The question “T is a suffix or the ending of a verb?” Both ordinary people and eminent philologists have been asking this question for decades. The modern approach to studying the Russian language allows for the existence of two points of view, each of which has its own pros and cons.

Is t' a suffix or an ending?

School grammar has long considered “t” and “ti” as endings or formal indicators of the infinitive. The majority of manuals intended for higher educational institutions adhere to the same position to this day. Among linguists, the opinion that “t” is an ending is shared by Shansky N.M., Baranov M.T., Kuznetsov G.S.

Defending their version, scientists argue as follows: an infinitive means that it can have an ending. This explanation cannot be called satisfactory; moreover, it leads to contradictions. This is due to the fact that the infinitive in modern linguistics is considered an unchangeable word, and, accordingly, cannot have an ending.

Is th a suffix or ending for verbs?

New school textbooks support another point of view, according to which “t” and “ti” are suffixes on verbs. This theory was developed by linguists such as V.V. Babaytseva, N.S. Valgina. Answering the question: “T is a suffix or an ending?”, scientists, first of all, tried to prove the inconsistency of another position that reveals this problem. They argued that the “t” of a verb cannot be inflected, since it does not express the grammatical meaning of the word and is not preserved in forms formed from the infinitive.

This approach seems convincing, but it has also caused a lot of controversy in linguistic circles. “If “t” is a suffix, then why is it not part of the word?” - this question became one of the main ones for everyone who became familiar with the new theory. It’s easy to answer if you remember the basics of morphemics. In modern Russian, suffixes are divided into formative and word-forming. Morphemes of the first type are not included in the stem. This is what we see in the infinitive.

What about "whose"?

Do not forget that in the Russian language there are examples of the initial form of the verb that end in “ch”. How to deal with such cases? What is the “whose” in such words: an ending or a suffix?

There are also several answers to these questions:

1. Is a suffix.
2. Represents inflection.
3. Goes to the root.

The first two points of view are outdated. “Whose” was defined as a suffix or ending by analogy with “t” and “ti.”

Modern linguistics believes that this combination is part of the root. You can prove that this opinion is correct by changing the verb: oven-bake. In forms formed from the infinitive, “whose” is retained, which means it is part of the root.

What is the result?

It is impossible to unambiguously answer the question: “Is T’ a suffix or an ending?” Both points of view described above are considered valid in modern Russian. Each of them has its supporters. However, at present, the school curriculum gives preference to the position according to which “t” is a formative suffix. In higher education institutions, it is common to consider both theories.

1. The spelling of personal endings for verbs of the present or future simple (if the verb is perfect) tense differs depending on the type of conjugation:

1) verbs of the first conjugation have the endings: -у(-у), -ест, -ет, -ем, -ет, -ут(-ут):

I carry, I carry, I carry, I carry, I carry, I carry;

2) verbs of the second conjugation have endings: -у(-у), -ish, -it, -im, -ite, -at(-yat):

sitting, sitting, sitting, sitting, sitting, sitting.

Verb conjugation is determined in two ways:

According to the personal ending, if it is stressed:

sing - I ref. (sing - by Yu T); sit - II resp. (sit - sit I T)

By the suffix of an indefinite form (infinitive), if the personal ending is unstressed.

For ease of memorization and understanding, I propose to neglect morphology a little and simply list the verbs that are conjugated according to conjugation I, and those that are conjugated according to II.

So, according to rules II the conjugations will change:

Verbs, indefinite form ending in it(its):

wither, cook, ride, sting, coy, fuss, mow, circle, feast on, beckon, measure, pray, dress up, be unwell, please, nurse, foam.

Verb "measure" and its derivatives (to measure, to measure, to measure, etc.):

measuring, measuring, measuring, measuring, measuring, measuring;

The forms “measure, measure, measure, measure, measure, measure” are formed from the colloquial verb “measure” and are considered non-literary.

According to rules I, the conjugations will change:

Exceptions:

shave (shave, shave, shave, shave, shave, shave);

to be founded (used only in two forms: to be founded - to be founded;

four verbs in at(at): drive, hold, breathe, hear;

seven verbs for eat: see, twirl, depend, hate, offend, watch, endure.

