| Учиться – всегда пригодится. It never hurts to learn. [saying] [lit. Learning always proves to be useful.] |
| Учиться никогда не поздно. It’s never too late to learn. [saying] |
| Век живи, век учись. Live and learn. [saying] [lit. Live a century, learn for a century.] |
Russian has a wide variety of verbs and related words used when referring to learning, teaching and studying.
For that reason, in this post we’ll be exploring such verbs.
This is not an exhaustive reference, but it should nevertheless prove useful to those confused by these verbs.
| учить что? [to learn; to study; to cram; to memorize] |
| учу | учим |
| учишь | учите |
| учит | учат |
| this verb deals with memorizing words and phrases it’s always used with an object! That means you cannot say |
| The perfective aspect of учить in this sense is выучить. |
| Я учу русские глаголы. I’m learning Russian verbs. | Я выучил русские глаголы. I learned [or: memorized] Russian verbs. |
| Он учит новые слова. He’s learning new words. | Он выучил новые слова. He learned [or: memorized] new words. |
| Дети учат стихотворения наизусть. The children are learning the poems by heart. | Дети выучили стихотворения наизусть. The children learned [or: memorized] the poems by heart. |
And it can mean to study. For example, if you see someone looking attentively at a textbook or a verb table or just any learning material, you can say:
| Что ты учишь? What are you studying? |
This verb can also mean to teach. Yes, it is an extremely versatile verb.
But when used in this sense, it must contain a direct object and an indirect object. And it’s the reverse. The person is the direct object, while the thing is the indirect object.
| учить кого? и чему? [to teach] |
| Я учу вас русскому языку. I teach you Russian. | Я научил вас русскому языку. I taught you Russian. |
Because you are using учить in the sense of teaching, not learning or studying, the perfective will be научить.
To describe to teach in the formal and traditional sense, the verb преподавать.
| преподаю | преподаём |
| преподаёшь | преподаёте |
| преподаёт | преподают |
| Владимир преподаёт географию в частном университете. Vladimir teaches geography at a private university. |
| учиться где? как? когда? [to study, to learn, to be a student] no object |
| учусь | учимся |
| учишься | учитесь |
| учится | учатся |
The reflexive учиться is like учить, but its usage is slightly more limited. This verb cannot take an object!
| Мне нравится учиться. I like to learn. |
| Я быстро учусь. I learn quickly. |
| Хватит учиться на данный момент. That’s enough learning for the moment. |
So, if you describe learning without an object, use the reflexive verb.
This verb can also be used to describe studying in school. Therefore, in addition to being a student, it can be translated as to attend.
| София учится в государственном университете в Нью-Йорке. Sofia studies at a public university in New York. |
| Мишка и Димка уже учатся в начальной школе. Mishka and Dimka are already attending elementary school. |
| Я больше не учусь. Работаю журналистом. I’m no longer a student. I work as a journalist. |
| Мы с ним учились в одной школе. He and I went to [or: attended] the same school. |
| Артур и Глеб учатся в одном университете. Artur and Gleb go to [or: attend] the same university. |
Observe this key usage:
| –В каком классе учит Вовочка? –В третьем классе. -What grade is Vovochka in? -Third grade. [primary and secondary schools] |
| –На каком курсе учит Зоя? –На первом. Она совсем недавно поступила в университет. What year is Zoya in? -First year. She entered the university very recently. [university studies] |
This verb is also used when expressing that you are learning to do something.
| Наша дочь учится играть на скрипке. Our daughter is learning to play the violin. | Наша дочь научилась играть на скрипке. Our daughter learned to play the violin. |
| Ты учишься плавать. You’re learning to swim. | Ты научился плавать. You learned to swim. |
Quite a bit to learn, right?
To express to study, in terms of studying something in great depth, such a one’s specialty of something you plan to obtain a deep knowledge in, use the verb изучать.
This is an easy verb to conjugate, it’s a basic first-conjugation verb, so there is no need for a table of its conjugation.
| изучать что? [to study] |
| В университете я изучаю иностранные языки. I study foreign languages at the university. |
| Что вы изучаете в школе? What do you study at school? |
It can also be used to mean to study, in the sense of carefully observing or inspecting something.
| Он изучает черты её лица. He studies [or: observes] her facial traits. |
| Она тщательно изучает экран телефона. She carefully inspects the phone screen. |
Everything making sense?
Before finishing off this lesson, let’s look at one more key verb.
| заниматься где? чем? [to study, to learn, to do one’s homework, to occupy oneself] |
This verb can mean to study in the traditional formal sense or even informally.
It’s also used with the instrumental case if an object is needed. When used with an object, it can mean not only to study, but also to commit oneself to either an activity or hobby.
The non-reflexive занимать has a completely different meaning, so don’t even think about that equivalent.
This is an easy verb to conjugate, it’s a basic first-conjugation verb, so there is no need for a table of its conjugation.
| Студенты занимаются в библиотеке каждый день. The students study in the library every day. |
| Когда ты занимаешься? When do you study? |
| Чтобы выучить любой язык, надо очень много заниматься. To learn any language, one must study a lot. |
| Я занимаюсь теннисом и лёгкой атлетике в свободное время. I do tennis and fitness in my free time. |
| Я занимаюсь русским языком уже более 10 [десяти] лет. I’ve been studying Russian for over 10 years already. |
What else do you need to know when referring to one’s studies?
What about studying for a test/an exam? In Russian it’s expressed:
| готовиться к экзамену [to study for a test] |
What about taking a test/an exam? In Russian it’s expressed:
| сдавать экзамен [to take a test] |
What about failing a test/an exam? In Russian it’s expressed:
| проваливать экзамен [to fail a test] |
What about graduating? In Russian it’s expressed:
| окончить учёбу [to graduate] |
Well, that is enough for this post.
Tips are supposed to be small, but you just can’t have a small post when tackling this subject matter.
My Slavic Studies 