Title: Verb Root Master List
Tags: u

Front: кидать / кинуть (-кидывать)

Front: гадать (-гадывать)
Back: to guess, conjecture, surmise, to divine

Front: строить (-страивать)
Back: to build, make, construct

Front: весить (-вешивать)
Back: to weigh, to hang
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: вешать - to hang (execute)

Front: ять, -нять / имать  (-ымать, -имать, -нимать)
Back: to take, grab
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: These are all no longer root words, but we retain many of their branch forms. So ять / имать is obsolete, but you'll see:
поднять / поднимать - to take up, i.e. "to raise" (archaic, poetic: подъять / подымать)
снять / снимать - take off (e.g. a hat)
объять / обымать, обнимать - take about, envelop; comprehend
внять / внимать - (stilted, poetic, literary) to hark, listen, heed ("take in"); from whence we get the frequently seen "внимательный" (attentive, focused in, mindful)
взять / взимать or взымать (or just брать) - literally "take up", grab, acquire (as opposed to "take away" or "take off")
изъять / изымать - to remove, to withdraw ("take out")
понять / понимать - take along, "to understand" [proposing that you take information on your journey :) ]
The associated noun for this tree is ём. (Compare related иметь)

Front: хромать (-храмывать) [хромой, хромота]
Back: to limp, to be lame; to be poor, far from perfect, not up to standard

Front: курить (-куривать)
Back: to smoke (e.g. tobacco, cigarettes)

Front: крутить (-кручивать)
Back: to twist, twirl, roll
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: скрутить / скручивать - to twist down > "to overpower, subdue, bring to submission"

Front: вернуть (-вёртывать); воротить (-ворачивать)
Back: to turn (the direction of something), roll, fold

Front: бросить / бросать (-брасывать)
Back: to throw, toss

Front: валить (-валивать)
Back: to heave, hurl, throw (heavily); to screw off

Front: одолеть / одолевать
Back: to overcome, to conqeur

Front: жать (жму, жмёшь, жмут; -жимать)
Back: to press, squeeze

Front: жать (жну, жнёшь, жнут; -жинать)
Back: to reap, to crop

Front: мелькать / мелькнуть (-мелькивать)
Back: to flash, flit, blip, be glimpsed

