Learn Russian: Он часто опаздывает.

Он часто опаздывает.

He is often late.

Breakdown of Он часто опаздывает.

он

he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)

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Questions & Answers about Он часто опаздывает.

Why does the Russian sentence not have a word for "is"?

In English, "late" is an adjective, so we use the verb "to be" (He is late). In Russian, опаздывать is an action verb meaning "to be late." So, опаздывает does the job of both words. You do not need a separate word for "is."

Since we are learning the past tense, how would I say "He was often late"?

You would change the verb to the past tense. Опаздывать is a regular verb. Just drop the -ть from the dictionary form and add -л for a masculine subject (он). The sentence becomes: Он часто опаздывал.

The word опаздывает looks long! What are we actually adding to the base word here?

The base dictionary form is опаздывать (to be late). To say "he is late", you drop the -ть and add -ет. The -ет ending is the standard present-tense ending for "he", "she", or "it" for most regular verbs.

Could I put часто at the end of the sentence, like Он опаздывает часто?

Yes, Russian word order is flexible. However, placing adverbs like часто (often) right before the verb is the most natural and common order, just like in the English phrase "He often arrives late."