Welcome back to another verb-related post.
Today’s post will focus on yet another peculiarity with second-conjugation verbs. This peculiarity is called consonant alteration.
Consonant alteration [or: mutation] is a very frequent occurrence in verbs of this conjugation group.
What is a consonant alteration or mutation? To keep things brief, it’s when a consonant morphs into another for ease of pronunciation.
Instead of spending more time trying to explain it, let’s just look at some examples to give you a clearer image of how it looks.
| This consonant alteration only occurs in second-conjugation verbs! And in the я form only! |
Below you’ll see a table with the affected consonants.
| д | -> | ж |
| т | -> | ч |
| з | -> | ж |
| с | -> | ш |
| ст | -> | щ |
Let’s observe the conjugations of various verbs affected by these alterations.
| водить [to drive] |
| stem: вод– | ending: –ить |
| вожу | водим |
| водишь | водите |
| водит | водят |
| тратить [to spend] |
| stem: трат– | ending: –ить |
| трачу | тратим |
| тратишь | тратите |
| тратит | тратят |
| лазить [to spend] |
| stem: лаз– | ending: –ить |
| лажу | лазим |
| лазишь | лазите |
| лазит | лазят |
| носить [to wear] |
| stem: нос– | ending: –ить |
| ношу | носим |
| носишь | носите |
| носит | носят |
| простить* [to forgive] |
| stem: прост– | ending: –ить |
| прощу | простим |
| простишь | простите |
| простит | простят |
No post would be complete without some example sentences.
| Я плачу слишком много денег на продукты. I spend too much money on groceries. |
| Так как я живу в Нью-Йорке, редко вожу машину. Since I live in New York, I rarely drive a car. |
| Я не прощу их за эти оскорбления. I won’t forgive them for these insults. |
| Я лажу по зданиям просто ради удовольствия. I climb buildings just for the fun of it. |
| Я ношу лёгкую одежду в жаркую погоду. I wear light clothing in hot weather. |
Other verbs affected by these rules are:
| шутить [to joke], грустить [to be sad], блестеть [to shine], видеть [to see], сидеть [to sit], чистить [to clean], возить [to take], бродить** [to stroll], висеть [to hang], просить [to ask], спросить* [to ask], etc. |
| Я чищу зубы после еды. I brush my teeth after eating. |
| Я вижу, что ты опоздал на урок. I see that you’re late to class. |
| Я грущу, когда меня никто не замечает. I’m sad when nobody notices me. |
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And there you have it!
Personally, I’m getting tired of all these posts dedicated to second-conjugation verbs.
I hope this lesson proved to be useful to you.
My Slavic Studies 