Я обедаю дома.

I have lunch at home.

Breakdown of Я обедаю дома.

• я: I
• дома: at home
• обедать: to have lunch

Questions & Answers about Я обедаю дома.

Why is there no separate word for “am” in Я обедаю дома?

Russian normally drops the verb “to be” (быть) in the present tense.

• English: I am having lunch at home.
• Russian literal structure: I lunch at home.

The ending -ю in обедаю already shows present tense and 1st person singular (“I”), so Russian doesn’t need a separate word like “am.”

What does обедаю mean exactly? Is it “I eat” or “I am eating”?

Обедаю comes from обедать, which means “to have lunch / to eat the midday meal.”

Russian has only one present tense, so я обедаю can mean:

• I am having lunch (right now), or
• I (usually) have lunch (habitually), depending on context.

It does not usually mean just “I eat (in general).” For that, Russian uses есть (“to eat”): я ем = “I eat / I am eating.”

What is the infinitive form of обедаю, and how is it conjugated?

The infinitive is обедать (“to have lunch”).

Present-tense conjugation:

• я обедаю – I have lunch
• ты обедаешь – you have lunch (informal, singular)
• он / она / оно обедает – he / she / it has lunch
• – we have lunch