How do I know when to use -тся or -ться in a verb

Question

The title pretty much says it all. It's a very common mistake which (unfortunately) even many native speakers make.

Is there a rule to unambiguously decide should I end this verb with -тся or -ться?

I suppose this is the purpose of private beta, to pre-populate the site with questions (and answers) that are likely to arise. — Sergio Tulentsev, Jun 13, 2012 at 21:33
@bonomo blog.stackoverflow.com/2012/05/encyclopedia-stack-exchange — Philip Seyfi, Jun 13, 2012 at 21:36
oh, I apologize, here are some ideas for questions you might want to consider adding here gramota.ru, alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar — Trident D'Gao, Jun 13, 2012 at 21:48

Philip Seyfi · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-14 12:57:18Z

19

There are four cases when you put ь in verb suffixes:

Infinitive: умывать(ся), беречь(ся).
Second person singular present or future tense: умываешь(ся), бережёшь(ся).
After all consonants except й and г (ляг(те)) with imperative mood: исправь(те).
Suffixes following a vowel: вернусь, вернитесь, вернулись, вернувшись.

In all other cases, there is no ь.

The best way is to ask a question... If it ends in т, it's тся, if in ть, then it's ться:

Я собираюсь - что сдела*ть*? - прогуляться.
Сейчас - что делае*т*? - строится новый район.
Все, что может - что дела*ть*? - портиться, обязательно - что сделае*т*? - испортится!

answered Jun 13, 2012 at 21:25

Philip Seyfi

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Good examples! :)
– Sergio Tulentsev
Jun 13, 2012 at 21:28
1

Yes, exactly how I learned it!
– vasek1
Jun 13, 2012 at 22:13
That's how it's taught in Russian schools.
– Alexey Ivanov
Jun 14, 2012 at 19:24

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Sergio Tulentsev · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-13 21:23:59Z

5

The key here is to ask a question that this verb answers.

If the question is "what is it doing?", then the ending should be -тся (делается, пишется, причесывается, ...)

If the question is "what to do?", then it's -ться (делаться, писаться, причесываться, ...)

answered Jun 13, 2012 at 21:23

Sergio Tulentsev

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kirilloid · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-18 19:48:41Z

4

It's a big problem ;-) and there's whole site dedicated to that question: http://tsya.ru/

answered Jun 18, 2012 at 19:48

kirilloid

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Haha, nice website :) Although one could argue that this ought to be a comment rather than an answer. +1 anyway
– Armen Tsirunyan
Jun 18, 2012 at 20:15
I suppose, the whole site deserves whole answer ;-)
– kirilloid
Jun 18, 2012 at 20:19
i always consider these rules as a good tool to 'remember recapitulation technique'
– Yurij73
Jun 19, 2012 at 22:26

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3 Answers 3