Front: мерцать
Back: to shimmer, twinkle, glimmer, flicker

Front: швырнуть / швырять (-швыривать)
Back: to toss, hurl, chuck, fling

Front: трясти / тряхнуть (-тряхивать or -трясать)
Back: to shake, quake, jolt

Front: Trees: imperfective root / root (imperfective branch -ывать/-ивать, or -ать/-ять)
Back: Cards are designed to give you the information to form the entire tree (see говорить card's image), just from information in the card.
The most common card (verb tree) is laid out like so:
1. Imperfective root verb (branch imperfective form)
2. English translation
3. Additional things of note, especially hard conjugations etc.
Otherwise, there is a pair:
imperfective / perfective (imperfective branch form)
Since Roots can reliably be distinguished for which aspect they are (according to the rules below and in "New Word Aspect Recognition & Pair Derivation"), they are listed in either aspect first, randomly.
-ить (-ивать)
Roots:
Where a '-нуть' root is alone, it may be imperfective.
Where "-нуть / -ать or -ять" occurs, -нуть always the perfective, e.g. perfective дрогнуть, imperfective дрожать.
Where "-ать / -ить" occurs, -ить is the imperfective, e.g. perfective пустить, imperfective пускать
This is often because "-ать" is an added, imperfectivizing suffix.
Look out for 'surrogate perfectives.' This is when an imperfective root is said to be paired with a very different looking perfective root: what has actually occured is that a prefixed root (therefore perfective) from a different tree has become a stand-in perfective. Note that the tree for such an odd pair is reliably formable from the imperfective root. For example,
говорить / сказать (imp. казать out of style)
ловить / поймать (по- plus a root related to the -имать / -ять in взять / взимать)
брать / взять (вз- + ять, now an obsolete word meaning take, related to имать, -нимать)
класть / положить (imp. ложить out of style)
I have put one of the verbs in a pair in parentheses at times, to show that the parenthetical form is a kind surrogate, so that you know that the tree in question is formed off of the other, e.g. (ложиться) / лечь (-легать), where ложиться is coming in from a different tree to fill that role, and for this tree, everything is based on -лечь / -легать, e.g. облечь / облегать, to cover (literally: to lay something 'about' something)
Lone -ить, -еть, -ать roots should be assumed imperfective (the default).
Some roots have underlying consonants (hidden by -сти or -нуть) which reemerge whenever these are removed, i.e. imperfective branches (having gained -ывать/-ивать, or -ать/-ять).
The bulk of card show:
imperfective -ить Root Verb (-ивать form which makes its imperfective branch)
The perfective branch is then formed with any old prefix put onto the Root Verb, where the prefix defines a 'criterion of completion state' necessary for perfectiveness (see Example Verb cards)
Branches:
Additional Notes section lists conjugations, useful, interesting, or strange Branch verbs and their meanings, or for some verbs, lists the few forms that can actually be made from the root.
Prefixes can vary in spelling due to voicing and consonant clusters: раз-, раc-, разо-; в-, во-; о-, об-, обо-; от-, ото-, etc. Keep in mind that the prefix will weave in and out of spellings as forms change, too: размять > я разомну
вы- is a prefix which always claims stressed-syllable status in the perfective. This distinguishes the Root Verb вы-conjugation from the Prefixed Forms вы-conjugation:
вы говорите (you all speak)
vs
выговорите (you all will express)
but since -ивать removes this necessity:
выговариваете (you all are expressing)
Otherwise, they would be confused in speech.
A root verb with a prefix added becomes perfective. With roots verbs that come in an aspectual pair, sometimes either root can be used for the branch perfectives, creating a doubled perfective branch (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/свистать#Russian). This is mostly something not to worry about, although the details are explained further below.
Some very short words (петь, деть, пить, лить, стать) are governed using -вать to make imperfectives.
Almost all verbs use -ывать/-ивать to form branch imperfectives (-иваю, -иваешь, -ивают), which always brings stress change to the syllable immediately preceding the -ивать, e.g. говор-ить > выговар-ивать (often words mutate during this, changing unstressed 'о' to stressed 'а', or revealing an underlying 'ё' when a previously unstressed 'е' gains stress). (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/жевать)
While every verb's -ывать/-ивать branch imperfective form is listed, the point is mainly that the verb gets that ending, rather than -ать/-ять (the part to learn with a new verb: -ывать or -ать?), because, apart from the odd mutation, the addition of -ывать/-ивать and the resulting form is wildly predictable, as you'll see. Technically, even the mutations can be intuited in many cases, with experience.
If a word is listed with no parenthetical, there appears to exist no imperfective branch for it. So, there is the root, and whatever perfectives can be made with prefixes, but no need generally to have gone any further and made a branch imperfective. Do not be surprised however if a writer forces any old word to gain по- + -ывать.
The suffix -ать is intrinsically stressed. In roots, where it is sometimes implicitly used, this is mostly reliable. In branch perfectives, this is totally reliable. No matter what, words that have indeed been suffixed with -ать are "-аю, -аешь, -ают" etc. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/высыпать#Russian)
Because of this and the way -ывать/-ивать works, the stressed syllable of imperfective branch verbs (which near-misses making up about half of the verbs you'll encounter!) is always predictable! Ура!
A few root verbs ending in "ать" are not actually stressed on this syllable (hypothetically because it's not the suffix "-ать"), but their branch forms are, indicating that -ать has been added overtop. For example, "sprinkle along," i.e. "to strew"
imperfective сыпать (я сыплю) > perfective посыпать (я посыплю)> imperfective посыпать (я посыпаю)
The adding of suffixes often induces mutation letters such as судить > -суживать, or цепить > -цеплять. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/любить)
Branch imperfectives are listed with a hiphen to denote that the form does not consitute a word on its own, but rather occurs with a prefix, e.g. -суживать > отсуживать, подсуживать, ссуживать. Sometimes, a historic root has lost function, and there remains only a pair of prefixable forms, perfective and imperfective, only seen with prefixes. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-скочить)
There are also instances where the root has essentially gone out of usage, but the many prefixed forms are frequent, e.g. казать (now an archaic word) gives us сказать, показать, заказать, оказаться, as well as сказывать (poetic), показывать, заказывать, оказываться.
Occasionally, the branch imperfectives can be made using different options, making a doubled imperfective branch (-суждать, -суживать). (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/сушить)
It is not inherently clear whether -ать was added before or after the prefix of a word (which would make it perfective or imperfective, respectively). This accounts for the prevelance of -ывать, -ивать, which does not have this problem. To avoid this pitfall, when in doubt, add your prefixes to the -ить or -нуть root, whenever roots occur in an -ать/-нуть or -ать/-ить pair.
Some special, common words (Basal Pairs or Quirky Pairs, whatever you want to call them, they deserve a specific name, and special attention to learn their list) have a special branch imperfective form, generally using an infixed -и-, and ending in the usual -ать. A few common ones, to see the pattern, are:
жать > -жимать,
мять > -минать
тереть > -тирать,
гнуть > -гибать,
мереть > -мирать,
слать > -сылать (я шлю, ты шлёшь and я посылаю, ты посылаешь)
брать > -бирать
спать > -сыпать (e.g. просыпаться - literally: to sleep oneself through, i.e. "wake up")
While the left-hand form has a wacky conjugation, the right hand ones will all have standard -ать ones.
Similarly, -чь words tend to reveal underlying constants in their conjugations, which are seen in their paired -ать forms.
мочь - помочь - помогать
я могу, помогу, помогаю
ты можешь
влечь - привлечь - привлекать
Я влеку, привлеку, привлекаю
ты влечёшь
сечь - отсечь - отсекать
Я секу,  отсеку, отсекаю
Ты сечёшь
In verbs with doubled perfective branches, the difference between the two perfectives is often that the -нуть/-ить/-еть one denotes singular instance (something -нуть is especially known for), while the -ать does not, perhaps emphasizing the prefix completion-state over 'one-timeness.' So, подсвистнул might mean a single whistle up at something, while подсвистел would simply emphasize that the whistling occured from below, and perhaps that it had gotten their attention (succeeded). Another example might be скинуть, to do a single throwing together action (one throw), versus скидать, to throw together (emphasizing that the "together" happened and is finished, although probably in many individual 'throws').
Я отбросил одежды на кровать, и потом... (It got thrown on the bed in one chuck.)
Я отбросал одежды на кровать, и потом... (It took multiple throws, but it got done.)
Я отбрасывал одежду на кровать, когда я заметил... (The action of throwing clothes to the side was occuring, when...)
If we're being completely accurate, -ывать -ивать can be added even to roots alone (rarely, with certain words). Its function is along the lines of "iterativity", multiple timed-ness (многократное действие). This is most relevant for motion verbs which tend to develop pretty complex trees. To illustrate, see the following words:
говаривать - многократное к "говорить" - to say multiple times. In past tense ~ "used to say"
певать - многократное к глаголу "петь"
бивать - многократное к "бить"
лёживать - многократное к "лежать"
слеживать - for следить
ганивать - гнать-гонять (whose tree doesn't even have -ивать)
You can use these forms when emphasizing the habituality or repeated quality of an action, rather than the doing of the action (as opposed to not doing of an act), and when also not interested in specifying any sort of completion criterion or specificity in the type of act (that is to say, сговорить is like a specific type of говорить). If you say "Don't care, just want the verbs raw action, but iterative.", use these, or just say много раз or something like that.
For obvious reasons, such forms are exceedingly rare in the present tense, often relegated to past tense.

