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  • жить: Ленин жил, жив, будет жить.
  • мыть: Раму мыл, мою, буду мыть.
  • быть: Я был, ____, буду быть?
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  • 1
    I like "бычу", by the way. Я бычу, ты бычишь, он бычит, мы бычим, вы бычите, они бычат. The perceived meaning would be somewhere between "бачить" и "быковать" :)
    – Alexander
    Jul 31, 2017 at 21:41
  • 2
    You can go with old slavonic "Аз есмь" :)
    – Abakan
    Aug 1, 2017 at 10:32
  • 2
    @Alexander No need in perceived meaning since word "бычить" actually exists.
    – Abakan
    Aug 1, 2017 at 11:48
  • 1
    Жив falls out from the paradigm, it means [is] alive, 'he lives' is actually живёт.
    – Yellow Sky
    Aug 1, 2017 at 13:15

1 Answer 1

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The verb "быть" in present tense becomes "есть"

Я был, я есть, буду

The verb есть has a limited usage in modern Russian but when used, it can refer to any person or number быть - Wiktionary

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  • formally, "есть" is singular and plural is "суть". Though the latter sounds somewhat archaic and used even less frequently than the former.
    – Arioch
    Aug 1, 2017 at 8:11
  • 3
    @Arioch Только "они суть". Мы и вы - "есть" (ну или по-церковнославянски: есмы и есте соответственно).
    – Matt
    Aug 1, 2017 at 12:27
  • 1
    @Arioch - Суть is an extremely rarely used bookish word. And yes, always with archaic connotations.
    – Yellow Sky
    Aug 1, 2017 at 13:12
  • @Matt а "суть" тогда как "по церковно-славянски" - так и остаётся "суть" ?
    – Arioch
    Aug 2, 2017 at 9:12
  • @Arioch Да, они/оне суть.
    – Matt
    Aug 2, 2017 at 11:33

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