Если я виноват, я стараюсь сразу извиниться.

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Breakdown of Если я виноват, я стараюсь сразу извиниться.

• если: if
• стараться: to try
• сразу: right away

Questions & Answers about Если я виноват, я стараюсь сразу извиниться.

Why is it виноват and not виновата?

Because виноват agrees with the speaker’s gender.

• A male speaker says я виноват.
• A female speaker says я виновата.

So the sentence as written sounds like it is being said by a man. If a woman were speaking, it would be:

Если я виновата, я стараюсь сразу извиниться.

Why is there no word for am in Если я виноват?

In Russian, the verb to be is usually omitted in the present tense.

So:

• Я виноват = I am at fault / I am guilty
• literally, Russian does not say я есть виноват in normal speech

But in other tenses, forms of быть do appear:

• Я был виноват = I was at fault
• Я буду виноват = I will be at fault

What kind of word is виноват here?