Front: глядеть / глянуть (-глядывать)
Back: to look (attempt to see with eyes)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Stress of -глянуть based perfective branch moves to the -нуть, off of the 'я'.

Front: совать / сунуть (-совывать)
Back: to put, slip, stick, poke

Front: кончать / кончить  (-канчивать)
Back: to finish, end, conclude
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Unprefixed forms left mainly to sexual meaning, use о- or за-!

Front: сыпать (-ать)
Back: to pour (of solids, e.g. grains, sands, money)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: сыпать > обсыпать / обсыпать
обсыплю, обсыплешь, обсыплют
обсыпаю, обсыпаешь, обсыпают

Front: двинуть / двигать (-ать)
Back: to move (direct something to a position)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Note that stress contrasts aspect when using двигать for Branch forms: perf. продвигать / imp. продвигать (suffixed over with -ать), but also possible is perf. продвинуть.

Front: тянуть (-тягивать)
Back: to pull, draw, haul

Front: толкать / толкнуть (-талкивать)
Back: to push, to shove, to thrust

Front: лить (-ливать)
Back: to pour (liquids)

Front: помнить (-поминать)
Back: to remember, recollect, keep in mind

Front: звякнуть / звякать (-звякивать)
Back: to tinkle (make light clinking sounds)

Front: сопеть (-сапывать)
Back: to wheeze (make loud difficult breaths through nose), sniffle
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: соплю, сопишь, сопят

Front: хрипеть (-хрипывать)
Back: to wheeze, to speak hoarsely, to crackle
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: хриплю, хрипишь, хрипят

Front: свирепеть [свирепый]
Back: to grow vicious, furious, fierce
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Whenever an -еть verb is made from an adjective, as occurs here, in the meaning "to become that adjective", the conjugation is -ею, -еешь, -еют.

Front: -местить / -мещать [место]
Back: to place, to put, to move

Front: пустить / пускать (-пускать)
Back: to let, to allow, to permit

Front: ждать (-жидать)
Back: to wait

Front: тереть (-тирать)
Back: to rub, wipe
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: тру, трёшь, трут

Front: стирать (-стирывать)
Back: to clean, wash
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Came from тереть + с- + ать = imperfective (wipe down, wipe off). Now its own root, for its own tree.

Front: будить (-буждать)
Back: to wake, awake, waken

Front: делить (-делить / -делять)
Back: to divide, share
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Multiple prefixes can occur with this word at once: -ить always the perfective, -ять the imperfective.

