Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "drink" 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.

пить

Meaning: drink

Pronunciation: [peet'] IPA: [pʲitʲ]

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #537 (see frequency list)

One has to drink two litres of water every day.
Photo by ben124 CC-BY-SA-2.0

Example sentences:

Я хочу́ пить.
I'm thirsty.
literal I want to drink.
Ну́жно пить два ли́тра воды́ кáждый день.
One has to drink two litres of water every day.
Cпаси́бо, я не пью кóфе.
Thanks, I don't drink coffee.
Представля́ешь, он совсéм ничегó не пьëт!
Imagine, he doesn't consume any alcohol at all.
literal Imagine, he doesn't drink anything at all!
Пей вóду мáленькими глоткáми: онá óчень холóдная!
Drink the water sipping, it's very cold!
literal Drink the water in small swallows, it's very cold!
Ты всегдá пьëшь чай из такóй большóй кру́жки?
Do you always drink tea from such a big mug?
Они́ пи́ли за здорóвье молоды́х.
They were drinking the health of the newlyweds.
Рóзы пьют óчень мнóго воды́: их нáдо регуля́рно поливáть.
Roses need much water, you have to water them regularly.
literal Roses drink much water, you have to water them regularly.
Рáненый солдáт жáдно пил вóду.
The injured soldier was gulping water.
Вóдку покупáть не стóит: они́ не пьют крéпких спиртны́х напи́тков.
It's not worth buying vodka, they don't drink strong alcoholic drinks.

Idioms and set expressions:

пить гóрькую = to drink hard
literal to drink bitter
пить мëртвую = to drink hard
literal to drink dead
пить кровь = to suck smb's blood
как пить дать = for sure
literal as giving to drink
пить брудершáфт = to drink brotherhood

Related words:

есть = to eat
выпить = to drink (perfective form)
пью́щий = drinking

Proverbs and sayings:

C лицá воды́ не пить.
Prettiness makes no pottage.
literal You don't drink water from the face.
Плачь - не плачь, а есть-пить нáдо.
Cry or don't, you have to eat and drink.
Не учи́сь пи́во пить, учи́сь дéньги копи́ть.
Don't learn how to drink beer, learn how to save money.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	пью́
you (singular)	пьёшь
he, she, it	пьёт
we	пьём
you (plural)	пьёте
they	пью́т

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	пи́л
she	пила́
it	пи́ло
we, you (plural), they	пи́ли

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb пить is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb выпить instead.

Future Compound Tense

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

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	пе́й
you (plural)	пе́йте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair пить/выпить

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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