Down below you find the table of conjugations for the verbs писать and написать. In English, the translation means ‘to write’.
Read this article on Russian verb conjugation if you want to learn how to conjugate other Russian verbs.
Писать conjugation in Russian
The stress of each word is on the bolded parts. Try saying the words out loud while you read to make sure they ‘stick’ in your memory.
| Imperfective Aspect | Perfective Aspect | |
| Infinitive Form | писать | написать |
| Present Tense | ||
| я – 1st Person Singular | пишу | |
| ты – 2nd Person Singular | пишешь | |
| он/она/оно – 3rd Person Singular | пишет | |
| мы – 1st Person Plural | пишем | |
| вы – 2nd Person Plural | пишете | |
| они – 3rd Person Plural | пишут | |
| Past Tense | ||
| он – Masculine | писал | написал |
| она – Feminine | писала | написала |
| оно – Neuter | писало | написало |
| они/мы/вы – Plural | писали | написали |
| Future Tense | ||
| я – 1st Person Singular | буду писать | напишу |
| ты – 2nd Person Singular | будешь писать | напишешь |
| он/она/оно– 3rd Person Singular | будет писать | напишет |
| мы – 1st Person Plural | будем писать | напишем |
| вы – 2nd Person Plural | будете писать | напишете |
| они – 3rd Person Plural | будут писать | напишут |
| Imperative Form | ||
| ты – Informal | пиши | напиши |
| вы – Polite | пишите | напишите |
IMPORTANT: make sure to put the stress on the и and not the а in the past tense. ‘я писал’ means ‘I peed’, not ‘I wrote’. The same goes for the infinitive form. Don’t say:
Я хочу писать тебе письмо – I want to pee you a letter.
Instead say:
Я хочу писать тебе письмо – I want to write you a letter.
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.
How to use писать in Russian?
You can use писать just like when in English you’d say the verb ‘write’.
Examples of писать / написать conjugation
While reading the examples below, try saying them out loud. That will do wonders for your ability to speak Russian well. If you’re in a public place and it would be a little awkward to say Russian words, try to pronounce the sentences in your head.
If you make this into a habit to always pronounce Russian words while you read them, your speaking skills will improve 5 times faster than if you would not do this. It’s a small action that brings big results.
| Russian example | English translation |
|---|---|
| Я хочу писать тебе письмо | I want to write you a letter |
| Я пишу письмо своей бабушке. | I am writing a letter to my grandmother. |
| Ты должен написать мне ответное письмо | You should write me a letter back |
| Мы пишем эссе на тему экологии. | We are writing an essay on the topic of ecology. |
| Я пишу в блокноте | I’m writing in my notebook |
| Ты любишь писать стихи? | Do you like to write poetry? |
| Я напишу в блокноте | I’ll write in my notebook |
| Она пишет дневник каждый день. | She writes a diary every day. |
| Ты пишешь, пока говорит учитель? | Are you writing while the teacher speaks? |
| Он пишет роман уже несколько лет. | He has been writing a novel for several years. |
| Когда ты напишешь свой роман? | When will you write your novel |
| Вы пишете резюме для работы? | Are you writing a resume for a job? |
| Писатель пишет свой новый роман | The writer writes his new novel |
| Мама написала письмо в школу о проблеме с домашним заданием. | Mom wrote a letter to the school about the problem with homework. |
| Писатель напишет свой новый роман в следующем году | The writer will write his new novel next year |
| Мы написали открытки на Новый Год для друзей. | We wrote New Year cards for our friends. |
| Написали сообщение в инстаграмм | They wrote a message on Instagram |
| Ты уже написал письмо другу? | Have you already written a letter to your friend? |
| Я писал тебе сообщение, когда полиция выбила мою дверь | I was writing you a message, when the police knocked down my door |
| Она написала рецензию на новую книгу. | She wrote a review on the new book. |
| Напишите здесь свое имя | Write your name here |
| Он написал письмо жалобы на плохое обслуживание. | He wrote a complaint letter about poor service. |
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: