Asking Simple Present-Tense Questions | Russian Grammar

Asking a question in Russian is far simpler than the English machinery you're used to. There is no "do"-auxiliary and no inversion of subject and verb — the two tricks English relies on. Once you can conjugate a present-tense verb, you can already ask questions with it: a yes/no question is just the statement said with rising intonation, and a wh-question simply puts the question word at the front. These two patterns will carry you through almost every question you need in your first weeks of speaking.

Yes/no questions: same words, rising intonation

To turn a statement into a yes/no question, you change nothing about the words or their order. You only change your voice — your pitch rises sharply on the stressed word you're asking about, then falls. Linguists call this rise the ИК-3 intonation pattern (интонацио́нная констру́кция но́мер три, "intonation contour number three").

Compare the statement and the question — identical on the page, distinguished only by the voice:

Ты понима́ешь.

You understand. (statement, falling voice)

Ты понима́ешь?

Do you understand? (question, rising voice on понима́ешь)

That single fact — same word order for statement and question — is the whole rule. There is no Russian word for "do" in this sense (the verb де́лать means "to do an action," not the grammatical helper), and you never swap the subject and verb the way English flips "you are" into "are you."

Вы говори́те по-ру́сски?

Do you speak Russian? (no auxiliary, no inversion — just rising intonation)

Ты лю́бишь ко́фе?

Do you like coffee? (the statement Ты лю́бишь ко́фе with the voice rising on лю́бишь)

Они́ ещё рабо́тают?

Are they still working? (они́ рабо́тают, asked)

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The biggest beginner trap, by far, is reaching for a Russian "do." English builds Do you know? / Does she live here? with a helper verb. Russian has none — Ты зна́ешь? is the complete question. If you find yourself wanting to insert a word before the verb to mean "do," stop: there is no до for questions. The verb you've already conjugated is all you need.

Where the rise lands changes the focus

Because the words don't move, the place where your pitch peaks tells the listener what you're really asking. Moving the rise spotlights a different element:

Ты пьёшь чай? (rise on пьёшь)

Do you drink tea? — asking whether you drink it at all.

Ты пьёшь чай? (rise on ты)

Are YOU the one who drinks tea? — asking whether it's you, not someone else.

This is the same flexibility English gets only with stress, but in Russian it is the main tool, because the word order is free and the intonation does the work. The full mechanics of the rising contour are on the question-intonation page.

Wh-questions: put the question word first

For "open" questions — who, what, where, when, why — Russian uses a question word, and the natural place for it is the front of the sentence. After that, the word order is the same as a statement, and again there is no auxiliary and no inversion.

Here are the question words you'll use constantly:

Word	Meaning	Example question
Кто?	Who?	Кто здесь рабо́тает?
Что?	What?	Что ты де́лаешь?
Где?	Where (location)?	Где ты живёшь?
Куда́?	Where (to)?	Куда́ ты идёшь?
Когда́?	When?	Когда́ начина́ется уро́к?
Как?	How?	Как ты себя́ чу́вствуешь?
Почему́?	Why?	Почему́ ты молчи́шь?
Заче́м?	Why / what for?	Заче́м тебе́ э́то?
Ско́лько?	How much / many?	Ско́лько э́то сто́ит?
Чей?	Whose?	Чей э́то телефо́н?

Notice the two distinct "where" words — Где? asks about a location (where something is), and Куда́? asks about a destination (where you're going to). English collapses both into "where," so beginners constantly use где when they mean куда́. If movement is involved, you almost always want Куда́?.

Где ты живёшь?

Where do you live? — location, so где.

Куда́ ты идёшь?

Where are you going? — destination/movement, so куда́.

Что ты де́лаешь сего́дня ве́чером?

What are you doing this evening? — question word что at the front.

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Two patterns cover almost every early question: rising intonation for yes/no (Ты понима́ешь?) and question-word-first for wh- (Где ты живёшь?). Neither needs an auxiliary or inversion. Master these two frames and you can ask things from week one with only the verbs you already conjugate.

Wh-questions still rise — but differently

A wh-question uses a different contour (the ИК-2 pattern): a sharp emphatic stress on the question word, with the voice generally falling across the rest of the sentence — closer to the English wh-question melody. You don't need to drill this consciously as a beginner; just put the question word first and the intonation tends to follow naturally.

Как тебя́ зову́т?

What's your name? — literally 'How do they call you?'; the everyday way to ask someone's name.

Ско́лько сто́ит биле́т?

How much does the ticket cost? — ско́лько fronted, statement order after.

The particle ли (formal / written yes/no)

There is a second way to mark a yes/no question — the particle ли — but it is formal and bookish, common in writing, indirect questions, and careful speech, and rare in casual conversation. With ли, the verb (the thing being asked about) moves to the front and ли clips on right after it:

Говори́шь ли ты по-ру́сски?

Do you speak Russian? — formal/written; everyday speech says Ты говори́шь по-ру́сски?

Зна́ете ли вы, где вокза́л?

Do you know where the station is? — polite/formal register.

As a beginner you should recognise ли but default to plain rising intonation, which is what native speakers use in ordinary talk. Reserve ли for written or noticeably formal contexts.

How to answer

Short answers are short. "Yes" is Да, "no" is Нет. You can stop there, or echo the verb for naturalness:

Ты понима́ешь? — Да, понима́ю.

Do you understand? — Yes, I understand. (echoing the verb is natural and common)

Вы рабо́таете здесь? — Нет, не рабо́таю.

Do you work here? — No, I don't. (negative answer: нет + не + verb)

To answer in the negative you put не directly before the verb — there is, once again, no "do not" / "don't" helper. The mechanics of negation in the present are covered on negation in the present tense, and you can drop the subject pronoun in answers because the verb ending already shows the person, as explained on subject pronoun use.

Common Mistakes

❌ До ты зна́ешь? / Ты де́лаешь зна́ешь?

Incorrect — there is no 'do'-auxiliary in Russian questions. The conjugated verb alone asks the question.

✅ Ты зна́ешь?

Do you know? (just the statement with rising intonation)

❌ Понима́ешь ты? (as an everyday yes/no question)

Incorrect — English-style inversion. Russian keeps statement order: Ты понима́ешь?

✅ Ты понима́ешь?

Do you understand?

❌ Где ты идёшь?

Incorrect — где asks location; for movement/destination use куда́.

✅ Куда́ ты идёшь?

Where are you going?

❌ Что э́то сто́ит? (intending 'how much')

Incorrect — 'how much does it cost' uses ско́лько, not что.

✅ Ско́лько э́то сто́ит?

How much does it cost?

❌ Ли ты говори́шь по-ру́сски?

Incorrect — ли follows the fronted verb, it never starts the sentence: Говори́шь ли ты…? (and in speech just use rising intonation).

✅ Ты говори́шь по-ру́сски?

Do you speak Russian?

Key Takeaways

Yes/no questions = the statement with rising intonation. Same words, same order: Ты понима́ешь?, Вы говори́те по-ру́сски? No "do," no inversion.
Wh-questions = question word first, then statement order: Где ты живёшь?, Что ты де́лаешь?, Как тебя́ зову́т?
Distinguish Где? (location) from Куда́? (destination) — English "where" hides this split.
The particle ли marks formal/written yes/no questions (Говори́шь ли ты…?) and clips onto the fronted verb — but in speech, just let your voice rise.
Answer with Да / Нет, optionally echoing the verb; negate with не before the verb — never with a "don't" helper.

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