Learn Hardcore Russian: Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки.

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки. – I try / I make an effort not to miss classes.
This implies you care and put in steady effort, even if you’re not always successful.

Compared with:

Пытаться – to attempt, to try (and maybe fail), often about a specific attempt, not necessarily steady effort.

So:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки. – I generally try hard not to miss them.
Я пытаюсь не пропускать уроки. – I’m trying (making attempts) not to miss them; can sound a bit more like you’re struggling with it.

Why does стараюсь end in -сь? What does that mean?

The -сь (or -ся) ending marks a reflexive verb.

Infinitive: стараться
1st person singular: я стараюсь

Here it does not mean “myself” in a literal sense (like I wash myself). In many verbs, the reflexive ending just changes the meaning slightly; стараться is simply “to try / to make an effort” and is always reflexive. There is no non‑reflexive старать in modern Russian.

So you just learn it as a reflexive verb whose normal 1st‑person form is я стараюсь.

Why is не пропускать in the infinitive and not a conjugated form like не пропускаю?

In Russian, many verbs of “trying,” “wanting,” “planning,” etc. are followed by an infinitive, not a finite verb.

Pattern:
Я стараюсь + infinitive = I try to …

So:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки. – I try not to miss classes.

If you said:

Я не пропускаю уроки. – I don’t miss classes.

That is a simple statement of fact or habit, without the idea of effort. The infinitive after стараюсь is what expresses the goal of your effort.

Why is it пропускать and not пропустить?

This is the aspect difference: пропускать (imperfective) vs пропустить (perfective).

пропускать – to miss regularly, habitually, in general; to be in the process of missing.
пропустить – to miss once, a single completed action.

Here, you are talking about your general habit:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки. – I try not to miss classes (in general, as a rule).

If you changed it:

Я стараюсь не пропустить урок. – I’m trying not to miss (this/one) lesson.

Now it’s about one specific upcoming lesson (or event), not your general policy.

Could I move не and say Я стараюсь уроки не пропускать? Is that different?

Yes, that word order is possible:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки.
Я стараюсь уроки не пропускать.

Both are correct and close in meaning. The default, neutral word order is the first one; moving уроки before не пропускать gives a slight emphasis on уроки, as if contrasting them with something else (e.g., I try not to miss classes as opposed to some other activity).

But in isolation, both can usually be translated the same way, and the difference is subtle.

Why is it уроки and not уроков after the negation не?

Russian negation can use the genitive (called “genitive of negation”), but it’s not automatic.

Accusative plural of урок: уроки
Genitive plural: уроков

With не пропускать, the normal, neutral form is accusative:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки.

Using genitive:

Я стараюсь не пропускать уроков.

…is possible, but sounds more abstract or quantitative (like I try not to skip lessons (in terms of number, not to have any skipped ones)). In everyday speech, уроки is much more natural here. Verbs that directly take objects (like read a book, miss a lesson) usually keep the accusative under negation unless you want some special nuance.

What exactly does уроки mean here? Classes, lessons, or homework?

Уроки is plural of урок and can mean:

Classes / lessons – scheduled periods at school or a course.
- In this sentence, this is the most natural meaning: I try not to miss (school) classes.
Homework / assignments – in colloquial school context:
- Я делаю уроки. – I’m doing my homework.

In your sentence Я стараюсь не пропускать уроки, the default interpretation is lessons / classes, not homework.

How would I say I don’t miss classes without the idea of “trying”?

Use a present‑tense verb, not стараюсь:

Я не пропускаю уроки. – I don’t miss classes.

This sounds like a statement of fact or a strong habit: you simply don’t miss them, rather than emphasizing effort.

Can I use пытаюсь instead of стараюсь? What’s the difference in this sentence?

You can say:

Я пытаюсь не пропускать уроки.

It is grammatically correct. The nuance:

стараюсь – steadier, more “responsible” effort, trying to behave well / correctly.
пытаюсь – you are trying, but it may sound more like you often fail or struggle.

So if you want to sound like a conscientious student, стараюсь is the more typical choice.

How do you conjugate стараться in the present?

Стараться – present tense:

я стараюсь – I try
ты стараешься – you (sg, informal) try
он / она / оно старается – he / she / it tries
мы стараемся – we try
вы стараетесь – you (pl / formal) try
они стараются – they try

The stress is always on -ра-: стара́юсь, стара́ешься, стара́ются.

How do you conjugate пропускать in the present?

Пропускать – present tense:

я пропускаю – I miss / skip
ты пропускаешь – you (sg, informal) miss
он / она / оно пропускает – he / she / it misses
мы пропускаем – we miss
вы пропускаете – you (pl / formal) miss
они пропускают – they miss

In your sentence it’s in the infinitive: пропускать (to miss).

How do you pronounce стараюсь and пропускать? Where is the stress?

стараюсь – стара́юсь
- Stress on ра. Approximate: sta-RA-yus’.
пропускать – пропуска́ть
- Stress on the last syllable -ка́ть. Approximate: pra-pus-KAT’ (with o often closer to a in unstressed positions).

Is не written separately from пропускать? Could it ever be one word?

Here it is always separate:

не пропускать – not to miss.

With most verbs, не is a separate word. It is only written together (as one word) with certain fixed verbs (like ненавидеть – to hate, недооценивать – to underestimate), which you just learn individually. Пропускать is not one of them, so you always write не пропускать.

How would I say I try to attend all my classes instead of not to miss?

Several options:

Я стараюсь посещать все уроки. – I try to attend all the lessons.
Я стараюсь ходить на все уроки. – I try to go to all the lessons.

Посещать and ходить на both work well for the idea of attending regularly.

What is the perfective partner of пропускать, and how would it be used?

The perfective partner is пропустить.

Imperfective пропускать – process / habit / repeated action.
- Он часто пропускает уроки. – He often misses classes.
Perfective пропустить – a single completed act.
- Он пропустил урок. – He missed a (one) lesson.

In a sentence like yours, if you focus on not missing one particular lesson, you would say:

Я стараюсь не пропустить этот урок. – I’m trying not to miss this lesson.