The Verbs of Position

Have you ever had trouble with the verbs lie and lay or sit and set in English? The position of an object, the position which it assumes (moves to) and the position it currently occupies are distinguished in many languages by a set of verbs which differ in form. Russian is no exception. The table below show the relation between the transitive and intransitive verbs of position in Russian.

The transitive verbs are verbs of motion which indicate the position in which the direct object is placed. The intransitive verbs distinguish between verbs of motion, which indicate the position that the subject assumes, and the regular verbs, which indicate the position which the subject currently occupies.

Keep in mind that these verbs strictly mean "come to be in X position" where 'X' can be "sitting", "lying", "standing" or "hanging".

• Although сади-ся|сяд- is glossed above as "sit down", if someone is lying down to begin with, Он вдруг сел means "He suddently sat up."

• Another point: вста(ва)й-|встан- means "come to be in a standing position"" only if the previous position is lying or sitting. If someone move from a standing position in one place to another standing position elsewhere, Russians use the verb станови-ся|стан-, e.g. Он стал в очередь "He got in line".

The following examples combine regular usage of the verbs of position with idiomatic usage. Practice them until you get the "feel" of them.