Forms of the verbs "пить/выпить" in Russian

Hello, dear student! Today we are going to analyze the Russian verbs which cause a lot of troubles for foreigners - this time, we give consideration to the verbs "пить/выпить" [pit'/vypit']. They are not only changed in a different ways but also have different meanings depending on tense. For a start, let's find out the meanings of the verbs "пить" and "выпить" in Russian.

Пить [Pit'] - to drink - the verb, which denotes the imperfective aspect and means that a person consumes any liquid. When we want to say, that a person does not eat meal, food, but consumes anything liquid, we use the verb "пить".

Выпить [Vypit'] - to have a drink - the verb, which denotes the perfective aspect and means that a person is ready to consume any liquid once, not often, not every day. Probably, you can often here in Russian colloquial speech, that a person, who wants to drink alcohol or some drinks, just say:

Я бы не против выпить с тобой чашку кофе [Ya by ni protif vypit' s taboj chashku kofi] - I don't mind to have a cup of coffee with you

Let's look at the way, how they are changed in tenses depending on their aspect:

Present tense

Я пью - Мы пьём [Ya p'yu - My p'yom] - I drink - We drink
Ты пьёшь - Вы пьёте [Ty p'yosh - Vy p'yoti] - You drink - You drink (plural)
Он/она пьёт - Они пьют [On/ana p'yot - Ani p'yut] - He/she drinks - They drink
In present tense verbs can have only imperfective aspect.

Past tense

Imperfective aspect

Я, ты, он пил [Ya, ty, on pil] - I, you, he drank
Я, ты, она пила [Ya, ty, ana pila] - I, you, she drank
Мы, вы, они пили [My, vy, ani pili] - We, you (plural), they drank

Perfective aspect

Я, ты, он выпил [Ya, ty, on vypil] - I, you, he had a drink
Я, ты, она выпила [Ya, ty, ana vypila] - I, you, she had a drink
Мы, вы, они выпили [My, vy, ani vypili] - We, you (plural), they had a drink

Future tense

Imperfective aspect

Я буду пить [Ya budu pit'] - I will drink
Ты будешь пить [Ty budish pit'] - You will drink
Он, она будет пить [On, ana, budit pit'] - He, she will drink
Мы будем пить [My budim pit'] - We will drink
Вы будете пить [Vy budite pit'] - You (plural) will drink
Они будут пить [Ani budut pit'] - They will drink

Perfective aspect

Я выпью [Ya vyp'yu] - I will drink
Ты выпьешь [Ty vyp'ish] - You will drink
Он, она выпьет [On, ana vyp'it] - He, she will drink
Мы выпьем [My vyp'im] - We will drink
Вы выпьете [Vy vyp'iti] - You (plural) will drink
Они выпьют [Ani vyp'yut] - They will drink

Along with these tenses, we should not forget about the imperative mood which is the feature of the verbs, when we ask or order someone to do something:

- Пей быстрее! Мы можем опоздать на поезд! [Pej bystree! My mozhim apazdat' na poezd] - Drink faster! We could be late for the train
The verb "пей" is imperfective

- Выпей уже этот чай и побежали! [Vypij uzhe ekhtat chaj i pabizhali!] - Drink this tea finally and let's go!

Please, pay attention, that foreigners and people, who learn the Russian language, often make mistake in the usage of the future tense, especially in the writing of the phrase: "будешь пить"/будем/будете" - the word "будешь" [budish] is written with the letter "е", but not "и"! If you make such major mistake, people will understand you incorrectly. Be careful!