☰ Units · Russian A1

Yesterday and work: the past tense

Unit 15 · Part C · Russian A1 (Beginners)
1

He, she, I did

Russian A1 · Unit 15
GoalSay what a man, a woman or a thing did in the past.
New words
чита́л (chitál) · read (a man)чита́ла (chitála) · read (a woman)рабо́тал (rabótal) · worked (a man)рабо́тала (rabótala) · worked (a woman)де́лал (délal) · did (a man)де́лала (délala) · did (a woman)Что ты де́лал? (shto ty délal) · What did you do? (to a boy or man)Что ты де́лала? (shto ty délala) · What did you do? (to a girl or woman)
Explanation

To speak about the past, remove -ть and add -л for a man: он чита́л. Add -ла for a woman: она́ чита́ла. There are no separate forms for я and ты: the ending follows the gender of the person. A man says Я чита́л. A woman says Я чита́ла. Ask a man Что ты де́лал? and a woman Что ты де́лала?

Whoчита́тьрабо́тать
он, a man (я, ты)чита́лрабо́тал
она́, a woman (я, ты)чита́ларабо́тала
Worked examples
Ди́ма

Что ты де́лала вчера́?

Ни́на

Я чита́ла.

Ди́ма

А мой брат рабо́тал.

Ди́ма asks Ни́на what she did. Вчера́ means “yesterday”.

Мой па́па рабо́тал, а ма́ма чита́ла.

Ма́ша tells what her parents did. Ма́ма and па́па are “mum” and “dad”.
Three short sentences. Listen.
Class activity

Make three pairs of sentences, one for a man and one for a woman: Он чита́л. Она́ чита́ла. Он рабо́тал. Она́ рабо́тала. Then say what you did yesterday, with -л if you are a man or -ла if you are a woman.

Practice
1
Press Listen. Is this about a man or a woman?

…

2
Say: “She worked.”
3
The picture shows a boy. Say: “He read.”
4
A girl says about herself: “I did.” Which form: де́лал or де́лала?
5
Read aloud. Is the speaker a man or a woman?