Front: нырять / нырнуть
Back: to dive (to plunge into something headlong)

Front: звенеть (-звенивать)
Back: to ring, to jingle, to clink

Front: звонить (-званивать)
Back: to ring, to call (contact by telephone)

Front: звать (-зывать)
Back: to call, invite

Front: томить (-томлять)
Back: to weary, torment, languish

Front: копить (-капливать, -каплять)
Back: to accumulate, gather, amass, save up, conceal

Front: -скочить / -скакивать
Back: to jump (hop, leap)

Front: прыгать / прыгнуть (-прыгивать)
Back: to jump, spring, leap

Front: -шибить / -шибать
Back: to hit, hurt, smack

Front: ставить (-ставлять)
Back: to put, to place, to set

Front: карабкаться (-карабкиваться)
Back: to clamber, scramble

Front: метать / метнуть (-мётывать)
Back: to throw, to cast, to hurl

Front: плеснуть / плескать (-плёскивать)
Back: to splash (e.g. in water), to spill, to flutter (of flags, sails), to flail (arms)

Front: барахтаться
Back: to flounder, roll, wallow

Front: кормить (-кармливать)
Back: to feed, to maintain

Front: шатать / шатнуть (-шатывать)
Back: to sway, to rock, to stagger

Front: колыхать / колыхнуть (-колыхивать)
Back: to sway (rhythmically), to rock gently

Front: ловить / поймать (-лавливать)
Back: to catch, to trap, get hold of

Front: лежать  (-лёживать)
Back: to lie (in a horizontal position), to be situated

Front: (ложиться) / pf. лечь (-легать)
Back: to lay, to lie (be situated not standing)

Front: сидеть (-сиживать)
Back: to sit (intransitive)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: (See садить for transitive)

Front: садить, сажать (-саживать, -саждать)
Back: to sit (someone), to plant (something) (transitive. See сидеть for intransitive.)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: These are not a pair, both are potential roots, садить and сажать. Mostly садить is the main root, сажать is also possible, but because it causes branch-confusion, is less widespread, e.g. досажать is perfective, even though one might guess otherwise (see New Word Aspect Recognition card)

Front: виснуть (-висать)
Back: (intransitive) to hang (have a position off an edge)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: See весить for transitive.

Front: знать (-знавать)
Back: to know, be familiar with

Front: пугать / пугнуть (-пугивать)
Back: to frighten, to scare (someone something)

Front: -ветвить / -ветвлять
Back: to branch (e.g. of tunnels, structures)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: ветвь, ветка - branch

Front: рвать / рвануть (-рывать)
Back: to tear, to break

Front: драть (-дирать)
Back: to tear, pull, strip off
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: придраться \ придираться - to undeservedly find fault, to rebuke for small or apparent guilt; к чему, к кому

Front: -стигнуть or -стичь / -стигать
Back: to catch, reach, get up to

Front: плести (-плетать)
Back: to braid, to weave, to lace, to twine

Front: класть / (положить) (-кладывать, -лагать)
Back: Note that ложить is now a proscribed word. The branches that come from it, however, are perfectly ubiquitous. -лагать based imperfectives tend towards a bit more formality. This evidences the general story to help you remember: класть came into fashion pushing out ложить, in all sorts of spots in the tree.

Front: бить (-бивать)
Back: to beat

Front: падать / пасть (-падать)
Back: to fall (lose height), lots of similar figurative senses

Front: редеть (-реживать, -режать)
Back: to thin, to thin out [редкий]

Front: резать (-резать, -резывать)
Back: to cut, slice, carve
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: врезываться or врезаться / врезаться - "to cut oneself into" - also means "to collide with, run into"

Front: клонить (-клонять)
Back: to incline, to bend, to lean
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Distantly related to колено - "knee". Some forms refer to kneeling, but the Tree involves mostly "lean" based meanings.

Front: -слонить / -слонять
Back: to lean (set at an angle)

Front: менять / -менить (-менять)
Back: to change (switch forms, places, states)

Front: теснить (-теснять)
Back: to squeeze

Front: гаснуть (-гасать)
Back: to go out (of fire, lights), to die away

Front: влечь (-влекать)
Back: to attract, to draw

Front: Example Verb: лить - to pour
Back: полить - pour along (give a layer of liquid)
залить - pour beyond (pour beyond a reasonable point, i.e. flood)
отлить - pour off (remove a small amount by pouring)
влить - pour in (insert somewhere by pouring)
вылить - pour out (remove from somewhere by pouring)
пролить - pour through (mistakenly pour out)
долить - pour unto (add to something by pouring; pour reaching a specific extent)
прилить - pour to (add a little bit by pouring)
улить - pour at (pour all over a point, completely pour over; e.g. so as to put out a fire)
излить - pour forth (вылить but tends towards poetic meanings)
разлить - pour apart, pour out (distribute or spread apart by pouring; spill by over pouring)
налить - pour up, pour on (fill by pouring, fill up to a particular amount, pour on the surface of)
подлить - pour up (add by pouring, emphasising no longer lesser, no longer lower amount)
облить - pour about (pour on all sides, cover all around by pouring)
перелить - pour across (pour from one to another; to pour too much; re-pour anew, pour again)
слить - pour off; pour with, pour together (to pour off a surface; to combine by pouring)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Ask yourself, what really is, how big is, and what is the purpose of the difference between "pour in" and "pour up" and "pour

Front: *по-
Back: along
1. Along some kind of length
2. For an arbitrary time limit ("for some time")
3. An arbitary amount of the course of the action makes it 'along' its way (arbitrary directionality)
4. Arbitrary amount of action started along its way (beginning of action emphasized, starting)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Compare the phrases
"He whistled along down the street." (1 and 2)
"He pulled along a cart behind him." (3)
"After that, he went along." (4) Arbitrary directionality naturally starts to include a deemphasis in direction or course, and to take up emphasis on the basic beginning of movement.
Sense 3 is one of the best and quickest ways to understand the meaning and usage of пойти--de-emphasis on directionality, emphasis on "along-its-way", whatever that may be.

