Irregular present tense verbs

Some common Russian verbs have irregular present tense conjugations. Their stems might change unexpectedly, or they might add new letters. Once you know the new stem, they usually take standard endings.

The verb Жить (to live)

For the verb жить, the present tense stem adds a в (жив-) and takes standard first conjugation endings. Notice that the endings are stressed, so you use ё instead of е.

The verb Писать (to write)

For the verb писать, the с changes to ш in the present tense stem (пиш-). It takes standard first conjugation endings.

The verb Пить (to drink)

The verb пить has a short stem. In the present tense, it adds a soft sign (ь) before the endings. Because the endings are stressed, the е becomes ё.

Why and Because

To ask "why", use the question word почему. To answer with "because", use the phrase потому что.

The verb Хотеть (to want)

The verb хотеть mixes conjugations. In the singular forms, the stem changes to хоч- and takes first conjugation endings. In the plural forms, the stem stays хот- and takes second conjugation endings.

You will often pair хотеть with another verb in the infinitive (e.g., "want to do", "want to rest").

Немного (a little)

You can use the word немного to mean "a little" or "a little bit".