Infinitive (imperfective): реша́ть — "to solve / to be deciding (process)" Infinitive (perfective): реши́ть — "to solve / to decide (result)" Type: a regular suffixal aspect pair (реша́ть first conjugation; реши́ть second conjugation) — the textbook illustration of process vs result
реша́ть / реши́ть is the pair Russian teachers reach for when they want to show you what aspect means, because the two members translate the same English verbs — "solve" and "decide" — yet differ purely in viewpoint. реша́ть presents the action as an unfinished process: working on a problem, weighing a choice, with no guarantee of an outcome. реши́ть presents it as a completed result: the problem is solved, the choice is made. Я реша́л зада́чу means "I was working on the problem"; Я реши́л зада́чу means "I solved it." The same split runs through both senses, and once you feel it here you feel it everywhere — which is why this pair lives at the heart of the aspect overview. Note too that the pair changes conjugation across the suffix: imperfective реша́ть is first conjugation, perfective реши́ть is second.
Present tense (реша́ть, imperfective) — first conjugation
Only the imperfective реша́ть has a present. It is first-conjugation off the stem реша-: -ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ют, stress fixed on -ша́-. The perfective реши́ть has no present — its forms appear in the future section below.
| Person | реша́ть — PRESENT (impf) |
|---|---|
| я | реша́ю |
| ты | реша́ешь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | реша́ет |
| мы | реша́ем |
| вы | реша́ете |
| они́ | реша́ют |
A perfective can never describe the present moment, so anything happening "right now" — currently solving, currently in the middle of deciding — must be реша́ю. The present is also where реша́ть expresses "it's up to you / you're the one who decides": Реша́ешь ты — "It's your call."
Я сейча́с реша́ю, куда́ пое́хать в о́тпуск.
I'm deciding right now where to go on holiday. — реша́ю: an unfinished process, present.
Кто здесь реша́ет, что нам де́лать?
Who decides here what we should do? — реша́ет = 'is the one who decides', authority.
Де́ти ка́ждый день реша́ют приме́ры по матема́тике.
The kids solve maths sums every day. — реша́ют: a repeated activity, imperfective.
Past tense
Both members build a regular gender-marked past, stem-stressed on -ша́- / -ши́-. This is where the process-vs-result contrast is felt most often, because most storytelling is in the past.
| Gender / number | реша́ть (impf) | реши́ть (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | реша́л | реши́л |
| feminine | реша́ла | реши́ла |
| neuter | реша́ло | реши́ло |
| plural | реша́ли | реши́ли |
реша́л = "was solving / was deciding" (effort, no stated outcome); реши́л = "solved / decided" (the outcome is in). Crucially, Я реша́л зада́чу два часа́ ("I worked on the problem for two hours") leaves open whether you cracked it; Я реши́л зада́чу states that you did.
Я це́лый час реша́л э́ту зада́чу, но так и не реши́л.
I worked on this problem for a whole hour but never solved it. — реша́л (process) vs реши́л (result) in one sentence.
Мы до́лго ду́мали и наконе́ц реши́ли оста́ться.
We thought about it for a long time and finally decided to stay. — реши́ли + infinitive оста́ться, result.
Она́ реши́ла, что хва́тит ждать.
She decided that she'd waited long enough. — реши́ла, что… : a made decision, perfective.
Future tense
The pair forms its future the two standard ways. The perfective реши́ть is second-conjugation in the simple future — verify this set carefully, since the infinitive's -а- of реша́ть can mislead you into a first-conjugation ending.
- реша́ть (imperfective) → compound future: бу́ду реша́ть "I'll be solving / I'll be deciding."
- реши́ть (perfective) → simple future (second conjugation): решу́, реши́шь, реши́т, реши́м, реши́те, реша́т "I'll solve / I'll decide."
| Person | реша́ть → бу́ду реша́ть | реши́ть → simple future (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду реша́ть | решу́ |
| ты | бу́дешь реша́ть | реши́шь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет реша́ть | реши́т |
| мы | бу́дем реша́ть | реши́м |
| вы | бу́дете реша́ть | реши́те |
| они́ | бу́дут реша́ть | реша́т |
Two spelling points in the perfective set. The я-form is решу́ (after ш you write -у, never -ю), and the они́-form is реша́т (after ш you write -ат, never -ят) — even though реши́ть is second-conjugation, the spelling rule masks the -я-. Everywhere else the stress is on the -ши́-. The mechanics of this simple future are on the perfective simple future page.
Не торопи́ меня́, я сам решу́, что де́лать.
Don't rush me, I'll decide for myself what to do. — решу́: one future decision, perfective.
Е́сли реши́шь прийти́, про́сто напиши́ мне.
If you decide to come, just text me. — реши́шь + infinitive прийти́, perfective future.
Imperative
| Addressee | реша́ть (impf) | реши́ть (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ты (informal) | реша́й | реши́ |
| вы (formal / plural) | реша́йте | реши́те |
The imperfective Реша́й сам / Реша́йте са́ми ("Decide for yourself / It's up to you") hands the choice to the listener — open-ended, no pressure. The perfective Реши́ pushes for a decision now: "Make up your mind!"
Реша́й сам, я не бу́ду на тебя́ дави́ть.
Decide for yourself, I won't pressure you. — imperfective реша́й: open, no deadline.
Реши́ уже́ наконе́ц — да и́ли нет?
Just make up your mind already — yes or no? — perfective реши́: demand a decision now.
