Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "read" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

читать

Meaning: read

Pronunciation: [chee-TAHT']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #291 (see frequency list)



My son can read already.
Photo by woodleywonderworks CC-BY-2.0
 Example sentences:
  • Мой сын уже́ уме́ет чита́ть.
  • My son can read already.
  • Мне чита́ть вслух и́ли про себя́?
  • Shall I read aloud or silently?
  • Ка́ждое у́тро он чита́ет газе́ту.
  • Every morning he reads a newspaper.
  • Ты чита́л Го́рького?
  • Have you ever read Gorkiy?
  •  literal  Have you read Gorkiy?
  • Удиви́тельно! Она́ чита́ет на трёх языка́х!
  • That's surprising! She can read in three languages!
  •  literal  Surprising! She reads in three languages!
  • Вы чита́ли о полити́ческой ситуа́ции в Росси́и?
  • Have you read about the political situation in Russia? (polite/plural "you")
  • Кто чита́ет вам ле́кции?
  • Who gives you lectures?
  • Па́па люби́л чита́ть стихи́.
  • Dad liked reciting poetry.
  • Ты про́сто чита́ешь мои́ мы́сли!
  • You're just reading my thoughts!
  • Чита́ю по глаза́м, что ты недово́лен рабо́той.
  • I can read it in your eyes that you're not pleased with your job.


 Idioms and set expressions:
  • чита́ть вслух = read aloud
  • чита́ть про себя́ = read silently
      literal  read for oneself
  • чита́ть ле́кции = give lectures
      literal  read lectures
  • чита́ть стихи́ = recite poetry
      literal  read poetry
  • чита́ть по скла́дам = spell
      literal  read syllable by syllable
  • чита́ть мы́сли = read smb's thoughts
  • чита́ть по губа́м = lip-read
      literal  read from lips
  • чита́ть по глаза́м = eye-read
      literal  read from eyes
  • чита́ть про́поведь = preach
      literal  read sermons
  • чита́ть ме́жду строк = read between the lines
 Related words:
  • прочитáть = read (perfective aspect)
  • писáть = write
  • чита́тель = reader
  • чита́льный зал = reading room
  • чита́бельный = readable
 Proverbs and sayings:
  • Не тот гра́мотен, кто чита́ть уме́ет, а тот, кто слу́шает да разуме́ет.
  • One can be called literate not if you can read, but if one can listen and understand.
 Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I чита́ю
you (singular) чита́ешь
he, she, it чита́ет
we чита́ем
you (plural) чита́ете
they чита́ют

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he чита́л
she чита́ла
it чита́ло
we, you (plural), they чита́ли

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb читать is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb прочитать instead.


Future Compound Tense

I буду чита́ть
you (singular) будешь чита́ть
he, she, it будет чита́ть
we будем чита́ть
you (plural) будете чита́ть
they будут чита́ть

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular) чита́й
you (plural) чита́йте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair читать/прочитать

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.



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