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Verbal Accent Patterns
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Verbal Accent in Russian
There are two basic types of accent in Standard
Contemporary Russian (for nouns and adjectives as well as verbs): (1) fixed
and (2) variable. If the accent falls on the same syllable of every form in
a conjugation, it is fixed. Fixed accent may be fall on the same syllable of
the stem or on the ending. If the position of the accent is not the same
throughout the conjugation, it is said to be 'variable', and shifts between
the first syllable of the ending and the last syllable of the stem.
Imvariable Accent
Stem Accent
Many verbs in Russian exhibit accent on one syllable of the
stem where it remains no matter which ending is attached to the verb:
present-future, past, imperative, infinitive. The following table
illustrates the fixed accent pattern in the first and second conjugations
with делай- 'do, make' and остави- 'leave (something)'. The
accented syllable is indicated in the table below by boldface type.
| делай- |
'do, make' |
остави- |
'leave (something)' |
делаю
делаешь
делает
делаем
делаете
делают |
'I do'
'you do'
's/he does'
'we do'
'yall
do'
'they do' |
оставлю
оставишь
оставит
оставим
оставите
оставят |
'I leave'
'you leave'
's/he leaves'
'we
leave'
'
yall
leave'
'they leave' |
| делать |
'to do, make' |
оставить |
'to leave' |
| делал |
'was doing' |
оставил |
'left' |
| Делай! |
'Do (it)! |
Оставь! |
'Leave (it)!' |
| cделан |
'done' |
оставлен |
'left' |
Click any of the highlighted words and hear how each of the
forms in the conjugation are pronounced. Pay particular attention to the
loudest syllable: that is the accented one.
Ending Accent
The accent of other verbs is fixed on the ending throughout
the conjugation, so that regardless of the form, the first (or only)
syllable of the ending is always accented. Among the Conjugation I verbs,
вёд- "take, lead" is such a verb and among those of Conjugation II
прости- "forgive" is a good example.
| вёд- |
"lead, take" |
прости- |
"forgive" |
веду
ведёшь
ведёт
ведём
ведёте
ведут |
"I lead"
"you lead"
"s/he leads"
"we
lead"
"youse
lead"
"they lead" |
прощу
простишь
простит
простим
простите
простят |
"I forgive"
"you forgive"
"s/he
forgives"
"we forgive"
"youse
forgive"
"they forgive" |
| вести |
"to lead" |
простить |
"to forgive" |
| Веди! |
"Lead!" |
Прости! |
"Forgive (me)!" |
вёл
вела |
"he led"
"she led" |
простил
простила |
"he forgave"
"she forgave" |
проведён
проведена |
"conducted" |
прощён
прощена |
"forgiven" |
Again, you may click any of the highlighted words above for
their pronunciation. As a rule of thumb, strong consonant stems have end
accent while stems on й tend to have stem accent.
Movable Accent
Variable accent is found most frequently among vowel stems.
It falls on the suffix in (1) 1st person singular, (2) the infinitive, (3)
the imperative, (4) the past tense (on the vowel preceding л), and
moves one syllable back onto the stem in the other present-futute tense
forms and in the past passive participle.
| мог-
"may, can" |
люби-
"love" |
| могу |
можем |
люблю |
любим |
| можешь |
можете |
любишь |
любите |
| может |
могут |
любит |
любят |
By now you should have a firm lock on the (as usual) very
simple principle of Russian verbal accent. Let's see just how well we have
mastered it.
Practice Your Russian Accent
In the blank spaces below, write in the vowel--just the
vowel--that receives the accent in the full verbal forms listed on the left.
The stems on the far left provide you with the information as to whether the
stem has fixed or variable accent. Green
indicates the position of fixed accent. (If the final consonant is yellow,
the stem is end accented.) Blue indicates
the position of variable accent in the infinitive and past tense.
When you've typed in your vowel, push the magic button to
prove you picked the right one. If there's anything you don't understand
(e.g. how the magic button works), click Professor Beard's name at the end
of this page and ask him about what's puzzling you.
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