Learn Hardcore Russian: Новая грамматическая тема: конструкция «собираться + инфинитив» для планов на ближайшее будущее. - New grammar topic: the construction “собираться + infinitive” for plans in the near future.

Intention / plan – what someone intends to do, what they have in mind.
(Usually) near future – something likely to happen soon, or at least something already being planned.

So Я собираюсь поехать в Москву is close to “I’m going to go to Moscow / I’m planning to go to Moscow”, not just a neutral “I will go”. It implies you already have this plan in your head (maybe even some preparation).

How is собираться + infinitive different from буду + infinitive or the simple future (я поеду)?

Very roughly:

Я собираюсь поехать в Москву.
= I’m going to go / I’m planning to go.
Focus: intention, plan in your mind.
Я буду ехать в Москву.
= I will be going / I will be traveling (process).
Focus: future process, often neutral about planning.
Я поеду в Москву. (simple future of a perfective verb)
= I will go to Moscow (at some point).
Focus: the fact that the action will occur, often more like a decision or prediction, not necessarily explicitly “planned” in the same way.

Собираться + infinitive is the best choice when in English you’d naturally say “I’m going to …” or “I’m planning to …”.

Can I use собираться in the past tense to mean “was going to / was planning to”?

Yes, very commonly. For example:

Я собирался позвонить тебе, но забыл. (speaker is male)
“I was going to call you, but I forgot.”
Я собиралась позвонить тебе, но забыла. (speaker is female)
Мы собирались поехать на дачу.
“We were going to go to the dacha.”

So собираться in the past tense + infinitive corresponds very closely to English “was/were going to …”.

Is собираться always reflexive? What about собирать without -ся?

Yes, in this “plan/intend” meaning it is always reflexive: собираться.

собирать (without -ся) usually means “to collect, to gather (something)” –
собирать марки = to collect stamps.
собираться (with -ся) has several meanings, including
1) “to get ready, prepare oneself” (Я собираюсь на работу – I’m getting ready for work),
2) “to gather together” (Мы собираемся у бабушки – We gather at grandma’s),
3) “to intend, to plan” – the one we’re focusing on: Я собираюсь учить русский (“I’m going to study Russian”).

In the собираться + infinitive construction, you always use the reflexive form собираться. The -ся itself does not translate to a separate English word here.

How do I conjugate собираться in the present tense for this construction?

Present tense (used for “I am going to … / I’m planning to …”):

я собираюсь – I am going to / I’m planning to
ты собираешься – you (informal) are going to
он / она / оно собирается – he / she / it is going to
мы собираемся – we are going to
вы собираетесь – you (formal/plural) are going to
они собираются – they are going to

Example:
Мы собираемся смотреть фильм. – We’re going to watch a movie.

Does собираться have a perfective form (собраться)? Do I ever use it with an infinitive in this meaning?

Yes, the perfective is собраться. The nuance changes:

собираться + infinitive (imperfective) = to be planning / intending to do something.
собраться + infinitive (perfective, usually in past or future) often means “to manage to get oneself ready and finally do X / to make up one’s mind and do X”.

Examples:

Я наконец собрался позвонить ему. (male speaker)
Literally: “I finally got myself together to call him.”
Nuance: after hesitating or delaying, you finally took action.

For the neutral “I’m going to do X / I plan to do X”, you normally stick with собираться in the present (or past) tense.

Does собираться + infinitive require a specific aspect (perfective or imperfective) of the infinitive?

You can use either aspect, depending on what exactly you mean, just like in other future contexts:

Imperfective infinitive – emphasizes the process, habitual action, or general idea:
Я собираюсь учить русский каждый день.
“I’m going to study Russian every day.”
Perfective infinitive – emphasizes a single, completed action:
Я собираюсь выучить эту грамматику.
“I’m going to learn (master) this grammar.”

The verb собираться itself stays the same; you choose the aspect of the infinitive as you normally would in Russian.

How do I make negative sentences with собираться + infinitive?

You simply add не before собираться:

Я не собираюсь это делать.
“I’m not going to do this.” / “I have no intention of doing this.”
Мы не собираемся переезжать.
“We’re not going to move.”

Note that не собираюсь often has a stronger nuance than just a neutral “I won’t”; it can sound like “I refuse / I have no intention of doing that.” Context and intonation decide how strong it feels.

How do I ask questions with this construction, like “Are you going to …?”

Use normal Russian question word order (which is often the same as statement word order) and rising intonation:

Ты собираешься идти домой?
“Are you going to go home?”
Вы собираетесь смотреть этот фильм?
“Are you going to watch this movie?”

If you want to be more explicit about time, add a time expression:

Ты сегодня собираешься заниматься?
“Are you going to study today?”

Can собираться + infinitive be used for far-future plans, or only for the “near future” (как в на ближайшее будущее) ?

It’s most natural for:

near or reasonably concrete future plans, especially when some thought or preparation is already happening.

For distant, vague future, Russian speakers often prefer other expressions:

планировать
- infinitive or noun:
  Я планирую поехать в Японию через пять лет.
other verbs like хотеть, мечтать, намереваться, etc.

You can use собираться for non-immediate future if the plan feels quite definite:

Я собираюсь переехать в другой город через два года.
“I’m going to move to another city in two years.”
→ okay, if you mean it as a real, serious plan, not just a vague dream.

In the phrase для планов на ближайшее будущее, why is планов in the genitive plural?

Because of the preposition для.

для (“for”) almost always takes the genitive case.
The noun план in genitive plural is планов.

So:

для планов = “for (the) plans”

Literally, конструкция … для планов на ближайшее будущее = “a construction (used) for plans for the near future.”

Why is it на ближайшее будущее and not some other case? What case is that?

It’s the accusative singular neuter:

ближайшее – accusative singular neuter (same form as nominative)
будущее – accusative singular neuter (same form as nominative)

The preposition на + accusative very often means “for (a period of time / for a future period)”, as in:

на неделю – for a week
на завтра – for tomorrow
на будущее – for the future

So на ближайшее будущее = “for the near future” (time period), which is why на takes the accusative here.

What is инфинитив in this context?

Инфинитив is simply the infinitive form of a verb, the “dictionary form” that in English appears as “to do, to go, to read”.

In Russian, infinitives typically end in:

-ть (делать, читать, говорить, идти)
-ти (нести, вести)
-чь (печь, беречь), etc.

So in собираться + инфинитив, the second verb is in the infinitive:

Я собираюсь читать. – “I’m going to read.”
Мы собираемся поехать. – “We’re going to go (travel).”

Is there any difference between собираться делать что‑то and планировать делать что‑то?

Yes, there is a nuance:

собираться + infinitive – very common, often conversational; focuses on your intention or what you’re about to / going to do.
Я собираюсь поменять работу. – I’m going to change jobs.
планировать + infinitive / noun – slightly more formal, emphasizes planning (sometimes more “on paper” or as a project), not just your personal intention.
Я планирую поменять работу. – I plan to change jobs.

In many contexts they overlap, but собираться sounds more like everyday “I’m going to…”, while планировать can sound more official or strategic.