First-Conjugation Present Tense

Level 1Sounds Like peršae spražénne

First-conjugation verbs use е in their endings: я чытаю, ты чытаеш, ён чытае, мы чытаем, вы чытаеце, яны чытаюць.

How It Works

Belarusian verbs fall into two groups, called conjugations, and each group has its own present-tense endings. This is the first one.

Two model verbs:

  • чытаць (to read): я чытаю, ты чытаеш, ён/яна чытае, мы чытаем, вы чытаеце, яны чытаюць
  • пісаць (to write): я пішу, ты пішаш, ён/яна піша, мы пішам, вы пішаце, яны пішуць

Why пісаць shows а instead of е. Ш is always hard, and an unstressed е after a hard consonant is written а (akanye). So піш-еш becomes пішаш. When the ending is stressed, it is written with э, or о in the мы form: браць → бярэш, бярэ, бяром. Each person page shows these spellings in detail.

No -ць in the ён/яна form. In this conjugation the third person singular ends in a vowel: ён чытае, яна піша, ён ідзе. The -ць belongs only to яны: яны чытаюць.

Which verbs are first conjugation? The surest test is the яны form: if it ends in -уць or -юць, the verb is first conjugation. Most verbs in -аць and -аваць belong here (ведаць, чакаць, працаваць), as do verbs in -ці and -чы (ісці, несці, пячы), short verbs like жыць, піць, мыць, and хацець. Verbs in -іць and -ыць usually belong to the second conjugation.

Some verbs change their stem, so learn the я and ты forms together: пісаць → пішу, пішаш; ісці → іду, ідзеш; працаваць → працую, працуеш.

Examples (6)

  1. Я чытаю кнігу.

    I am reading a book.

    чытаю: the я form ends in -ю after a vowel.

  2. Ты ведаеш, дзе пошта?

    Do you know where the post office is?

    ведаеш: the ты form ends in -еш.

  3. Яна піша ліст.

    She is writing a letter.

    піша: the ён/яна form ends in a vowel, with no -ць.

  4. Мы жывём у Мінску.

    We live in Minsk.

    жывём: the stressed мы ending is written -ём.

  5. Вы працуеце сёння?

    Are you working today?

    працуеце: -аваць verbs change to -у- in the present.

  6. Дзеці чытаюць казкі.

    The children are reading fairy tales.

    чытаюць: the яны ending -юць marks the first conjugation.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -ць to the ён/яна form.

    Ён чытаець.
    Ён чытае.

    In the first conjugation the ён/яна form ends in a vowel. Only the яны form has -ць: яны чытаюць.

  • Writing a soft sign after ш, as in Russian.

    Ты чытаешь.
    Ты чытаеш.

    Belarusian never writes ь after ш, because ш is always hard.

  • Using the Russian яны ending -ут.

    Яны пішут.
    Яны пішуць.

    The Belarusian яны form always ends in -ць: -уць or -юць in this conjugation.

How It Connects

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First-Conjugation Present TenseLevel 1

Learn This First

First conjugation starts from the infinitive.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

чытаць