inspiration

Ogham stone at Kilmalkedar, Co Kerry. The incised lines represent Ireland’s earliest form of writing. Dating from circa the 6th century AD, the stone bears this inscription ‘Mael-Inbher son of Broccan’

Verbs

Past Tense

The past tense is used to tell stories and discuss events that have already happened.

In the present tense, we are concerned about the person who is talking. However, in the past tense, the most important thing is the gender of the subject.

Here are the verb endings:

Masculine: -л

Feminine: -ла

Neuter: -ло

Plural: -ли

And here is a sample conjugation for the verb знать (to know):

Masculine: знал

Feminine: знала

Neuter: знало

Plural: знали

“To be”

While the verb “to be” has no present tense, this verb does have a past tense that comes from быть (to be) and is translated as “was” or “were”.

Masculine: был

Feminine: была

Neuter: было

Plural: были

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are conjugated in almost exactly the same way as non-reflexive ones, except that they maintain the reflexive endings.

Masculine: -лся

Feminine: -лась

Neuter: -лось

Plural: -лись

For example, oдевать (to dress):

Masculine: одевался

Feminine: одевалась

Neuter: одевалось

Plural: одевались

Irregular Verbs

The verb идти (to go on foot) has a very irregular past tense:

Masculine: шёл

Feminine: шла

Neuter: шло

Plural: шли

Мочь (can, to be able) is also irregular:

Masculine: мог

Feminine: могла

Neuter: могло

My piece for the STZAP #9, with Johan Ravit (character design, character animation) - Music: The NeverEnding Story soundtrack