Russian · TORFL Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 38
Завтра я буду домаTomorrow I will be at home
Plans and the future with the verb «быть» (to be). Words: быть, занят, свободный, скоро, потом, неделя, выходные, отпуск, встреча, готов. Key grammar: «быть» in the future as a copula. In the present there is no copula (chapter 5): «Я дома» (I am at home), «Я занят» (I am busy). But in the future you need the verb «быть»: буду, будешь, будет, будем, будете, будут + a place, a state or a thing. «Завтра я буду дома» (tomorrow I will be at home), «В субботу мы будем на даче» (on Saturday we will be at the dacha), «Вечером я буду свободен» (in the evening I will be free). The same word gives the future of «у меня есть» (chapter 9): «У меня будет время» (I will have time). English speakers’ mistake: they carry the Russian zero copula into the future and say «Завтра я дома» with no verb ✗ → correct is «Завтра я буду дома» ✓. Reading: the endings «-ый / -ой» and the soft «ь» in «быть».
Dialogue
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Планы на завтра— Plans for tomorrow
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
- mike
- ivan
- mike
Dialogue
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Планы на выходные— Plans for the weekend
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
- anya
- ivan
Vocabulary
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- быть
verbto be (future: буду)
- занят
adjectivebusy (short form)
- свободный
adjectivefree, available
- скоро
adverbsoon
- потом
adverbthen, later
- неделя
nounweek
- выходные
nounweekend (days off)
- отпуск
nounvacation, leave
- встреча
nounmeeting
- готов
adjectiveready (short form)
Grammar
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«быть» in the future: «Я буду дома»
Explanation
In the present, Russian does without the verb «быть»: «Я дома» (I am at home), «Я занят» (I am busy), «У меня есть время» (I have time) — the zero copula, chapter 5. But the past and the future DO have a copula. The future of «быть» is simple: буду, будешь, будет, будем, будете, будут. Add to it a place, a state or a thing: «Завтра я буду дома» (a place), «Вечером я буду свободен» (a state, a short adjective), «В субботу мы будем на даче». The same word gives the future of «у меня есть» (chapter 9): present «У меня есть время» → future «У меня будет время». Remember the rule: the zero copula works ONLY in the present; in the future you need «буду / будешь / будет…». English speakers’ mistake: they are used to Russian having no copula in the present, and carry that over to the future — «Завтра я дома» ✗ (no verb). Correct: «Завтра я буду дома» ✓. (And if a profession follows «буду», it goes in the instrumental, as in chapter 36: «Я буду врачом».)
Examples
- Завтра я буду дома весь день.Tomorrow I will be at home all day.
- Ты будешь свободен в субботу?Will you be free on Saturday?
- У меня будет отпуск в июле.I will have a vacation in July.
- Вечером мы будем на встрече, а потом дома.In the evening we will be at the meeting, and then at home.
Cyrillic
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Окончания «-ый / -ой» и мягкое «ь» в «быть»— The endings «-ый / -ой» and the soft «ь» in «быть»
Masculine adjectives give two similar endings, and the difference is in the stress. When the stress is NOT at the end, write «-ый», and it sounds weak, like «iy»: свобо́дный «svabódnyy», хоро́ший «kharóshiy». When the stress falls on the end, write «-ой», and it sounds clear, like «oy»: выходно́й «vykhadnóy», большо́й «balʼshóy». The rule is simple: «-ой» is always stressed. And recall the short adjectives from this chapter: «за́нят», «свобо́ден», «гото́в» — they have no long ending, the stress sits inside the word. Finally, the infinitive «быть» ends in «-ть» with a soft sign «ь»: «ть» is soft, sounding «tʼ». Read the words aloud and hear the difference between the weak «-ый» and the strong «-ой».
Read the words aloud:
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