Front: *c(о)-
Back: together (with) // down (off)
1a. (from с+gen) off of a surface
1b. downward
2a. (from c+instr) combining by the action
2b. something coming together or forming together by the action (product emphasis)
3. (c- + -ся) mutual convergence
cкидывать / cкинуть - throw down, throw off; throw together
сорвать / срывать - rip off,  pluck. Он сорвал покрытие подарка.
составить / составлять - put with, put together, stack (things together), compose, gather
столкнуть / сталкивать - to push off or away, push together.
слить / сливать - to pour together; to pour off a surface, pour off the top (to separate). .
сговорить / сговаривать - converge by speaking, come to agreement
смять / сминать - (from c+inst) squeeze into a lump; (from с+gen) to squeeze down (e.g. driving over grass)
сжать / сжимать - press together (e.g. teeth, enemy forces)
созывать or сзывать / созвать - call together (e.g. a town)
согласиться / соглашаться [голос - voice] - voice oneself together with, i.e. to agree
Обстоятельства столкнули их вместе. Он столкнул вора, и убежал.
Дождь слилась с крыш. Давайте сливаем эти бутылки в один большой стакан.
"Ад и Земля сольються воедино." (into one, together)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: What's the deal with multi-meaning prefixes? Most prefixes come with a short list of meanings, which are generally tangled together, and derived in a series, from physical to abstract. с-, however, has two completely different physical meanings in play which can be hard to parse.

Front: *раз-
Back: apart, out (all over), dis-, between
1. Divergence, or happening in multiple/different destinations or directions (2 is enough)
2. Spreading apart
3. (of emotional verbs) arising, growing, emerging: "to become" (злить / разозлить; сердить / рассердить)
рассмотреть / рассматривать - to look apart, to look in detail, to look in order to discern parts or details
разложить / разлагать (or раскладывать) - to lay out, lay apart, spread out, place out; to separate
разлить / разливать - to pour apart, separate pouring, to pour so much it spills over edges in all directions
разговорить / разговаривать - speaking in both directions, speaking that has a listener, rather than the mere act of speaking говорить
растерять / растеривать - to lose everything of much of what one had; to lose bit by bit (lose in every which direction)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: "По-русски разговариваешь?" isn't merely asking "Can you engage in production (in a void)?" (говорить по-русски)--it's "Do you convese in both directions?"

Front: *у-
Back: away, at, tó (stressed form, see examples)
1. Emphasis on a particular proximity, spot, area, where action occurs (conveying aimedness, or catching)
2. Emphasis that action has moved out of particular spot or proximity (disappearence)
уйти / уходить - going left this proximity, i.e. to leave
урваться / урываться - tear away
уставить / уставлять - to place or set a space (уставить что чем, уставить что куда)
улить / уливать - excessively pour, pour over completely (i.e. fill up the space)
упасть / упадать - to fall (out of intended area) (this is so often meant by "it fell" that упасть is considered default perfective of падать)
уложить / улагать (or укладывать) - place within certain limits, a certain way, or covering a certain space (place to bed, fix one's hair)
углядеть / углядывать - to spot, "to see at a spot", "to look to upon something."
ухватить / ухватывать - to "grasp at," catch
унять / унимать - to take to (a baby), calm, quiet soothe

