russian word

to be silent, keep silent, say nothing in Russian: молчать

verbimperfectivelevel A2#813 by frequency

every form stress-marked · levels from the official TORFL lexical minimum

What does молчать mean in Russian?

Почему ты молчишь? Скажи хоть что-нибудь.

Why are you silent? Say at least something.

Все молчали, не зная, что ответить.

Everyone was silent, not knowing what to answer.

Он знал правду, но молчал об этом много лет.

He knew the truth, but kept quiet about it for many years.

Лучше молчи, иначе тебя ждут неприятности.

Better keep quiet, otherwise trouble awaits you.

This verb is imperfective: ongoing or repeated action. Its perfective partner, for a completed one-time result, is

замолчатьto fall silent, stop speakingperfective

Stress marks show the stressed vowel; it moves between forms more often than learners expect.

imperative
ты	молчи
вы	молчите

present activeмолчащий

past activeмолчавший

gerund (imperfective)молча

gerund (perfective)молчав

gerund (perfective)молчавши