- Other verbs ending in the indefinite form to "at, eat, ut" , as well as verbs in "ot" with unstressed personal endings.

Here are some of them:

mutter, recover, warm, enslave, harden, click, waver, prick, sway, blush, babble, babble, grind, adore, darken, solder, cry, flog, count, pour, melt, trample, pull, whisper.

Verbs "to lay" and "to lay" and derivatives from them (to cover - to lay out, to cover - to lay, to lay - to lay, to re-lay - to re-cover):

spread, spread, spread, spread, spread.

Verbs like “to recover, to become frosty, to become disgusted, to become disgusted, to grow moldy” :

get well, get well, get well, get well, get well.

In the indefinite form and past tense of verbs “bayat, bleat, winnow, repent, bark, lie, toil, hope, soar, sow, melt (not to be confused with the verb to conceal), find fault, teat, smell” suffix -yat, therefore:

melting, melting, melting, melting, melting.

!!! But: hide from conceal.

Offtopic

Vaevsky will personally kill anyone who “hides the snow” or “melts the mystery”

Verbs want, run, dream belong to heteroconjugates,

those. They have endings of I and II conjugations .

Thus, the verb “want” in the singular changes according to the I conjugation (you want, wants), and in the plural - according to the II (want, want, want);

the verb to run in the 3rd person plural has the ending -ut (run), in the rest - the endings of the second conjugation: run, run, run, run;

the verb to brezzhit has only two forms: the 3rd person singular - brezhit (II conjugation) and the 3rd person plural - brezhut (I conjugation).

From the verb "to torture" forms are used both I and II conjugations :

torment, torment, torment, torment, torment, torment and torment, torment, torment, torment, torment.

The II conjugation forms are preferred, while the I conjugation forms are considered colloquial, they go back to the obsolete verb “to torture”.

Many verbs prefix you- takes on the stress, resulting in difficulty in writing. In these cases, a dubious ending is recommended check with an unprefixed word :

they will reprimand - they say (to reprimand - to speak), if you get enough sleep - you sleep (to get enough sleep - to sleep), if you cut your hair - you will cut your hair (to cut your hair - to cut your hair).

2. There are similar-sounding forms of the 2nd person plural of the imperative mood (determined by “do it quickly!”) and forms of the 2nd person plural of the present or future (for perfect verbs) of the indicative mood (determined by “you will do it”) ")

For example: knock(first option) and knock(second option)

The imperative mood is formed using the suffix -i- and the ending -te : sit, write, jump;

in the indicative mood, the verb has an ending depending on the conjugation: -ete or -ite. Let's compare:

I conjugation Write more carefully! (imperative mood) - You write carefully, so the work is easy to read (indicative mood)

II conjugation Hold the pen correctly! (imperative mood) - If you hold the pen correctly, your handwriting will turn out beautiful (indicative mood).

The letter "ь" in verb forms

1) in the infinitive form of the verb (does everyone remember what an infinitive is?):

burn - burn, entertain - have fun, read;

2) at the end of the 2nd person singular of the present or future tense (that is, in those verbs that answer the question “what are you doing? What will you do?”):

if you burn, you get burned, if you entertain, you have fun;

3) in the imperative mood after consonants:

throw, throw, dress, leave, hide, cut;

When forming the imperative mood of the plural “b” the following is preserved:

throw, throw, dress, leave, hide, cut.

+ Exception: lie down - lie down - lie down.

"b" is not written:

In forms like “let’s go, start, do”;

In personal forms of verbs with the root “da-”:

will be given (indefinite form - to be given), will be given (to be given), will be given (to be given), will be given (to be given), will be given (to be given), will be given (to be given);

But! in the infinitive of this group of verbs “b” is retained.

