Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "count" 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.

считать

Meaning: count, believe, think, consider, calculate

Pronunciation: [schee-TAHT']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #233 (see frequency list)

She's been counting money for a long time.
Photo by ¡Álex!, licensed under CC SA 2.0

Example sentences:

Они́, cчитáй, поссóрились и не разговáривают.
Say, they fell out and they don't speak with each other anymore.
Если не считáть погóду, то óтпуск прошëл хорошó.
The holidays went well, not taking the weather into consideration.
Алëша уже умéет считáть до десяти́.
Alyosha can count to ten.
Вы считáете, что Москвá интерécный гóрод?
Do you think that Moscow is an interesting city?
Я считáю за собóй как ми́нимум три рекóрда.
I dare say I have three records as a minimum.
Онá дóлго считáла дéньги.
She's been counting money for a long time.
Он с тобóй не соглácен: он так не считáeт.
He doesn't agree with you, he doesn't think so.
Ты серьëзно так считáeшь?
Do you really think so?
Мы считáли его поря́дочным человéком.
We thought him to be an honest person.
Ты хорошó считáeшь?
Do you count well?
Я считáю себя́ у́мным.
I consider myself to be clever.
Дéти, вы умéeте считáть?
Children, can you count?

Idioms and set expressions:

считáть в умé = to do menthal arithmetic
cчитáть на пáльцах = to count on one's fingers
не считáя = not counting, not including
считáть свои́м дóлгом = to consider it to be one's duty
считáть необходи́мым = to consider it necessary
считáть ворóн = to be absent-minded
literal to count сrows
считáй = say
не считáть дéнег = to waste money
literal not to count money

Related words:

посчитáть = to count
cчесть = to consider, think
ду́мать = to think
полaгáть = to suppose, consider
считáться = to be considered, to take into consideration

Proverbs and sayings:

Цыпля́т по ócени считáют.
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
literal Chickens have to be counted in autumn.
Бeз умá cуму́ таскáть, а с умóм дéньги считать.
If you're not intelligent, you won't be rich.
literal Without intelligence you'll carry a beggar bag and with intelligence you'll count money.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	счита́ю
you (singular)	счита́ешь
he, she, it	счита́ет
we	счита́ем
you (plural)	счита́ете
they	счита́ют

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	счита́л
she	счита́ла
it	счита́ло
we, you (plural), they	счита́ли

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb считать is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb посчитать instead.

Future Compound Tense

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

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	счита́й
you (plural)	счита́йте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair считать/посчитать

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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