Я хочу изменить план.

I want to change the plan.

Breakdown of Я хочу изменить план.

• я: I
• хотеть: to want
• план: the plan
• изменить: to change

Questions & Answers about Я хочу изменить план.

Why isn’t there a word like “the” or “a” before план?

Russian doesn’t use articles at all.
So план on its own can mean:

• the plan
• a plan
• my/our plan (if clear from context)

Context (what was said before, the situation, intonation) tells you whether план is definite or indefinite. Grammatically it is just план, without any extra word.

How do I know that план is in the accusative case if it just looks like the dictionary form?

In this sentence план is the direct object of изменить, so it must be in the accusative case.

Masculine inanimate nouns (like план) have the same form in:

• Nominative singular (dictionary form): план
• Accusative singular: план

So the form doesn’t change, but the function does:

• План готов. – план is the subject (nominative).
• Я хочу изменить план. – план is the object (accusative).

Why is изменить in the infinitive form and not conjugated like the main verb?

The verb хотеть (to want) is normally followed by an infinitive in Russian.

• Я хочу – I want (something, to do something)
• изменить – to change (infinitive)

So the structure is:

• [conjugated хотеть] + [infinitive]
  • Я хочу изменить план. – I want to change the plan.
  • Он хочет уйти. – He wants to leave.

You conjugate хотеть according to the subject, but the verb that expresses the action you want stays in the infinitive.

Why is it изменить, not изменять? What’s the difference?

The difference is aspect:

• изменить – perfective (focus on the result, one completed change)
• изменять – imperfective (focus on process, repeated or ongoing change)

In Я хочу изменить план, you are talking about making one specific change and finishing it. That’s why the perfective изменить is natural: you want the plan to end up different.

With хотеть, both aspects are possible, but the meaning changes:

• Я хочу изменить план. – I want to (once, successfully) change the plan.
• Я хочу изменять планы. – I want to be in the business/habit of changing plans (regularly), or I want to be changing plans as an activity.

For a concrete once-off change, изменить is the common choice.

Can I omit я and just say Хочу изменить план?

Yes, that’s very natural in Russian.

Russian often drops subject pronouns when the verb form clearly shows the person:

• (Я) хочу изменить план.
• (Мы) хотим изменить план.

Leaving out я can sound:

• A bit more informal/spoken.
• More neutral in short replies or when the subject is obvious.

Both Я хочу изменить план and Хочу изменить план are correct; context decides which sounds more natural.

Can I change the word order, like Я план хочу изменить or План я хочу изменить?

Russian word order is flexible, but not all options are equally neutral.

Most neutral:

• Я хочу изменить план.
• Хочу изменить план.

Also possible, with emphasis:

• Я хочу изменить план. (emphasis on хочу – I am the one who wants this)
• План я хочу изменить. (emphasis on план – it’s the plan I want to change, not something else)
• Я хочу план изменить. (slight emphasis on план or on the action of changing this plan)

Я план хочу изменить is grammatical but sounds more marked and stylistic; you would usually hear it only for specific emphasis or in expressive speech. For learners, stick to Я хочу изменить план as your default.

Does Я хочу изменить план sound polite enough, or is there a more polite way to say it?

Я хочу изменить план is direct and neutral, but in many situations (especially formal or customer‑service contexts) it can sound a bit too blunt, like English “I want to change the plan.”

More polite/softer options:

• Я бы хотел изменить план. (male speaker)
• Я бы хотела изменить план. (female speaker)

This is like English “I would like to change the plan.”
You can make it even more polite by adding something like:

• Я бы хотел(а) изменить план, если возможно. – I’d like to change the plan, if possible.

How does хочу change with different subjects?

Хочу is 1st person singular of хотеть. Here is the full present‑tense conjugation:

• я хочу – I want
• ты хочешь – you want (informal singular)
• он / она / оно хочет – he / she / it wants
• мы хотим – we want
• вы хотите – you want (formal or plural)
• они хотят – they want

Examples with the same structure:

• Мы хотим изменить план. – We want to change the plan.
• Они хотят изменить план. – They want to change the plan.

How should I pronounce the words in this sentence?

Stress and sounds:

• Я – ya (like ya in yard; very short).
• хоЧУ – хо is like kha (with a rough h sound, ); stress on -ЧУ: kha-CHU.
• измеНИТЬ – stress on -НИТЬ: eez-me-NEET’ (final ть is soft and not strongly released).
• план – like plan in English, but with a short a and a clearer l.

Word stress:

• я хоЧУ измеНИТЬ план – primary stresses on хоЧУ and измеНИТЬ.

Is there any difference between изменить план and поменять план?

Both are often translated as to change the plan, and in many everyday contexts they’re interchangeable.

Subtle nuances:

• изменить план – slightly more formal or neutral, can imply modify/alter the plan.
• поменять план – more colloquial, can feel more like swap/replace one plan with another.

In a typical situation (e.g. talking about changing a schedule or arrangement), both:

• Я хочу изменить план.
• Я хочу поменять план.

are natural and commonly used.