Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to ask" 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.

спросить

Meaning: to ask, inquire, demand, to charge smth.

Pronunciation: [sprah-SEET']

Part of speech: verb (perfective aspect)

Rank: #108 (see frequency list)

"Спросить" means "to ask" in Russian

Example sentences:

Он ве́жливо спроси́л моё и́мя.
He politely asked my name.
Я до́лжен спроси́ть разреше́ния у роди́телей.
I must ask permission from my parents.
С дво́рника спроси́ли за чистоту́ террито́рии.
The janitor had to answer for the cleanliness of the territory.
Не забу́дьте спроси́ть о здоро́вье Анны.
Don't forget to inquire after Anna's health.
Тури́сты спроси́ли доро́гу у прохо́жих.
The tourists asked passers-by for directions.
Он ни у кого́ не спроси́л разреше́ния.
He didn't ask anybody for permission.
Мы никогда́ не узна́ем, е́сли не спро́сим.
We will never find out if we don't ask.
Я хочу́ спроси́ть у Вас одну́ вещь.
I want to ask you something. (polite)
literal I want to ask you one thing.
“Кто́ э́то?” -- спроси́ла она́.
"Who is this?" -- she asked.

Idioms and set expressions:

спросить разрешения = to ask (somebody's) permission
спросить совета = to ask for advice

Proverbs and sayings:

Спроси что-нибудь полегче.
Ask me another.
literal Ask something easier.
Смерть не спросит, придёт да скосит.
When the death comes no tricks can help you.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

The perfective verb спросить is not used in the Present Tense. Use the imperfective verb спрашивать instead.

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	спроси́л
she	спроси́ла
it	спроси́ло
we, you (plural), they	спроси́ли

Future Simple Tense

I	спрошу́
you (singular)	спро́сишь
he, she, it	спро́сит
we	спро́сим
you (plural)	спро́сите
they	спро́сят

Future Compound Tense

The perfective verb спросить is not used in the Future Compound Tense. Use the imperfective verb спрашивать instead.

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	спроси́
you (plural)	спроси́те

View full conjugation table for the verb pair спрашивать/спросить

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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