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | реша́ть (impf) | реши́ть (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| present active participle | реша́ющий "deciding / decisive" | — (perfectives have none) |
| past active participle | реша́вший | реши́вший |
| past passive participle | — | решённый "solved / decided" |
| verbal adverb | реша́я "while solving" | реши́в "having decided" |
The participle реша́ющий has hardened into the adjective "decisive, deciding, crucial": реша́ющий го́лос ("the deciding vote"), реша́ющий моме́нт ("the crucial moment"). The passive participle решённый "(the matter is) settled" is common: Вопро́с решён — "The matter is settled." The verbal adverb реши́в "having decided" is frequent in narrative.
Реши́в не сдава́ться, она́ попро́бовала ещё раз.
Having decided not to give up, she tried again. — verbal adverb реши́в, perfective.
Key uses & collocations
1. реши́ть + accusative — solving a problem
In the "solve" sense, the thing solved is a direct object in the accusative: реши́ть зада́чу, пробле́му, уравне́ние, вопро́с, кроссво́рд. See the accusative direct object page.
Нам ну́жно реши́ть э́ту пробле́му до пя́тницы.
We need to solve this problem by Friday. — реши́ть + accusative пробле́му.
2. реши́ть + INFINITIVE — deciding to do something
In the "decide" sense, реши́ть takes a bare infinitive for the action you've resolved on — exactly like English "decide to": реши́л уйти́ ("decided to leave"), реши́ли пожени́ться ("decided to get married"). No что́бы, no preposition.
Он реши́л бро́сить курить с понеде́льника.
He decided to quit smoking starting Monday. — реши́л + infinitive бро́сить.
Мы реши́ли не е́хать в э́том году́.
We decided not to go this year. — реши́ть + negated infinitive не е́хать.
3. реши́ть, что… — deciding/concluding that
For a conclusion or resolution about a state of affairs, use реши́ть + a что-clause: "decided / concluded that…" Russian keeps the comma before что.
Я реши́л, что пора́ что́-то меня́ть в жи́зни.
I decided it was time to change something in my life. — реши́ть, что… , a conclusion.
4. реша́ть — "to be up to someone / to be in charge"
The imperfective present is the idiomatic way to say who has the authority to decide: Здесь реша́ю я — "I'm the one who decides here." This sense stays imperfective because it describes an ongoing role.
В э́той семье́ всё реша́ет ба́бушка.
In this family it's grandma who decides everything. — реша́ет = holds the authority, imperfective.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я реши́л зада́чу два часа́, но не получи́лось.
Aspect error — if you only worked on it (no result), use the imperfective process verb: 'Я реша́л зада́чу два часа́.' реши́л asserts you solved it.
✅ Я реша́л зада́чу два часа́, но так и не реши́л.
I worked on the problem for two hours but still didn't solve it.
❌ Я реши́л, что́бы уйти́.
Wrong structure — 'decide to do X' takes a bare infinitive, not что́бы: 'Я реши́л уйти́.'
✅ Я реши́л уйти́ пора́ньше.
I decided to leave a bit earlier.
❌ Они́ реши́ют э́ту пробле́му за́втра.
Conjugation error — реши́ть is second-conjugation; the они́-form is реша́т (spelled -ат after ш), and it's the future, not a present.
✅ Они́ реша́т э́ту пробле́му за́втра.
They'll solve this problem tomorrow.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду реши́ть, что де́лать.
Aspect error — the бу́ду future needs an imperfective infinitive. The perfective реши́ть makes its own future: решу́ (no бу́ду).
✅ За́втра я решу́, что де́лать.
Tomorrow I'll decide what to do.
Key Takeaways
- The model process-vs-result pair: реша́ть = the process (working on it / mulling it over, no outcome guaranteed); реши́ть = the result (solved / decided). реша́л зада́чу ≠ реши́л зада́чу.
- Both members cover both meanings — "solve" and "decide." The structure tells them apart: + accusative = solve; + infinitive = decide to do.
- Conjugation switches across the pair: imperfective реша́ть is first conjugation (реша́ю); perfective реши́ть is second (решу́, реши́шь … реша́т). Watch the spelling: решу́ (-у after ш), реша́т (-ат after ш).
- Future: imperfective compound бу́ду реша́ть; perfective simple решу́ (the everyday "I'll decide / I'll solve it").
- реши́ть + infinitive for "decide to" — a bare infinitive, never что́бы.
- The imperfective present also means "to be in charge / it's up to someone": Здесь реша́ю я.
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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.
- 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.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: Suffixation and Secondary ImperfectivesB1 — The other direction of pair formation: deriving an imperfective from a perfective by suffix. The 'secondary imperfective' process (-ыва-/-ива-, -ва-, -а́-) rebalances the system after a prefix has perfectivized a verb, giving triplets like писа́ть → записа́ть → запи́сывать. Master the suffixes and you can predict the imperfective partner of most prefixed perfectives.
- Present Tense: Second ConjugationA1 — The second-conjugation present paradigm: говори́ть → говорю́, говори́шь, говори́т, говори́м, говори́те, говоря́т, with theme vowel -и-. Covers the Л-insertion model люби́ть → люблю́, the 1sg consonant mutation, and the spelling rule that gives слы́шу/слы́шат and учу́/у́чат after hushing consonants.
- 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.
- Думать / Подумать (to think)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair ду́мать / поду́мать 'to think'. A regular first-conjugation verb that governs о + prepositional for 'think about' (ду́мать о рабо́те) and что-clauses (ду́маю, что…), with a sharp contrast between ду́мать (the ongoing process), the inceptive поду́мать ('give it some thought, reconsider'), and приду́мать ('think up, invent').