Russian course
Basic Russian for beginners
Lesson 13:
I will be reading the novel, but I won't finish reading it
In this lesson you will learn:
- the future tense in Russian
- the future of imperfective and perfective verbs
Useful phrase in Russian
Listen and repeat the following sentence:
Я бу́ду чита́ть рома́н, но не прочита́ю его́
ya bú-du chi-tát' ro-mán, no nye pra-chi-tá-yu ye-vó
I will be reading the novel, but I will not finish reading it
The verbal aspect and the future of Russian verbs: In lesson 11 you have seen the verbal aspect, that is, you have learnt the imperfective and perfective verbs. Now we are going to see how to form the future of these verbs.
During the lesson you will see the concept of "finished action" (=perfective) and "action in progress" (=imperfective).
Russian vocabulary
Read, listen and repeat the basic vocabulary of this lesson:
English
Russian
guest / guests
гость / го́сти
by the way
кста́ти
afterwards
пото́м
again
сно́ва
ok, alright
ла́дно
tomorrow, see you tomorrow
за́втра, до за́втра
Sunday
воскресе́нье
homework
дома́шнее зада́ние
exercise
упражне́ние
quickly, fast
бы́стро
birthday
день рожде́ния
party
вечери́нка
soup, meat, dessert
суп, мя́со, десе́рт
yummy, tasty, delicious
вкусно
Russian verbs that you will see in this lesson
These are the new verbs that you will learn in the dialogues.
English
Russian (imperfective verb / perfective verb)
to have lunch
обе́дать / пообе́дать
to call, to phone
звони́ть / позвони́ть
to work
рабо́тать (imperfective)
Dialogues in Russian
With extra help for verbs!
Now you are going to see three dialogues with perfective and imperfective verbs in the future tense. In the grammar section (after these dialogues) you will learn more about these Russian verbs.
We are going to help you:
- Perfective verbs in the future tense will be highlighted
- Imperfective verbs in the future tense will be highlighted
Dialogue 1
English
Russian
Маsha, today I'm not going to work. And you? Do you work today?
Ма́ша, сего́дня я не бу́ду рабо́тать. А ты? Ты рабо́таешь сего́дня?
I don't work either. I'll be home. And what will you do?
Я то́же не рабо́таю. Я бу́ду до́ма. А что ты бу́дешь де́лать?
I'll be cooking all morning because I'm going to have guests. By the way, Michael is going to help me!
Я бу́ду гото́вить всё у́тро, потому́ что у меня́ бу́дут го́сти. Кста́ти, Майкл бу́дет помога́ть мне!
What a good boy! And in the evening? What are you going to do?
Како́й он молоде́ц! А ве́чером? Что вы бу́дете де́лать?
Nothing. I think that we will watch tv. And you?
Ничего́. Я ду́маю, что мы бу́дем смотре́ть телеви́зор. А ты?
Today I'll be reading a novel all morning. Afterwards I'll have lunch and again, I'll read the novel.
Сего́дня я бу́ду чита́ть рома́н всё у́тро. Пото́м пообе́даю и сно́ва бу́ду чита́ть рома́н.
Will you finish reading the novel today? If so, call me and we'll think what we're going to do in the evening.
Ты прочи́таешь рома́н сего́дня? Е́сли да, то позвони́ мне и поду́маем, что мы бу́дем де́лать ве́чером.
Alright, I'm going to finish reading the novel and I'll call you.
Ла́дно, я прочита́ю рома́н и позвоню́ тебе́.
Dialogue 2
English
Russian
Tomorrow is Sunday. What are you going to do?
За́втра воскресе́нье. Что ты бу́дешь де́лать?
Tomorrow I'm going to do my homework.
За́втра я бу́ду де́лать дома́шнее зада́ние.
Will you be doing your homework all Sunday??
Ты бу́дешь де́лать дома́шнее зада́ние всё воскресе́нье?
Of course not. Today in the evening I'm going to read the text, and tomorrow in the morning I'll do the exercise.
Коне́чно нет. Сего́дня ве́чером я прочита́ю текст, а за́втра у́тром я бу́ду де́лать упражне́ние.
I think that I'll do everything today. tomorrow I'm going to be resting all day long.
Я ду́маю, что я всё сде́лаю сего́дня. За́втра я бу́ду отдыха́ть весь день.
Well done! You always do your homework fast.
Молоде́ц! Ты всегда́ де́лаешь дома́шнее зада́ние бы́стро.
I have an idea! I'm going to do your homework and afterwards we'll rest together.
У меня́ иде́я! Я сде́лаю твоё упражне́ние и пото́м мы бу́дем отдыха́ть вме́сте.
No. I'm going to do everything myself.
Нет. Я всё сде́лаю сама́.
Alright. Will you call me tomorrow evening? I'll be watching television.
Ла́дно. Ты позвони́шь мне за́втра ве́чером? Я бу́ду смотре́ть телеви́зор.
Yes, I'll call. See you tomorrow.
Да, позвоню́. До за́втра.
Dialogue 3
English
Russian
Michael, tomorrow is your birthday. We're going to be cooking all morning because... we will have a small party!
Майкл, за́втра твой день рожде́ния. Мы бу́дем гото́вить всё у́тро, потому́ что... у нас бу́дет ма́ленькая вечери́нка!
Wow, thanks Lena! I'm going to help!