Verb spelling is not as easy a topic as it seems at first glance, and many people understand this. Vowels and consonants in the root, endings, prefixes - all this requires special attention. Suffixes in the indefinite are also far from being so simple. Conjugation, type of verb - they are influenced by very, very many things. But you can easily cope with this, if you have the desire. Let's try to understand what exactly the spelling of verb suffixes depends on, and what kind of suffixes they are in general.

Basics

Any Russian language lesson “Indefinite form of the verb” would begin with a definition of the corresponding concept. The infinitive (and this is what it is called scientifically) is the initial, zero form, given in dictionaries and not having any morphological characteristics. So, it lacks the indefinite form of the verb: tense, person, number and mood, but it has the perfect ( answer) or imperfect ( reply) view; category of pledge - real ( pronounce) and passive ( must be pronounced); recurrence ( turn out to be) and irrevocability ( run). This word form answers the questions what to do? And what to do? And one of its main features are suffixes in the infinitive form of the verb: - whoa, whoa-. Some linguists identify suffixes such as - there is- And - sti-.

How do you understand that this is an infinitive?

We seem to have sorted out the definition. What's next? What is the form of the verb? Is it possible to somehow understand that this is an infinitive and not something else? Easily! We take the verb we need, for example, read, and look at it (those parts of the word from which it consists). In this case there is our suffix - t-, in addition, we ask a question about the verb: read - what to do? And the second sign matches. To be completely sure, you can try to determine the person, number and time - and this is impossible. But the view ( what to do?- imperfect), reflexivity (no postfix -sya- - and pledge ( read- I do it myself - valid) are found without difficulty.

Another example is the verb blinking. There is no suffix we need here, and when we try to ask a question, it answers what am I doing?- again not what we need. It is already clear that in this example there is also a face (I blinking- first), and number (singular), and tense (present), as well as aspect (imperfect), and recurrence (irrevocable), and pledge (active). That is, this word form is not an infinitive.

Before determining the infinitive form of a verb, you need to check it for the presence of basic morphological features. If they are not there, great, we have an infinitive, but if there is person, number and tense, then this is simply an inflected form of the verb.

Does it end with an infinitive?

Another very difficult issue for many is the spelling of verb endings, which depends on the conjugation. It’s not a very easy question - first determine what conjugation the verb belongs to, and to do this you need to put the verb in our indefinite form, see what it ends in, based on this, if possible, decide on the conjugation and only then put the ending in personal form of the verb. With the infinitive everything is much simpler.

The endings of verbs in the indefinite form is a topic that does not exist. Now many will frown in confusion: after all, somehow we define the same conjugation, we are looking at the ending for this? No no and one more time no. That same vowel before infinitive suffixes is another suffix, although some linguists define it as an ending. Mandatory for memorization: since there are no morphological features, then there cannot be endings for verbs in an indefinite form. The infinitive is characterized by the presence of only suffixes.

Suffix, not ending

Let's return to final, infinitive-defining suffixes. What determines which one is correct for the verb? Of course, for a native Russian speaker this is not a problem at all - we intuitively feel what to use, but for those who study the great and mighty as a foreign language, such a choice can be very difficult.

Suffix - you- usually under stress ( carry, carry), and it also occurs in words derived from these, when a prefix appears in them that pulls the emphasis ( TAKE OUT, TAKE OUT) - most often this is a prefix - You-.

-t- in turn occurs where there is no accent ( talk, laugh).

Availability - there is- And - sti- typical for verbs whose stem ends in - d, t- (I will fall - fall, weave - weave), the second suffix also exists in verbs whose personal form ends in - b- (row - row).

Of course, there are a number of cases where suffixes in the indefinite form of the verb do not obey the basic rules, for example, swear - swear, grow - grow, but in this situation we can say that these verbs are peculiar exceptions, so that, no matter how sad it may be, they need to be remembered.

Making the task more difficult

In general, consider only the standard ones - t, tee, whose, sti, is- as suffixes in the infinitive form of the verb, speaking about the spelling of this part of speech, it is not very correct. There are also suffixes - ova, eva- And - willow, yva-, the choice of which is also associated with certain difficulties. They occur in words such as, for example, confess, talk, lay down and so on.

