Learn Hardcore Russian: Завтра я познакомлюсь с новым учителем.

Познакомлюсь is the first-person singular future tense form of the perfective verb познакомиться, which means “to get acquainted” or “to meet” (for the first time). Because it’s perfective, it emphasizes that the action of meeting will be completed.

Why is познакомлюсь a reflexive verb?

The base verb знакомить (to introduce) becomes reflexive (знакомиться/познакомиться) when you talk about the subject getting to know someone rather than introducing someone else. The suffix –ся indicates that the action happens to the subject—or involves the subject in the action itself.

Why do we use с + instrumental case after познакомлюсь?

The verb познакомиться requires the preposition с followed by the instrumental case to indicate “with whom” you are getting acquainted. So с новым учителем literally means “with the new teacher.”

What case is новым учителем, and why is it that form?

Новым учителем is in the instrumental case (singular, masculine). We use the instrumental after the preposition с when expressing “with someone” in Russian.

Can you omit я in this sentence?

Yes. Russian often drops the subject pronoun when the verb ending makes the person and number clear. So you can say simply Завтра познакомлюсь с новым учителем, and it still means “Tomorrow I will meet the new teacher.”

Why is Завтра placed at the beginning?

Word order in Russian is fairly flexible. Placing Завтра (tomorrow) first emphasizes the time. You could also say Я завтра познакомлюсь… without changing the basic meaning.

Could you change the word order to something like Я познакомлюсь с новым учителем завтра?

Yes, you can. All of these are grammatically correct:

Завтра я познакомлюсь с новым учителем.
Я завтра познакомлюсь с новым учителем.
Я познакомлюсь с новым учителем завтра.
Choosing one over another depends on which element (time, subject, action) you want to highlight.