The General Nature of the Russian Verb
The <a href="http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/note01.html">Russian verb</a> is always composed of two parts:
1. A stem
2. Aconjugational ending.
Two basic types of stems and two types of endings determine the present-future form.
Neither stems nor endings occur alone, but always in conjunction with one another.
<a name="stem">The two</a> major types of verb stems are <a href="http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/note02.html">Consonant Stems and Vowel Stems.</a>
Consonant Stems are those verb stems that end on a consonant. There are two significant types:
1. “wimpy” consonant stems
2. “tough” consonant stems.
Wimpy consonant stems end on в н м or й.
</td> <td style="width: 166.5pt; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; mso-border-left-alt: .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: .75pt; mso-border-right-alt: .5pt; mso-border-color-alt: windowtext; mso-border-style-alt: solid; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; height: 99.85pt;" width="167"><a href="http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/note02a.html">жив-</a> "live"
стан- "become, begin"
плыв- "swim, float, sail"
делай- "do, make"
Tough consonant stems may end on any other consonant.
</td> <td style="width: 166.5pt; border-top: none; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: .5pt; mso-border-color-alt: windowtext; mso-border-style-alt: solid; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; height: 80.7pt;" width="167">ид- "go"
мог- "can, may"
нёс- "carry (on foot)"
грёб- "row"
Vowel Stems are those verb stems which end on a vowel. There are two significant types of these: front-vowel and back-vowel stems.
Front-vowel stems end on either и or е.
</td> <td style="width: 160.5pt; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; mso-border-left-alt: .75pt; mso-border-top-alt: .5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: .75pt; mso-border-right-alt: .5pt; mso-border-color-alt: windowtext; mso-border-style-alt: solid; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; height: 99.85pt;" width="161">смотре- "watch, look"
виде- "see"
говори- "talk, tell"
купи- "buy"
Back-vowel stems end on а, у, or о.
</td> <td style="width: 160.5pt; border-top: none; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-top-alt: .75pt; mso-border-left-alt: .75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: .5pt; mso-border-color-alt: windowtext; mso-border-style-alt: solid; padding: 0in 0in 0in 0in; height: 80.7pt;" width="161">жда- "wait-for"
писа- "write"
верну- "return"
коло- "stick, impale"
