Choosing Between -ся and -сь Suffixes for Reflexive Verbs in Russian

Signs of a reflexive verb are the postfixes –ся or –сь. If there is such a postfix at the end of a word, then this verb is called reflexive. How do you know which postfix to use in which verb form? It’s very simple: after consonants and a soft sign, use –ся, after vowels, use –сь. Let’s look at how this rule works using the example of the verb “учиться”.

Conjugation:

• я учуСЬ
• ты учишьСЯ
• он(а) учитСЯ
• мы учимСЯ
• вы учитеСЬ
• они учатСЯ

Past Tense:

• училСЯ / училаСЬ / училиСЬ

This adheres to the literary norm of the language, and we recommend adhering to it. However, in some regions of Russia, you may encounter the use of the postfix -sya in all verb forms, as it aligns with common parlance.