Questions & Answers about Если я бегаю каждый день, я бегаю быстрее.
Why is it я бегаю and not я бегу?
Russian has two basic verbs for “to run”:
- бегать = to run habitually/in general (multidirectional, imperfective). 1st person: я бегаю.
- бежать = to be running in one specific direction or at a particular moment (unidirectional, imperfective). 1st person: я бегу.
Because the sentence states a general habit (“If I run every day…”), Russian uses бегаю (from бегать), not бегу.
Can I use the future to talk about a future plan, like “If I will run every day…”?
Yes. For a future scenario, use future forms:
- Если я буду бегать каждый день, я стану бегать быстрее. This means “If I run every day (in the future), I will become able to run faster.” You can also say: …я буду бегать быстрее, but стану бегать быстрее sounds a bit more natural for a change/result.
Do I need the word то after если?
Why is there a comma?