Suffixes

Verbal suffixes sit between the root and the infinitive ending. They do four things: they sort verbs into conjugation classes (which sub-pattern of endings the verb takes), they shift aspect (-ну- typically makes perfective, -ива- typically makes imperfective), they derive verbs from nouns or adjectives (нервировать from нервы), and they encode iterative or semelfactive nuances of how an action is packaged in time.

Compared to prefixes, suffixes are subtle. Many learners conjugate a -овать verb for months before realising why the present is рисую not рисоваю. The chapter walks through the five suffix groups that account for the bulk of everyday Russian verbs.

When a perfective verb is built from a simple imperfective by adding a prefix (писать → переписать), Russian needs a way to "re-imperfectivise" the result so the prefix's meaning sticks. The standard tool is the suffix -ива- or its allomorph -ыва-, inserted before the infinitive ending: переписать → переписывать.

The spelling rule between -ива- and -ыва- follows the standard Russian convention: after a husher (ж, ч, ш, щ) or a velar (г, к, х), write -ива-; elsewhere write -ыва-. In modern speech they sound nearly identical, so the choice is purely orthographic.

The suffix -ова- (or its soft variant -ева-) produces a whole class of regular 1st-conjugation verbs. Roughly half of all Russian verbs derived from foreign roots use this suffix: организовать, контактировать, регулировать, рекламировать.

The defining feature: in the present tense, -ова-/-ева- swaps to -у-/-ю- before all endings. So рисовать → рисую, рисуешь, рисует, рисуем, рисуете, рисуют; танцевать → танцую, танцуешь, …. The full -ова- is restored in the past (рисовал, рисовала) and in the infinitive.

A smaller but high-frequency group of imperfectives uses -ва- (or its variants) to mark the imperfective half of a pair. The key examples: давать / дать (give), вставать / встать (get up), узнавать / узнать (find out), продавать / продать (sell).

In the present tense, -ва- typically drops, leaving the bare root with regular endings: давать → даю, даёшь, даёт, даём, даёте, дают. The infinitive and past keep -ва-. This drop-pattern is a Russian peculiarity that doesn't fit the -ить / -ать / -еть templates.

Several suffixes specialise in deriving new verbs from nouns or adjectives, giving them a "behave like X" or "do the X-ing" reading. The most productive of these:

The -е- / -и- contrast is productive: чёрный (black) givesчернеть (to become black) and чернить (to blacken). The same pattern produces dozens of inchoative/causative pairs.