The future tense in Russian should be used when you talk about some actions that will happen after the moment of your speech. Today we will introduce you to some peculiarities about the correct use of the future tense.
Some words that will help you understand that you need to use the Future Tense: завтра (tomorrow), послезавтра (the day after tomorrow), потом (then), затем (then), после этого (after that).
Besides having three tenses, Russian verbs can be of two types:
The verb type will decide the form of the future tense.
In russian dictionaries in almost every verb list both verb types are shown. The imperfect form is usually shown first, for example: лечить (Imperfective) — вылечить (Perfective).
Future tense Imperfective verbs will be used in this situations:
Завтра я буду готовить ужин и смотреть новый фильм. — Tomorrow I will cook dinner and watch a new movie.
В это время я буду пролетать над Парижем. — At this time, I will be flying over Paris.
Летом мы будем каждый день ходить на пляж. — In the summer, we will go to the beach every day.
Future tense Perfective verbs will be used in this situations:
Я прочитаю эту книгу к следующему понедельнику. — I will have read this book by next Monday.
Я приготовлю ужин. — I’ll make dinner.
Remember: Perfective verbs in Russian have no present tense — only the future and the past.
You may have already noticed that sentences in the future tense are formed differently depending on the verb type. The future tense in Russian is represented by two forms: simple and compound.
This form is sometimes called the Imperfective Future.
It follows the next formula:
Verb “быть “(to be) in the necessary conjugation + infinitive of the Imperfective verb.
Conjugation of the verb “быть” in the Future tense:
.In the English language all these forms are equivalent to will.
.Let’s see how will the Imperfective Future perform in a sentence:
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This form of the Future tense is also called Perfective Future. It is formed by conjugating the infinitive of the perfect form. The endings of the Perfective verb of the Future tense are the same as those of the corresponding verb of the Imperfective form of the Present tense. First of all, this applies to Perfective verbs with a prefix.
Pares of Imperfective and Perfective verbs:
.
Let’s remember the endings of the I and II conjugations of the majority of verbs in the Russian language in the Present tense:
.
Person |
I conjugation |
II conjugation |
Я |
-ю/-у |
-ю/-у |
Ты |
-ешь/-ёшь |
-ишь |
Он/она/оно |
-ет/-ёт |
-ит |
Мы |
-ем/-ём |
-им |
Вы |
-ете/-ёте |
-ите |
Они |
-ют/-ут |
-ят/-ат |
.
Now let’s conjugate the verb “посмотреть” (to look) for a better understanding:
.
Congratulations! After reading this article you have taken another step in the understanding of the Russian language. It is not as complicated as it looks, if you give it enough practice. Good luck!
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