Front: *за-
Back: over, beyond, into
1. Beyond a point of reference (behind it); to cover over by action (action back-around) ["paint over"]
2. Beyond an entrance point ("in", emphasing "showing up" rather than act of entering) ["come over"]
3. Beyond a point of reference (extremeness) [equivilants in English ambiguous with пере-]
4. (esp. sound verbs) to start action
(You can search the cards for each of these roots to compare)
закинуть / закидывать - throw over (cover by throwing something)
забить / забивать - to beat in (e.g. a nail); or, to stuff (one's mouth)
заколотить / заколачивать - to hammer over (close something off by nailing boards over); to insert by pounding; to begin pounding
закрутить / закручивать - start to spin; to spin something into something (e.g. scew)
захватить / захватывать - "take over"
заглянуть / заглядывать - look into, look deep into the details
заткнуться / затыкаться - to shut up (almost literally: to stuff it) "Заткнись!"
открыть / открывать versus закрыть / закрывать - to cover off (open), to cover over (close)
зажать / зажимать - to press over (зажимать рот рукой)
зайти / заходить - not merely "go behind" but "go over"
засомневаться - to begin to doubt
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Do not think of за primarily as "behind"! This is a mistake in the history of translating this word. It is "beyond" or "over," as in "over those hills" or "beyond those hills." This being the central meaning clarifies how за- the prefix manages to encompass the meanings that it does, keeping in mind of course, these are not one-to-one equivilants ("over" in phrasal verbs often coindices with пере-, for instance). One has to parse the meaning of the English prepositions into multiple parts to organize the connections. "Over" in the sense (one must imagine things physical-visually, from whence language emerged non-relativistically) of a path which extends above, beyond, and landing on the other side of something--that is the sense of за- which explains it meaning "behind," while also meaning "extremely", "into", and eventually "start to." We even say, at times, in English "To go to the store over bread" or "start a war over an argument", which incorporates other aspects of за-, and explains why they share the same word.
Use this image to imagine the connection between за's meanings, and what a verb might mean.
"over", "behind", "beyond"
covering a distance, reaching a point, passing it, revealing oneself to the other side, revealing the other side to oneself
"солнце заходит за горы (acc)" - The sun is going (to) over the mountains (going behind the mountains)
but also
"заходите сюда еще раз" - "Come over (here) again"
"over", therefore, in strictly physical meanings with motion verbs means either "behind (over)" or "to our side of something (over)", that is, "showing up somewhere." Really, both meanings are the same, Russian uses other parts of the sentence to specify whether the "over" is 'to' or 'fro.'

Front: *в(о)-
Back: in, into
1. Entrance, insertion
[2. For words referring to 'standing up' (as if a sitting person must stand up to 'enter' in the discussion)]
вкидывать / вкинуть - throw into
ворваться / врываться - tear into, rush into, burst in, enter by force
вставить / вставлять - insert, put in
втолкнуть / вталкивать - push in, shove in, cram
влить / вливать - pour in, instill
вскочить / вскакивать - to jump up, to stand up quickly
встать / вставать - to arise, to stand up

Front: *при-
Back: up to, to
1. Arrival
2. Small approach, small addition, small action
поднять / поднимать - to raise; приподнять / приподнимать - to raise a little bit
прилить / приливать - add a little by pouring; arrive by flowing "Кровь прилила к лицу."
приставить / приставлять - to place up to, place against "Приставил пистолет к голове"

Front: *от-
Back: off, away, back
1. Small departure, addition of small distance
2. Removal of small amount
3. (sometimes with +ся) cessation of action, or removal of self from something
оторвать / отрывать - tear off, rip off, detach by pulling or tugging
оторваться / отрываться - detach oneself (used to describe shifting attention off something, with effort)
откинуться / откидываться - to throw oneself off, to roughly lean back
When an verb refers to an action that has no direction, and only occurs at a short distance, you can bet that от- is likely to mean "finish doing", since movement off would mean the creation of a distance across which it can't occur.
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: By imagining a natural emphasis on that which is right in front of us (where our eyes and hands point, and so our attention), "off" or 'от' can mean "back" since it is "off from the thing in front" implicitly.

Front: *на-
Back: up, upon
1. Up to a surface (onto a surface)
2. Into contact with a surface (bumping into, collision)
3. Up to a certain amount (emphasizes a quantity)
написать / написывать - to write (an amount)
напиться / напиваться - to drink one's fill, to get drunk
налететь / налетать - come flying to somewhere, to fly into (e.g. a wall)
найти / находить - to walk upon, to come upon, i.e. to find
наговорить / наговаривать - to speak much of something (quantity emphasis); to falsely accuse someone

Front: *о(бо)-
Back: about, around, mis-
1. About or around something
2. Including all sides
3. (+ся) mistaken action (probably from об+ acc, meaning "upon, up against)
4. Downward (synonymous with one sense of с-
оглянуть or оглядеть / оглядывать - to look about something, look at all sides
оглядеться, оглянуться / оглядываться - to look about oneself, i.e. look round, to look behind
ослышаться / -- - to mishear, to hear incorrectly
оговориться / оговариваться - to mispeak, make a mistake in speech (wrong word etc.)
ошибиться / ошибаться - (to bump up against oneself) to be mistaken

Front: *про-
Back: past, through
1. Through the points along a line
2. Through the point of interest > accidentally beyond point > mistaken action
3. To engage in through a specific length of time (emphasizes non-arbitrary length)
прорезать / прорезать - cut through (from one end of something to the other)
прокарабкаться / прокарабкиваться - to scramble past (through)
пролить / проливать - to spill (something), etc.