Spelling in this case requires placing this very verb in the first person singular (this is what corresponds to the pronoun I). If the required form ends with - wow, wow-, then you should select the suffixes - ova/eva- (pursue-pursue, fight-fight), if on - yay, yay-, then the suffixes will go - willow, yva- (I bury-bury, I insist-insist).

Now let's complicate things a little more

We can continue the topic of spelling suffixes with another interesting rule. Those verbs that end in stressed - wat-, retain the same vowel before the suffix in the infinitive without this ending that comes before this suffix in the conjugated form of the verb ( pour-fill).

In addition, there are interesting words that do not quite follow the general rule. In the indefinite form of the verb, a compound suffix is ​​written in them - go crazy-: to become numb, to become dumbfounded and so on.

A bit of a nightmare

Another “favorite” topic for almost all schoolchildren is spelling the suffix before - t, tee, whose, sti, is-, on which the choice of verb conjugation usually depends. Of course, sometimes it is obvious, but sometimes, in words like glue, everything is not as simple as we would like.

In this case, you will have to delve deeper into conjugations. As you know, verbs have a first and a second conjugation. Both of them influence the choice of ending in personal forms of the verb. The problem is that sometimes the ending in the personal form is obvious, but what to write before the infinitive suffix is ​​not always clear. In this case, we take the controversial verb and begin to conjugate it. If the endings in the conjugated forms correspond to the endings of the first conjugation ( -Yu, -eat, -eat, -eat, -eat, -yut/-ut), then you should write those suffixes by which the first conjugation is determined - - yat, yat-, if the second ( -u, -yu, -ish, -it, -im, -ite, -yat/-at), then, accordingly, -it. For example, the same glue - glue, glue, glue- thus, since they correspond to the endings of the second conjugation, you need to write the suffix of this very second conjugation - it.

Finish line: soft sign in the infinitive

Now let's move on to the last of the particularly important aspects concerning the infinitive. Certain difficulties are caused by a soft sign in the indefinite form of a verb - the hero of a huge number of Internet memes in the style of “the pain of any literate person.” In general, it’s very difficult to say why such a simple topic seems so difficult, but oh well, we’ll figure it out.

Whether it is worth writing a soft sign in the infinitive or not is very easy to determine. We take a verb, preferably in the third person singular (this is what corresponds to pronouns he she it), and ask him a question. If the question what is he doing?, then there will be no soft sign either in this form or in the infinitive ( he studies - what does he do? - studies), if the question what to do?, then, accordingly, the soft sign will appear in both forms ( he wants to study - what to do? - study). Of course, it all depends on the context. As can be seen from the example, the same verb can be written both with and without a soft sign. Shall we try again?

I can not sleep.

Laughing during a serious conversation is stupid.

Why don't we go for a walk?

He is too lazy to go outside again.

He refuses, refusing in this situation is the only way out.

Conclusion

The verb is a multifaceted and complex part of speech; working with it includes a huge number of nuances and little things that should always be taken into account. Verb suffixes are definitely one of the most difficult topics in spelling, but still, if you remember the basic rules, everything will become much easier.

Let us repeat once again everything that was said above. Firstly, infinitives do not have any endings, they are suffixes and nothing more. Its choice depends on the stress (under stress - you-, without him - t-) and from the consonant with which the stem of the verb ends (if - d, t, b-, then, most likely, the infinitive will be endowed with suffixes - sti, is-). Next, about writing suffixes - yva/iva- And - ova/eva-. If a verb in the first person singular ends in - yu/yuyu-, then we write - ova/eva-, if in this form there is - yva/iva-, then we save the corresponding suffix. The real war unfolded over the definition of the consonant preceding the infinitive suffix. Here we determine the conjugation by conjugating the verb, and based on it for the first conjugation with endings - eat, eat, eat, eat, ut/ut- we write - at/yat/et-, if the endings are in the personal form of the verb - ish, it, im, it, at/yat- - choose between - it/it-. And lastly: when the verb answers the question what to do?, we write a soft sign in the infinitive when answering a question what is he doing?, we can do without it.