О, спаси́бо, Ле́на! Я бу́ду помога́ть!
Good, then you will make the soup and I will cook the meat and make the dessert. Everything is going to be very yummy.
Хорошо́, тогда́ ты пригото́вишь суп, а я пригото́влю мя́со и сде́лаю десе́рт. Всё бу́дет о́чень вку́сно.
And what will we do in the evening? Are we going to watch tv at home?
А что мы бу́дем де́лать ве́чером? Мы бу́дем смотре́ть телеви́зор до́ма?
No, better we're going to watch a movie at the cinema, ok?
Нет, лу́чше мы посмо́трим фильм в кино́. Ла́дно?
Good idea.
Хоро́шая иде́я.
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Russian grammar
Read the following grammar explanations for this lesson:
The future tense in Russian
Step 1: The future of the very "to be" (быть)
As you have seen in lesson 11 for each English verb, in Russian exist two verbs: a perfective and an imperfective one. Now we will see how to form their future tense.
We will start with the future of the verb "to be" (бить).
The verb быть is used as an auxiliary verb in order to form the future. It has a similar function as "will" in English.
Russian
Я бу́ду
Ты бу́дешь
Он / она́ бу́дет
Мы бу́дем
Вы бýдете
Они́ бу́дут
English
I will be
You will be
He / she will be
We will be
You will be
They will be
Step 2: How to form the future tense in Russian
In lesson 11 you have seen that the past tense in Russian is formed the same way for both imperfective and perfective verbs. In the case of the future tense, we have these two ways.
This is the way to form the future tense in Russian of imperfective verbs:
- Verb быть conjugated in the future tense + infinitive of the imperfective verb
As you will see below, this is similar to the way to form the future tense in English.
This is the way to form the future tense in Russian of perfective verbs:
- stem of the perfective verb + endings of the present tense
as you will see below, this future looks like the present tense of imperfective verbs. It is important not to mix both tenses.
We can now see an example with the verb "to read". Pay attention: for the verb "to read" there are two Russian verbs:
чита́ть (imperfective) and прочита́ть (perfective). We will see below how to form the the future tense for each verb:
чита́ть = to read
imperfective
Я бу́ду чи́тать = I will read / I'm going to read
Ты бу́дешь чи́тать = You will read / You're going to read
Он/Она́ будет чи́тать = He / she will read / He's going to read
Мы бу́дем чи́тать = We will read / We're going to read
Вы бу́дете чи́тать = You will read / You're going to read
Они́ бу́дут чи́тать = They will read /They're going to read
прочитать = to read
perfective
Я прочита́ю = I will read / I'm going to read
Ты прочита́ешь = You will read / You're going to read
Он/Она́ прочита́ет = He / she will read / He's going to read
Мы прочита́ем = We will read / We're going to read
Вы прочита́ете = You will read / You're going to read
Они́ прочита́ют = They will read /They're going to read
The perfective verbs do not exist in the present tense.
This concept might be difficult to grasp, but it is important to understand it.
In English we can use the construction "finish + verb + -ing" in the present, but with a future meaning:
- Today I finish reading the book - In 5 minutes I finish cooking - Tomorrow I finish painting
Something similar happens with the perfective verbs in Russian:
You already know that perfective verbs convey the idea of "finished action". The future of these verbs are formed by adding the endings of the present, but they have a future meaning.
In other words: The verbs that form the future with the endings of the present (that is, the perfective verbs) don't have any "present tense". They can only be used to express past or future.
Step 3: Examples of Russian verbs in the future tense
Have a look at these examples to understand better the use of imperfective and perfective Russian verbs in the future.
Russian verbs give more information that English verbs. That's why below you will see three columns:
- a sentence in Russian
- the English translation
- a longer translation where you can see the extra information given by the Russian verb.
Russian
За́втра я бу́ду гото́вить суп / гото́вить (imperfective): to cook
За́втра я пригото́влю суп / пригото́вить (perfective): to cook
English translation
"Tomorrow I'm going to cook soup" or "Tomorrow I'll cook soup"
"Tomorrow I'm going to cook soup" or "Tomorrow I'll cook soup"
Implied information
Tomorrow I will be cooking soup. I don't know if I will complete the task.
Tomorrow I will make soup. I will complete the task.
Ива́н бу́дет чита́ть рома́н / чита́ть (imperfective): to read
Ива́н прочита́ет рома́н / прочита́ть (perfective): to read
"Ivan is going to read a novel" or "Ivan will read a novel"
"Ivan is going to read a novel" or "Ivan will read a novel"
Ivan will be performing the action of reading a novel, but doesn't tell if he'll finish it or not.
Ivan is going to read the novel until the end.
Сего́дня мы бу́дем де́лать всё / де́лать (imperfective): to do
Сего́дня мы всё сде́лаем / сде́лать (perfective): to do
"Today we're going to do everything" or "Today we'll do everything"
"Today we're going to do everything" or "Today we'll do everything"
Today we are going to perform the action of doing everything, but we don't say if we'll finish or not.
Today we will do everything until we complete the task.
Did you notice? When you read the English translation (that is, the second column in the examples above) you can't tell if the Russian sentence used a perfective or an imperfective verb. In real situations you won't see a sentence alone: you will see a whole context to help you know if the action finished or not.
But as you can see, Russian verbs give more information that English verbs.
Test
Check how much you have learnt in this lesson:
