How to Use the Verb "читать" (to read) in Present Tense

Let’s break this down into simple parts.

Noun Gender and Cases

• Noun Gender:

  • "книга" means book and is a feminine noun.
  • "журнал" means magazine and is a masculine noun.

• Cases:

  • Nominative: книга (the book)
  • Accusative: книгу (the book when it's the direct object)
  • Genitive: книги (of the book)

Basic Verb Conjugation

Here’s how to change the verb "читать" for different people:

• Я читаю (I read)
• Ты читаешь (You read)
• Он/Она читает (He/She reads)
• Мы читаем (We read)
• Вы читаете (You all read)
• Они читают (They read)

Articles

In Russian, there are no words like "the" or "a."

The meaning comes from the words around it.

Plural Nouns

• Singular: книга (book)
• Plural: книги (books)

Adjective-Noun Agreement

• For one book: хорошая книга (good book). Here, "хорошая" (good) matches "книга" (book) because they are both feminine and singular.

• For multiple books: хорошие книги (good books). Here, "хорошие" (good) changes to plural to go with "книги" (books).

Keep practicing these rules to get better at understanding Russian!