Russian/Grammar/Past tense

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[edit] Normal Conjugation

читать (to read) is the verb for this example. Тake away the -ть ending and add:

Masculine: л
Feminine: ла
Neuter: ло
Plural: ли

Он читал книгу.
He read the book.

Она читала книгу.
She read the book.

Чикаго было большой.
Chicago was big.

Они читали книгу.
They read the book.

The endings do not change, whether the verb is perfective of imperfective, or whether the verb has first or second conjugation.

[edit] Irregulars

The irregulars include идти, а verb of motion.

идти (to go by walking, perfective)

Masculine: шёл
Feminine: шла
Neuter: шло
Plural: шли

[edit] Irregulars

For intransitive verbs the infinitive ending of a verb is -ся, and conjugated like reflexives. То conjugate in the past tense, the -ться ending is removed and replaced with л, ла, ло, or ли, depending upon the gender.

учиться (to learn)

Masculine: учился
Feminine: училась
Neuter: училась
Plural: учились