Infinitive: сто́ить — "to cost; to be worth" Type: an imperfective-only verb (имперфекти́в-та́нтум) — it has no perfective partner, so it has no simple future The trap: сто́ить is a near-twin of стоя́ть "to stand," and they differ chiefly by stress in the third person
сто́ить is the verb you need the moment you go shopping — "How much does it cost?" — and it hides two things worth a dedicated page. First, it is imperfective-only: there is no perfective посто́ить, so it cannot make a simple future. To say "it will cost," you must use the compound *бу́дет сто́ить (see the imperfective compound future). Second, in the third person it is a hair's breadth from a completely different verb: сто́ит "(it) costs" versus стои́т "(he/she/it) stands" — same letters, different stress, different verb. Get the stress wrong and "the book costs" becomes "the book is standing." Stress is marked on every form, because here it is the whole story.
Present tense — сто́ить (cost) vs стоя́ть (stand)
Both are second-conjugation, but they are different verbs with different stems and different stress. Used in full almost only in the third person, сто́ить most often appears as сто́ит / сто́ят (prices). The full paradigm of each, side by side, is the safest way to see the contrast.
| Person | сто́ить — "cost" (stem-stressed) | стоя́ть — "stand" (end-stressed) |
|---|---|---|
| я | сто́ю | стою́ |
| ты | сто́ишь | стои́шь |
| он / она́ / оно́ | сто́ит | стои́т |
| мы | сто́им | стои́м |
| вы | сто́ите | стои́те |
| они́ | сто́ят | стоя́т |
The two verbs are almost perfectly minimal pairs: сто́ит (cost) is stem-stressed, стои́т (stand) is end-stressed. The я-forms even spell differently — сто́ю (I cost? rare) vs стою́ (I'm standing). In practice сто́ить is overwhelmingly third-person (prices don't have a "you"), so the pair you must drill is сто́ит / сто́ят (costs / cost — plural) against стои́т / стоя́т (stands / stand).
Ско́лько сто́ит э́тот биле́т?
How much does this ticket cost? — сто́ит (stem-stressed) = 'costs'.
Э́ти боти́нки сто́ят сли́шком до́рого.
These boots cost too much. — сто́ят (stem-stressed) = 'cost', plural subject.
На по́лке стои́т ва́за с цвета́ми.
There's a vase of flowers standing on the shelf. — стои́т (end-stressed) = 'stands' — a different verb!
Past tense
сто́ить builds a regular past on the сто́и- stem, stem-stressed throughout. (For contrast, стоя́ть gives стоя́л / стоя́ла — end-stressed — yet another way the two verbs diverge.)
| Gender / number | сто́ить — "cost" | стоя́ть — "stand" |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | сто́ил | стоя́л |
| feminine | сто́ила | стоя́ла |
| neuter | сто́ило | стоя́ло |
| plural | сто́или | стоя́ли |
Because сто́ить is imperfective-only, its past has just the imperfective reading: a price that held over some span ("it cost / it used to cost"). There is no "completed" alternative past to choose between — the aspect question simply does not arise.
Ра́ньше э́тот хлеб сто́ил в два ра́за деше́вле.
This bread used to cost half as much. — сто́ил (stem-stressed) = 'cost'.
Пое́здка сто́ила нам це́лое состоя́ние.
The trip cost us a fortune. — сто́ила + dative нам (the one who paid) + accusative.
Future tense — compound only
This is the heart of the page. сто́ить is imperfective-only, one of the imperfective-only verbs that have no perfective partner. With no perfective, there is no simple future — you cannot form a one-word future "it will cost." The only future is the compound бу́дет сто́ить built with быть.
| Person | сто́ить → compound future (the only option) |
|---|---|
| я | бу́ду сто́ить (rare) |
| ты | бу́дешь сто́ить (rare) |
| он / она́ / оно́ | бу́дет сто́ить |
| мы | бу́дем сто́ить (rare) |
| вы | бу́дете сто́ить (rare) |
| они́ | бу́дут сто́ить |
Since prices are third-person, in practice you only ever need бу́дет сто́ить (singular) and бу́дут сто́ить (plural). There is no посто́ит or сто́ну lurking anywhere — if you find yourself reaching for a one-word future of "cost," stop and use бу́дет сто́ить.
С января́ э́та услу́га бу́дет сто́ить доро́же.
From January this service will cost more. — бу́дет сто́ить, the only future form.
Ско́лько бу́дут сто́ить биле́ты на конце́рт?
How much will the concert tickets cost? — бу́дут сто́ить, plural compound future.
Imperative
сто́ить has no everyday imperative — you cannot command a thing to "cost!" The form сто́й that you might expect belongs to стоя́ть: Сто́й! / Сто́йте! means "Stop! / Halt!" (literally "Stand!"). This is one more place where the two verbs are kept apart by meaning.
