возьмёшь / возьму́т (mind the inserted -о- and soft sign).
- Imperative: бери́ / возьми́ — возьми́ for one concrete act, бери́ to offer/invite and for negation.
- Government:
- accusative (the thing taken). Key uses: ordering food (возьму́ ко́фе), charging money (брать де́ньги за), and fixed idioms (взять себя́ в ру́ки).
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- Suppletive and Irregular Aspect PairsB1 — Some aspect pairs are not built by adding a prefix or swapping a suffix — the two members come from completely different roots (говори́ть/сказа́ть, брать/взять, иска́ть/найти́) or change shape so drastically that you must memorize each pair as a unit; this page collects the high-frequency suppletive and irregular pairs and shows the contrast with one example each.
- 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.
- Accusative: The Direct ObjectA1 — The accusative marks the direct object — the thing a transitive verb acts on directly. Verbs like чита́ть, смотре́ть, люби́ть, ви́деть, знать all take an accusative object (чита́ть кни́гу, люби́ть му́зыку). Because Russian word order is free, the case ending — not position — tells you which noun is being acted upon, so every direct object must be marked. Object pronouns (меня́, тебя́, его́, её, нас, вас, их) are accusative too.
- The Perfective (Simple) FutureA2 — The perfective future is a single word: you conjugate a perfective verb with the ordinary present-tense endings (-у/-ю, -ешь/-ишь…) and the result means the FUTURE — прочита́ю 'I'll read (and finish),' напишу́ 'I'll write,' куплю́ 'I'll buy,' позвоню́ 'I'll call.' The trap is that these forms look exactly like a present tense, but a perfective verb has no present, so a conjugated perfective is always future. It names a single completed action with a result, a promise, or one step in a sequence.
- Давать / Дать (to give)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair дава́ть (imperfective) / дать (perfective), 'to give'. Full paradigms: the -ва--dropping present даю́/даёшь/даю́т, the athematic perfective дам/дашь/даст/дади́м/дади́те/даду́т (its future), the past дал/дала́/да́ло/да́ли, imperatives дава́й(те) and дай(те), and the дава́й 'let's' use.
- Класть / Положить (to put, lay down)B1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the notorious suppletive pair класть / положи́ть 'to put (into a lying position)': imperfective класть (кладу́, кладёшь, кладу́т; past клал — no *покла́сть) versus perfective положи́ть (положу́, поло́жишь; imperative положи́), built on two different roots. The most-mistaken put-verb pair, with the critical warning that *ло́жить does not exist in the standard language, its accusative + куда́ government, and the posture contrast with ставить/поставить.