Down below you find the table of conjugations for the verbs мочь / смочь. In English the translation means ‘to be Able’.
мочь / смочь conjugation in Russian
| Imperfective Aspect | Perfective Aspect | |
| InfinitiveForm | мочь | смочь |
| Present Tense | ||
| я – 1st Person Singular | могу | |
| ты– 2nd Person Singular | можешь | |
| он/она/оно– 3rd Person Singular | может | |
| мы – 1st Person Plural | можем | |
| вы– 2nd Person Plural | можете | |
| они – 3rd Person Plural | могут | |
| Past Tense | ||
| он– Masculine | мог | смог |
| она – Feminine | могла | смогла |
| оно– Neuter | могло | смогло |
| они/мы/вы – Plural | могли | смогли |
| Future Tense | ||
| я– 1st Person Singular | – | смогу |
| ты – 2nd Person Singular | – | сможешь |
| он/она/оно – 3rd Person Singular | – | сможет |
| мы– 1st Person Plural | – | сможем |
| вы – 2nd Person Plural | – | сможете |
| они – 3rd Person Plural | – | смогут |
| Imperative Form | ||
| ты – Informal | – | – |
| вы – Polite | – | – |
If you want to have real conversations in Russian instead of just studying it, I created a structured 30‑lesson audio course called Russian Conversations Unlocked. I've designed it for adult learners who want to learn to actually communicate with native speakers. You can find more information here.
Examples phrases with мочь and смочь
Below you’ll find some example phrases:
| Russian phrase | English translation |
|---|---|
| Я могу говорить по-русски. | I can speak Russian. |
| Он может прийти к нам в гости. | He can come visit us. |
| Мы не могли понять, что происходит. | We couldn’t understand what was happening. |
| Ты можешь показать мне, как ты это делаешь? | Can you show me how to do it? |
| Она может играть на фортепиано. | She can play the piano. |
| Вы можете оставить свои вещи здесь. | You can leave your things here. |
| Я не могу позволить себе покупать такие дорогие вещи. | I can’t afford to buy such expensive things. |
| Он не может взять выходной на следующей неделе. | He can’t take a day off next week. |
| Она смогла перевести этот текст на английский. | She managed to translate this text into English. |
| Я не могу справиться с этой задачей самостоятельно. | I can’t handle this task on my own. |
What should you do next?
Most learners don't struggle because Russian is "too hard."
They struggle because they don't train speaking directly.
- You can study vocabulary
- you can memorize Grammar
- You can listen for hours
But if you don't practice building sentences in real time, you'll still struggle when someone speaks to you.
One of my students once told me:
“I have been studying Russian for a year. In my head I can prepare basic sentences, yet when it comes to actually speaking I ‘chock’.”That's not a knowledge problem.
That’s a training problem.
Your weakest skill determins your conversational level.
And for most learners, that weakest skill is speaking.
That's why I built Russian Conversations Unlocked - a structured 30-lesson audio course designed to train real-time speaking ability step by step.
If you want to have real conversations in Russian, start here: