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Making sense of old handwriting

Russian Vocabulary: Verbs


Below is an alphabetical list of verbs found in Russian records. Each word is generally listed first in its modern infinitive form, followed by relevant conjugations, including some with archaic spelling. If the word you are looking for is not found here, consider looking at our other word lists or the FamilySearch Wiki Russian Genealogical Word List. If you're still struggling to find the right word, it may be a person's or place name. Follow the guidelines listed under Practical Suggestions and use other resources on our site such as those found on the Names page.

Using the keyboard commands Ctrl+F (Windows) or Command+F (Mac) can be helpful when searching through word lists. Simply type the first few letters or a part of the word you know, and the search function will highlight any words in the list that contain that sequence of letters.

Abbreviation

Meaning

Abbreviation

Meaning

nom.nominative casemasc.masculine
acc.accusative casefem.feminine
gen.genitive caseneut.neuter
prep.prepositional caseplu.plural
dat.dative casepart.participle
instr.instrumental casepres.present
arch.archaics.f.short form (for adjectives)

Russian

English

Examples

благословить/поблагословитьto bless (blessed)

(arch. past masc. поблагословилъ)

быть
to be (was)

(arch. past masc. былъ)

(past fem. была)

(past plu. были)

венчатьto solemnize a marriage
(solemnized)

(arch. past masc. вѣнчалъ)

выбытьto leave, no
longer be present
(left, departed)

(past plu. выбыли)

выходить замужto get married
(for women)

датьto give
женитьсяto get married
(for men)

объявлять/
объявить
(past masc. объявил)
to announce
(announcing,
announced)

(adv. part. объявляя)

предъявитьto present
(presented)

(arch. past masc. предъявилъ)

прибытьto arrive (arrived)

(past neut. прибыло)

родитьсяto be born
(was born)

(past masc. родился)

(past fem. родилась)

(past plu. родились)

(past arch. родися )

совершатьto accomplish, complete
(accomplished, completed)

(past masc. совершалъ)

совершатьсяto be accomplished
or completed
(was accomplished,
was completed)

(3rd person sing. pres. совершается)

состоятьсяto take place
(took place)

(past neut. состоялось)

сочетаться
to be combined,
joined, married
(was combined,
was joined,
was married)

(past plu. сочетались)

умереть
to die (died)

(past masc. умеръ)

(past plu. умерли)

явитьсяto appear (appeared)

(past masc. явился)

To view translations of specific words and phrases you may encounter in a certain document type, visit the corresponding Document Types page of this tutorial.


  1. Ilya Repin, Запорожцы пишут письмо турецкому султану, between 1878 and 1891, Oil on canvas. Wikimedia Commons.(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ilja_Jefimowitsch_Repin_-_Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks_-_Yorck.jpg : accessed 27 August 2024). This image is in the public domain.
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