Questions & Answers about Я хочу сдать экзамен.
In Russian, an infinitive verb (сдать, идти, читать, etc.) can follow another verb directly without a word like to.
- хочу сдать literally is want pass (to pass).
- The infinitive ending -ть on сдать already shows that it is to pass, so no extra word is needed.
So Russian uses verb + infinitive:
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – I want to pass the exam.
- Я буду сдавать экзамен. – I will be taking the exam.
Экзамен here is in the accusative case as the direct object of сдать.
For inanimate masculine nouns like экзамен, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular:
- Nominative (dictionary form): экзамен
- Accusative: экзамен (same form)
If it were a feminine noun, you would usually see a change:
- Я хочу сдать контрольную. – I want to pass the test.
(контрольная → контрольную, feminine accusative)
The basic meaning of сдать экзамен is to pass an exam successfully, not just to sit it.
- Я сдал экзамен. – I passed the exam. (result is successful)
- Я не сдал экзамен. – I failed the exam. (literally I did not pass the exam)
However, in some contexts people casually use сдавать экзамен about the process of taking/sitting an exam, especially when they are in the middle of exam season:
- Сейчас я сдаю экзамены. – I’m taking exams right now.
So:
- сдать экзамен (perfective) – focus on the successful result.
- сдавать экзамен (imperfective) – focus on the process / attempt of taking exams, not necessarily the outcome.
This is the aspect difference in Russian:
- сдать – perfective aspect (completed, one-time result: to pass / to hand in).
- сдавать – imperfective aspect (repeated, ongoing, or process: to be taking exams, to be handing in).
In Я хочу сдать экзамен, the speaker is thinking about the result – they want to have passed it successfully at some point in the future. That’s why perfective сдать is used.
Compare:
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – I want to pass the exam (get a passing grade).
- Я буду сдавать экзамен завтра. – I will be sitting/taking the exam tomorrow (process of taking it, result unknown).
Russian does not say *буду сдать. The future of a perfective verb is formed simply by its conjugated form, without быть (буду):
- Я сдам экзамен. – I will pass the exam. (future, perfective)
When you use хотеть + infinitive, the infinitive already carries the idea of a future action if the context is future:
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – Literally I want to pass the exam, and the passing clearly refers to the future.
So:
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – I want to pass the exam (future meaning implied).
- Я сдам экзамен. – I will pass the exam.
No буду is needed with perfective сдать.
Native speakers will usually understand Я хочу сдать экзамен as I want to pass the exam, i.e. you care about the successful result.
If you want to emphasize that you want the opportunity to sit the exam (to be allowed to try), you might say:
- Я хочу пойти на экзамен. – I want to go to the exam.
- Я хочу иметь возможность сдавать этот экзамен. – I want to have the opportunity to take this exam.
Context can soften the pass vs take distinction, but by default сдать экзамен is about passing.
It depends on the verb and the role of экзамен:
As a direct object (what you pass):
- сдать экзамен – to pass an exam
- провалить экзамен – to fail an exam
No preposition is used; экзамен is in accusative as direct object.
As a destination / event you go to:
- идти на экзамен – to go to the exam
- записаться на экзамен – to sign up for the exam
Here на means to / for, indicating direction or event.
So:
- сдать экзамен (no на) – pass an exam.
- идти на экзамен – go to the exam.
Yes. In Russian, the subject pronoun (я, ты, он, etc.) is often omitted because the verb ending usually shows the person.
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – neutral, full form.
- Хочу сдать экзамен. – also correct; slightly more informal/colloquial and feels like I want to pass the exam said in passing or as a part of a longer thought.
Both are grammatical. In writing (especially formal), including я is more standard.
Хочу does not change with gender. It is just the 1st person singular of хотеть:
- Я хочу – I want (male or female, same form).
So:
- A man: Я хочу сдать экзамен.
- A woman: Я хочу сдать экзамен.
No change is needed.
Stress and approximate pronunciation:
- Я хочу – stress on the second syllable: хоЧУ
Pronounced roughly ya kha-CHU (with soft ч). - сдать – one syllable with a voiced з turning into зд cluster: zdatʲ (final ть is soft).
- экзамен – stress on the second syllable: эКЗАмен
Roughly e-kZÁ-men (more exactly ɪɡ-*ZA-min* in Russian phonetics).
Full sentence:
Я хоЧУ сдать эКЗАмен.
Spoken quickly, я хочу often sounds like ya khaCHÚ with the я and хо very light.
Я хочу сдать экзамен is neutral and perfectly fine in most contexts. It sounds straightforward: I want to pass the exam.
For a more polite/soft tone (e.g., to a teacher, administrator), Russians often use conditional forms like я бы хотел(а):
- A man: Я бы хотел сдать экзамен.
- A woman: Я бы хотела сдать экзамен.
This feels closer to I would like to pass/take the exam, which is more polite and less direct than I want.
Yes, Russian word order is more flexible than English, but changes in order add nuance.
- Я хочу сдать экзамен. – neutral, most common.
- Экзамен я хочу сдать. – puts extra emphasis on экзамен; something like
It’s the exam that I want to pass. (maybe in contrast to other things) - Сдать экзамен я хочу. – sounds a bit stylistic/expressive, like
Pass the exam – that’s what I want.
For everyday speech, stick to the neutral:
- Я хочу сдать экзамен.