Я собираюсь обновить профиль в учебном приложении.

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Breakdown of Я собираюсь обновить профиль в учебном приложении.

• в: in
• приложение: the app
• собираться: to be going to

Questions & Answers about Я собираюсь обновить профиль в учебном приложении.

What does я собираюсь actually mean here? Is it like English “I am going to…” or “I’m planning to…”?

Я собираюсь in this sentence means “I’m going to / I’m planning to.”

• The core idea is intention / plan in the near or definite future.
• It’s very close to English “I’m going to update…” in the sense of a decided plan.
• Literally, the verb собираться means “to gather” (people, things) or “to get ready / prepare oneself,” and by extension “to be about to / intend to.”

So Я собираюсь обновить профиль… = “I’m going to (I intend to) update the profile…”

Where does собираюсь come from, and why does it end in -сь?

Собираюсь is the 1st person singular present tense of the reflexive verb собираться.

• Infinitive: собираться (to get ready, to plan to do something)
• Conjugation in the present:
  • я собираюсь – I am going / planning to
  • ты собираешься – you (sg, informal) are going / planning to
  • он/она/оно собирается – he/she/it is going / planning to
  • мы собираемся – we are going / planning to
  • вы собираетесь – you (pl/formal) are going / planning to
  • они собираются – they are going / planning to

The -сь / -ся ending marks it as reflexive. In this meaning (“to intend, to plan”), it doesn’t translate as a reflexive pronoun in English; it’s just part of the verb form.