Questions & Answers about Я говорю в микрофон.
In Russian, в + accusative often means into / towards (direction), while в + prepositional usually means in / inside (location).
- в микрофон (accusative) = into the microphone → where your voice is going.
- в микрофоне (prepositional) = in the microphone → literally inside the microphone (almost never what you mean with speaking).
Verbs of speaking, shouting, shooting, etc. often use в + accusative to show the target or direction:
- говорить в микрофон – to speak into a microphone
- кричать в окно – to shout into the window
- стрелять в цель – to shoot at the target
So в микрофон is correct for “into the microphone.”
Микрофон is in the accusative singular.
Clues:
- The preposition в here means into, which normally takes the accusative.
- Микрофон is a masculine inanimate noun. For such nouns:
- Nominative singular: микрофон
- Accusative singular: микрофон (same form as nominative)
So the form doesn’t change, but the function (case) is accusative because of в with a directional meaning.
In this sentence в expresses direction towards the inside of something, so the closest English meaning is “into”:
- Я говорю в микрофон. – I speak into the microphone.
If the meaning were “located in,” you would typically see в + prepositional:
- Я в комнате. – I am in the room.
- Ключ в сумке. – The key is in the bag.
So here: в = into, not in as static location.
Говорю is:
- Dictionary form: говорить
- Person/number: 1st person singular – “I”
- Tense: present tense
- Aspect: imperfective (ongoing, repeated, process)
So я говорю = I speak / I am speaking. It describes an action in progress or a habitual action, not a single completed act.
Я говорю can correspond to both English forms, depending on context:
- Right now, at this moment:
Я говорю в микрофон. – I am speaking into the microphone. - In general / habitually:
На концертах я всегда говорю в микрофон. – At concerts I always speak into the microphone.
Russian has only one present tense form for both English present simple and present continuous. Context tells you which English tense fits better.
All are about speaking, but with different aspect and nuance:
говорить – imperfective: to speak, to talk, to be speaking
- Focus on process or repeated action.
- Я говорю в микрофон. – I am speaking into the microphone.
сказать – perfective: to say, to tell (once, as a complete act)
- Focus on the result, one finished act.
- Я скажу это в микрофон. – I will say this into the microphone (one act).
поговорить – perfective, but means to have a talk, to talk for a while
- Emphasizes having a conversation for some time.
- Нам нужно поговорить. – We need to talk (for a bit).
In your sentence we use говорить because it describes the ongoing action of speaking.
Yes, you can.
Russian verb endings show the person, so the subject pronoun is often omitted when it’s clear from context:
- Я говорю в микрофон. – neutral; subject explicitly stated.
- Говорю в микрофон. – “I’m speaking into the microphone,” but more concise, typical in dialogue or when the subject is obvious.
You usually keep я if you want to emphasize the subject (e.g., contrast with someone else):
- Не он, а я говорю в микрофон. – Not him, but I am speaking into the microphone.
Yes, Russian allows flexible word order. All of these are grammatically correct but differ in emphasis:
Я говорю в микрофон.
- Most neutral and typical.
Я в микрофон говорю.
- Slight emphasis on в микрофон, often in contrast:
- Я в микрофон говорю, а ты меня всё равно не слышишь.
I’m speaking into the microphone, and you still don’t hear me.
В микрофон я говорю.
- Strongest emphasis on в микрофон, often contrasting the place/means:
- В микрофон я говорю, а не в телефон.
It’s into the microphone that I’m speaking, not into the phone.
The meaning (who speaks into what) stays the same; word order mostly changes what is highlighted.
Different instruments or channels of communication use different fixed prepositions in Russian:
- говорить в микрофон – to speak into a microphone
- говорить по телефону – to speak on the phone
- говорить по рации – to speak on the radio (walkie-talkie)
- говорить по скайпу – to speak on Skype
You generally just have to memorize these patterns:
- в + accusative is used when your sound is physically directed into something (microphone, megaphone, tube, etc.).
- по is often used with communication channels / means of communication (phone, radio, Skype, Zoom, etc.).
So: в микрофон, but по телефону.
Разговаривать в микрофон sounds unnatural or wrong.
- Говорить = to speak (can be one-sided, like making a speech).
- Разговаривать = to have a conversation, to talk with someone (two-sided communication).
You normally:
- разговаривать по телефону – to talk on the phone (with someone)
- разговаривать с другом – to talk with a friend
But when you mean simply directing your voice into a device, you use говорить:
- говорить в микрофон – correct
- разговаривать в микрофон – odd, because a microphone is not your conversation partner.
For future:
Ongoing / process (imperfective future):
- Я буду говорить в микрофон.
- I will be speaking into the microphone / I will speak (for some time) into the microphone.
Single completed act (perfective future):
- Я скажу это в микрофон.
- I will say this into the microphone (once, as a complete act).
For past:
Process / repeated (imperfective past):
- Я говорил в микрофон. – I was speaking / I used to speak into the microphone.
- Я говорила в микрофон. – same, but feminine speaker.
Single completed act (perfective past):
- Я сказал это в микрофон. – I said this into the microphone (once, finished).
- Я сказала это в микрофон. – same, feminine.
Pronunciation with main points:
- Я – [ja], like ya in yard.
- говорю – [gəvɐˈrʲu]
- Stress on the last syllable: говорЮ
- Unstressed о sounds like a / ə: гаварЮ roughly.
- в микрофон – [f mʲɪkrɐˈfon] in fast speech
- The в at the end of говорю is often devoiced to [f] before м: it sounds like гоаварЮ ф микрафОн.
- микрофон – stress on the last syllable: микрофОН.
Slow careful pronunciation:
[ja gəvɐˈrʲu v mʲɪkrɐˈfon]
Natural fast speech:
[ja gəvɐˈrʲu f mʲɪkrɐˈfon].