Breakdown of Он всегда здоровается.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
всегда
always
здороваться
to greet, say hello
Questions & Answers about Он всегда здоровается.
Why does здоровается end in -ся and not -сь?
For reflexive verbs in the present tense, the rule is to add -ся after consonants and -сь after vowels. The regular present-tense form for 'he' would be здоровает. Because this ends in the consonant т, we must attach -ся to make it здоровается.
Is he saying hello to himself? I thought the reflexive ending meant doing an action to yourself.
Not in this case! While the reflexive ending often means doing something to yourself (like washing or dressing), it can also show reciprocal action, meaning doing something with someone else. Здороваться implies exchanging greetings with another person, so it naturally takes the reflexive ending.
How do you pronounce the -тся ending in this word?
Whenever a Russian verb ends in -тся or -ться, those letters combine to make a hard 'tsa' sound, exactly like the Russian letter ц. You should pronounce the end of this word as 'zdorovaye-tsa', completely dropping the 't' and 's' sounds.
What is the dictionary form of this verb?
The infinitive (dictionary form) is здороваться (to greet / to say hello). You might notice it looks a lot like the word for health, здоровье. When you say hello in Russian, you are essentially wishing someone good health!
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