Verb reference
говорить / сказать
to speak, to say / tell
Aspect contrast
Imperfective present vs perfective future
| Pronoun | Imp. (Pres.) | Perf. (Fut.) |
|---|---|---|
| Я | говорю |
скажуBuild |
| Ты | говоришь |
скажешь |
| Он / Она | говорит |
скажет |
| Мы | говорим |
скажем |
| Вы | говорите |
скажете |
| Они | говорят |
скажут |
Build view is available for selected forms in this section. Rows marked Build open the validated build view below.
Build view
Build view available for selected forms
1 form in this section currently have validated build explanations. Rows marked Build open below; the rest stay reference-only for now.
Я -> скажу
This perfective future form uses a lexically selected stem and then a real spelling rewrite before the final surface form appears.
This form needs both a selected stem and a later spelling rewrite. Treat those as separate steps.
This sample treats говорить / сказать as a lexical aspect pair, so it uses the selected stem скаж- rather than trying to derive the form mechanically from сказа-.
This is the stem carried into the form after the selection step.
Attach the personal ending selected by the rule pattern.
After ж, Russian writes у instead of ю in this first-person ending pattern, so the selected stem скаж- plus -ю surfaces as скажу.
This is the final form the learner sees and types.
Selected stem -> скаж- + -ю+ Rewrite -ю -> -у-> скажу