Front: *пере-
Back: across, over
1. Between two emphasis points (especially crossing 'over' a border between)
2. From one instance of action, crossing into another (to do something again, redo something)
3. Crossing the point of interest, doing something too much
пересмотреть / пересматривать - to rewatch, to watch again, to watch over (and over)
перелить / переливать - (1) pour from one container, to another, (3) overpour, to pour up too much, more than the needed amount (2) to empty and fill again anew
переполнить / переполнять - fill up / fill over, above a certain measure-- to overfill
перекричать / перекрикивать - to shout over, to shout loud enough to drown out other sounds
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Meaning 2 is one of the more ad hoc prefixes in use: you can fairly reliably add that to whatever and it will work. It may be odd and creative and non-standard, but it will 'work.'

Front: Sound Verbs: The Three Common Perfectives
Back: Imperfective Unprefixed Root, and
по- : To do for an arbitrary amount of time (for a bit, for some time, a while)
за- : To begin
про- : To do for a specific amount of time (all night, all class period, the whole conversation etc.)
Each of these is liable to be met, of course, in a branch perfective form.
It is very common to see simple verbs put into present-active-adverb-participle form ("Doing his, he did this.", ofset by commas), with one of these added. So instead of "пищая" (squeaking; emphasing merely that the action was occuring, no reference to time), you're much more likely to see попискивая (same root, underlying -к-), meaning "squeaking", but with an added sense of having some nonspecific length in time over which action occured. Such words may frequently not be found in any English dictionary, and are reliably createable on-the-fly.

Front: Example Verb: писать - to write
Back: написать / написывать - to write a certain amount (a book, a message, a paragraph) (This is considered 'the perfective' mostly because that is the way we tend to speak about writing, in particular. That is the emphasis we tend to have in mind. But not always:)
пописать / пописывать - to write for an arbitrary amount of time
прописать / прописывать - to write through the course of some amount of time
подписать / подписывать - to write beneath an additional bit (e.g. to sign, subscribe)
отписать / отписывать - to finish writing, to inform by message (send 'off' writing)
переписаться / переписываться - mutual writing across, i.e. to exchange letters, write back and forth
уписать / уписывать - to find space for something written in a given space, to fill a space with writing
дописать / дописывать - finish writing, to write unto some kind of limit
приписать / приписывать - to write a bit in addition on the side to something written, etc...

