Many of the consonant alternations
that regularly take place in the 1st Singular of 2nd conjugation
verbs (e.g. вќдеть - вќжу) are identical to the alternations that take place in English.
For example, stem final т changes to ч (e.g., отвљтят
отвљчу), which is exactly what happens to the sound /t/ in English before -u-
(create /t/
creature /ch/).
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English spelling does not normally reflect these alternations, though sometimes you will find don't you spelled don'tcha. Here are the Russian alternations with both Russian and English examples:
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Key form
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1st Sg.
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Comparable English alternations
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т
ч
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отвљтят
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отвљчу
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'answer'
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create - creature
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д
ж
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вќдят
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вќжу
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'see'
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collide - collision
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з
ж
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отвћзят
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отвожџ
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'take, lead'
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please - pleasure
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с
ш
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спрћсят
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спрошџ
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'ask'
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face - facial
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ст
щ
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простїт
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прощџ
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'forgive'
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quest - question
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In addition to the above set, stem-final labial consonants add -л- before the 1st Singular ending:
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Key form
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1st Sg.
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п
пл
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кџпят
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куплє
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'buy'
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м
мл
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кћрмят
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кормлє
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'feed'
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б
бл
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лєбят
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люблє
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'like'
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в
вл
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стђвят
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стђвлю
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'put'
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