Questions & Answers about Я хочу поесть.
Since this lesson is about the past tense, how would I change this sentence to say 'I wanted to eat'?
To make it past tense, you only change the main verb, which is the present-tense хочу (want). The past tense of хотеть (to want) is formed regularly! Just drop the -ть from the infinitive and add -л for a male speaker (Я хотел поесть) or -ла for a female speaker (Я хотела поесть). The second verb (поесть) stays exactly the same.
Wait, is хочу (want) a regular verb? It looks very different from its infinitive.
In the present tense, хотеть (to want) is actually highly irregular, which is why it becomes хочу for 'I want'. However, as you are learning in this lesson, its past tense is completely regular, making it very easy to change into the past tense.
Why is the second verb поесть in its dictionary form (infinitive) instead of being conjugated?
Just like in English ('I want to eat'), when you have two verbs linked together like this, only the first verb is changed to match the subject (Я хочу). The second verb stays in its infinitive form, which in Russian usually ends in -ть.
I previously learned the word есть for 'to eat'. Why is it поесть in this sentence?
Есть and поесть both mean 'to eat'. Russian has pairs of verbs for the same action. Есть is used for the general, ongoing process of eating, while поесть often means 'to have a meal' or to successfully complete the action of eating. When saying 'I want to eat' because you are hungry right now, Russian speakers naturally prefer поесть.
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