Take the infinitive, remove -ть, and add -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter) or -ли (plural). It works for almost every verb, and it doesn’t matter whether the verb is pattern 1 or pattern 2.
1. The rule, on any verb
Pick a verb. Watch the infinitive lose its -ть and gain the four past-tense endings. The verbs you met in the present tense guide, even the tricky ones, all behave here.
2. I, you and gender
With я (I) and ты (you), the ending depends on who you actually are. A man and a woman say the same sentence differently. Вы (polite or plural “you”) always takes -ли, even when talking to one person.
| Person | Said by / about a man | Said by / about a woman |
|---|---|---|
| яI | ||
| тыyou (informal) | ||
| он / она́he / she | ||
| выyou (polite or plural) | ||
| мы · они́we · they |
3. Verbs ending in -ся
Reflexive verbs end in -ся (meaning roughly “oneself”). Form the past as usual, then put -ся back on the end. After a vowel it shortens to -сь.
From учи́ться (u-CHEET’-sa), “to study”. The -ся / -сь is just glued on after the normal past ending.
4. The few irregular pasts
A small group of verbs don’t end in -ть, or lose the -л in the masculine. Here are the ones you’ll use most. Notice the masculine form is the odd one out; the others follow the rule.
| Verb | он | она́ | оно́ | они́ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| идти́it-TEE · to go (on foot) | ||||
| A completely different stem: ш-. Also пришёл (arrived), ушёл (left). | ||||
| естьyest’ · to eat | ||||
| Regular-looking, but from the irregular verb есть. | ||||
| мочьmoch · can, to be able | ||||
| No -л in the masculine: мог. | ||||
| нести́nis-TEE · to carry | ||||
| Verbs in -ти often drop -л in the masculine. | ||||
| умере́тьu-mi-RYET’ · to die | ||||
| Loses -е- and -л in the masculine. | ||||
5. Stress on the feminine ending
In a group of short, common verbs, the stress jumps onto the feminine ending -ла́. Spelling doesn’t change, only pronunciation, so listen to each pair.
6. “Was”, “there was” and “had”
In the present, Russian drops “is”. In the past, it comes back as быть (to be): был, была́, бы́ло, бы́ли. It matches the subject, which can surprise you in “had” sentences, where the thing you had is the subject.
7. Aspect in the past: was doing or did
Every past verb is either imperfective (a process, habit or attempt) or perfective (one finished result). Compare each pair.
8. “Used to” and past habits
Russian has no special “used to” form. Use the imperfective past with a time word like ра́ньше (before) or обы́чно (usually).
9. “Went”: four different verbs
The past of motion verbs shows whether you came back. ходи́л / е́здил: went and returned. пошёл / пое́хал: set off.
10. Past form, present or future meaning
A few perfective past forms (the “completed result” verbs) are used in speech for things that are about to happen or are happening now. The past form presents the action as already decided, which makes it sound urgent or certain.
11. Put it in the past
Look at who did it, then choose the ending.