Сто́й! Кра́сный свет!
Stop! Red light! — imperative of стоя́ть (stand), not сто́ить.
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | сто́ить (cost) |
|---|---|
| present active participle | сто́ящий "costing / worth" |
| past active participle | сто́ивший |
| verbal adverb | сто́я "costing" (rare) |
The participle сто́ящий has taken on a life of its own as an adjective meaning "worthwhile, decent": сто́ящий сове́т ("worthwhile advice"), сто́ящая иде́я ("a decent idea"). Note that this is stem-stressed (сто́ящий); the end-stressed стоя́щий "standing" is the participle of стоя́ть.
Э́то еди́нственный сто́ящий фильм за весь год.
It's the only film worth watching all year. — сто́ящий = 'worthwhile' (from сто́ить).
Key uses & collocations
1. сто́ить + accusative of price — "to cost X"
The price is in the accusative: сто́ить ты́сячу рубле́й, сто́ить больши́е де́ньги. The everyday question is Ско́лько сто́ит…? ("How much does … cost?").
Э́тот телефо́н сто́ит со́рок ты́сяч рубле́й.
This phone costs forty thousand rubles. — accusative of price со́рок ты́сяч.
2. сто́ить + genitive — "to be worth (in the abstract)"
In the figurative sense "to be worth," сто́ить often takes the genitive: э́то сто́ит внима́ния ("that's worth attention"), игра́ не сто́ит свеч ("the game isn't worth the candle" — a fixed idiom).
Така́я возмо́жность сто́ит ри́ска.
An opportunity like this is worth the risk. — сто́ить + genitive ри́ска (figurative 'worth').
3. Impersonal сто́ит + infinitive — "it's worth doing / one should"
A very high-frequency construction: impersonal сто́ит + infinitive means "it's worth (doing) / it would be a good idea to." The subject is left out entirely. With the negative, не сто́ит + infinitive means "there's no point / don't bother."
Тебе́ сто́ит отдохну́ть пе́ред экза́меном.
You should rest before the exam. — impersonal сто́ит + infinitive; dative тебе́ = the person advised.
Не сто́ит из-за э́того волнова́ться.
There's no point worrying about this. — не сто́ит + infinitive = 'don't bother / no need'.
4. сто́ить (кому́) + accusative — "to cost someone (effort, a fortune)"
The one who pays the cost goes in the dative: э́то сто́ило мне больши́х уси́лий ("it cost me great effort"), сто́ить кому́-то жи́зни ("cost someone their life").
Оши́бка сто́ила нам мно́го вре́мени.
The mistake cost us a lot of time. — сто́ить + dative нам + accusative.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ско́лько э́то стои́т?
Stress error — 'costs' is stem-stressed сто́ит. End-stressed стои́т means 'stands' — a different verb.
✅ Ско́лько э́то сто́ит?
How much does this cost?
❌ За́втра биле́т посто́ит доро́же.
Aspect error — сто́ить is imperfective-only: there is NO perfective *посто́ить and no simple future. Use бу́дет сто́ить.
✅ За́втра биле́т бу́дет сто́ить доро́же.
Tomorrow the ticket will cost more.
❌ Кни́га стои́т на столе́ де́сять рубле́й.
Verb confusion — 'a book stands' is стои́т (стоя́ть), but a price needs 'costs' = сто́ит. Mind both verb and stress.
✅ Кни́га сто́ит де́сять рубле́й.
The book costs ten rubles.
❌ Тебе́ сто́ишь отдохну́ть.
Form error — the impersonal 'it's worth' is the fixed 3rd-person сто́ит, never a personal *сто́ишь: Тебе́ сто́ит отдохну́ть.
✅ Тебе́ сто́ит отдохну́ть.
You should get some rest.
❌ Э́то не сто́ит волну́юсь.
Construction error — не сто́ит is followed by an INFINITIVE, not a conjugated verb: не сто́ит волнова́ться.
✅ Об э́том не сто́ит волнова́ться.
There's no need to worry about this.
Key Takeaways
- сто́ить = "cost / be worth," imperfective-only. No perfective partner → no simple future; the only future is the compound бу́дет / бу́дут сто́ить.
- The stress trap: сто́ит (stem-stressed) = "costs"; стои́т (end-stressed) = "stands." Two different verbs, kept apart by stress.
- Present: mostly third-person — сто́ит / сто́ят (prices). Past: сто́ил / сто́ила / сто́ило / сто́или (imperfective reading only).
- No imperative of сто́ить; the command Сто́й! belongs to стоя́ть ("Stop!").
- Government: accusative of price (сто́ит ты́сячу рубле́й); genitive for figurative "worth" (сто́ит внима́ния); dative for the payer (сто́ило мне вре́мени).
- Impersonal сто́ит + infinitive = "it's worth doing / one should"; не сто́ит + infinitive = "no point / don't bother."
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