🇷🇺 Russian · A2 · Talking About the Past

What did you do yesterday?

6 min read · past tense verbs (-л/-ла/-ло/-ли) · time expressions: вчера, на прошлой неделе

Vocabulary

вчераyesterday
на прошлой неделеlast week
вечеромin the evening
работал / работалаworked (m/f)
смотрел / смотрелаwatched (m/f)
готовил / готовилаcooked (m/f)
читал / читалаread (m/f)
гулял / гулялаwalked / strolled (m/f)
звонил / звонилаcalled (m/f)
отдыхал / отдыхалаrested (m/f)
убирал / убиралаtidied up (m/f)
учился / училасьstudied (m/f)

The Russian Past Tense

In Russian, the past tense is formed by replacing the verb infinitive ending -ть with a gender/number suffix. Unlike present tense, past tense agrees with the subject's gender, not person.

Regular past tense endings

я/ты/он (m) → -л → работал
я/ты/она (f) → -ла → работала
оно (n) → -ло → работало
мы/вы/они → -ли → работали
Я вчера работал. → I worked yesterday. (male speaker)
Она читала книгу. → She read a book.
Мы гуляли в парке. → We walked in the park.

Negation

Put не directly before the verb:

Я не работал вчера. → I didn't work yesterday.
Она не готовила. → She didn't cook.

Useful time expressions

вчера → yesterday
вчера вечером → yesterday evening
на прошлой неделе → last week
недавно → recently

Expressions

Что ты делал вчера?Asking what someone did yesterday (m)
Что ты делала вчера?Asking what someone did yesterday (f)
Я смотрел телевизор.Saying you watched TV (m)
Я никуда не ходила.Saying you didn't go anywhere (f)
Мы хорошо провели время.Saying you had a good time
Было очень интересно!Expressing it was very interesting
Я устал / устала.Saying you are tired (m/f)
Что случилось?Asking what happened

Common mistakes

~~Меня зовут Иван. Я работала вчера.~~
Меня зовут Иван. Я работал вчера.
Past-tense verbs agree with the speaker's gender; Иван is a man, so he needs работал, not работала.
~~Вчера я работаю~~
Вчера я работал
вчера (yesterday) requires past tense, not present tense.
~~Я не работал не вчера~~
Я не работал вчера
Only one не is needed before the verb. вчера is a time expression, not negated.
~~Она работал весь день~~
Она работала весь день
The subject она is feminine, so the past verb must end in -ла.
~~Мы работала вместе~~
Мы работали вместе
With мы (we), use the plural ending -ли regardless of gender.
~~Что ты делать вчера?~~
Что ты делал вчера?
Use the past tense form of the verb, not the infinitive.

Quick quiz

Question 1 of 5

How do you say “walked / strolled (m/f)” in Russian?

This is the mini version

The real Russian tutor lives in the app

Reading is a start — Mio is built for practice. The app adds everything the web can’t do:

Talk
Real voice conversations with your AI tutor
Listening
Short stories and dialogues with comprehension questions
Smart flashcards
Spaced repetition that shows words right before you forget them
Your coach Mio
Tracks your mistakes and builds a daily plan around your weak spots