Front: Prefix Usage Guide - Philosophy of Language Learning
Back: Recognition is easiest - noticing that a verb is prefixed. This leads to exposure to examples, which leads to having understood examples, which leads to unconscious generalization: an intuition for meanings, both in production and in comprehension, that is, the ability to get a sense for the prefixes in new words without a dictionary, thus unlocking over half of the verbs on a page. Production, of course, will always be harder, and involve awkward mistakes.
What is "the perfective" of a verb? As you can see in the Example Verb sections, the whole idea is somewhat questionable. There is, in some sense, no such thing. There are many perfectives made from their own prefixes, and sometimes, especially the more advanced and abstract the word, there is a default or most common prefix, but in reality this is nothing terribly official. This means that exposure to lots of input is necessary to get a sense for what the best perfective would be. Instead of rote memorization of a pair, this means coming to really understand what's being done when there is a particular perfective to use, over others.
"Completion" or "single-instance" are perfective qualities, yes, but for most verbs out there, such states aren't inherently conceivable. Instead, they get perfectivity from the frame added by a prefix.
Lots of the words in this list are not ones you would want to try to add prefixes to yourself, but it is a central task in reading Russian text, which hasn't been pre-prepared for you, to be able to recognize, parse, and surmise the meaning of novel words based on their parts. Once you can do this, you can read fluidly, even after only learning a couple hundred roots (a far cry from the tens of thousands of vocab words that the standard model suggest you need); once you can read fluidly, you have an infinite amount of mostly comprehensible (and engaging) language input, which you can use to come across all the different forms you might want to use, in context of sentences, and in the context of narratives, all of which helps to specify and maintain memory.
Verbs are not only the center of syntax for sentences, but they are probably also the main players in forming "context." They provide the meat of the mental image produced by "understanding." Because of this, a person who has learned many nouns can only guess (and therefore learn without looking up, read without stopping) so many verbs (often you'll have no chance of this at all), but by contrast, a person who has learned many verbs not only has access to the morphological root ("качалка looks like its from качать!"-each meaning has its group of nouns, verbs, adjectives etc made for it, and so the meaning can be accessed through entry by any of the parts of speech; though, perhaps most effectively through the door of "verbs"), they also can manage to create a mental image of an unfolding story, which gives much stronger clues for the nouns in the sentence! Compare:
"He walked over to the ___, moved to the side a ____, and looked closely at the ______, in order to plan his ____."
vs
"He _____ to the table, ______ a mug, _____ at the map, in order to ____ his journey."
Which of these provides a more understandable, engaging mental image? Which makes you feel more confident to move on to the next sentence? Which gives you the best basis for understanding that next sentence? Which tells a story? Which has blanks that are easier to guess?
I propose the former. (Our psychology probably defines nouns in the first place by way of action and verb, so there is yet further reason to put in the primary focus VERBS)
Combine this with the fact that there are a small number of verbs used in a disproportionate number of sentences no matter the topic (which cannot be said quite the same about nouns, where topics can really, really change the set of words: people are always getting on, getting off, saying, noticing, being afraid, picking up and putting down, but just imagine the difference between the vocab involved in a library, versus a warzone, or a hospital!), and the right technique becomes clear: Learn verbs. Then you can parse the key elements of sentences, and the rest (nouns) can be accessed through contextualized experience. If somebody "picks something up to cut"-in a hospital you can guess "scalpel", library guess "scissors", warzone guess "knife."
Plus, you can express yourself far more versatilely with a handful of verbs, than with a handful of nouns.
Further, on the average page, the vast majority of verbs are, so to speak, native Russian (говорить doesn't look at all like "speak"), whereas its quite a bit more likely that a noun you run across on a given page may be a loan word, resembling something you can guess like "лифт" (a lift, elevator)
 (As if, people have been doing the same things everywhere and forever, just with different objects.)
Now, one could argue the opposite, and say "How many actions do you do with coffee" Pour, sip, drink, heat. Maybe a few others. How many objects might you "hit"? Too many possibilities to list! Thus nouns can, in some instances, be impossible to guess, and verbs actually somewhat easy. While this is true, I still suspect, в конце концов, the preceding argument holds more weight in the process of trying to read on one's own.
Once you know 30 verbs with the prefix за-, and the 30 root-verbs that those are made out of, then you can come to get a sense of the meanings of за-, when which meaning applies, and how the word formation process occurs. But this requires learning root verbs, and prefixes, in two separate acts. In the traditional model, you may be given 100 words that are prefixed with за-, but never given the roots in isolation, so it is next to impossible to get a feel for the prefix in isolation (and therefore, to generalize it). One could easily miss that засыпаться is derived from спать.
Some prefixes are easier than others. The ones used most easily for ad hoc creation, on-the-fly invention, are probably по- and пере-. You can immediately be confident that you can slap пере- on a verb of your choosing to say "re-do", "re-watch", "re-think," or по- to mean "for a little bit, for some time." But even this varies, and пере- will not always result in the intended sense in the listener.
On the other end of the spectrum might be "про-" in the meaning of 'mistakenly.' As far as I am aware right now, it is not likely to make sense doing this randomly on one's own. Instead, use this knowledge to help remember encountered instances of that meaning.
Many meanings of prefixes, even when they have multiple, are so stable that you can assume that a verb prefixed with по- could mean "arbitrary time limit" even if dictionaries do not list this as one of the meanings. It is possible, and happens more than you think! Without this system, you might be at a loss - "There's no dictionary entry for it!". With this system, you can confidently keep reading and understanding, having not even checked a dictionary, and seemlessly enjoyed the compact artfull conveyence of meaning that is the великий могучий русский язык.
Some verb-trees are easier than others. They can equate very closely to phrasal verbs in English: cut off, cut through, cut out, cut in, cut away, cut across. Others, however, are harder to understand the connection between the root and its prefixed forms. Attempts can and should be made to understand these as two meanings, prefix and root, separately added together, even though this is difficult and often seemingly fruitless, because such an act radically increases memorability (by virtue of being a moderately less arbitrary "mind-palace"), and bolsters one's sense of the prefix.
Although the prefix cards make an effort to point out the supreme similarity, larger than you might suspect, between English phrasal verbs and Russian prefixed verbs, fundamentally at the end of the day it's not precisely so much about translating words and finding equivilants, as it is about seeing the image-embodied experiential-sensory contents: stories-expressed by the word in Russian. A word, which is a tool-package of such contents. Разлить по кружкам - should this be equated to "Pour apart", "pour between"? Perhaps a relevant question. But what is definitely important is that you can acquire from the phrase the intended image: Someone pouring a single container of liquid into multiple, as they would for a set of guests etc.

Front: тесать (-тёсывать)
Back: to cut by axe, to hew, to shave a layer (with an axe)

Front: лизать / лизнуть (-лизывать)
Back: to lick

Front: брать / (взять) (-бирать)
Back: to take; (+ся) to take oneself somewhere, to get somewhere

Front: рыть (-рывать)
Back: to dig, burrow

Front: копать / копнуть (-капывать)
Back: to dig

Front: хватить / хватать (-хватывать)
Back: to seize, grasp, snatch;
(impersonal) to suffice, to be enough
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: For second sense: кому, или у кого, хватит чего

Front: ткнуть / тыкать (-тыкать)
Back: to poke, to stick, jab, prod; to hit
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: спотыкаться / споткнуться - to jab oneself along, with something, i.e. to be going along, and smack oneself with something: "to trip" or "stumble"

Front: стегать (-стёгивать)
Back: to whip, to zip (e.g. backpack), buckle (e.g. of a coat), fasten (of buttons), quilt

Front: кричать / крикнуть (-крикивать)
Back: to yell, shout

Front: орать
Back: to yell, bawl, (coll.) to laugh

Front: жевать (-жёвывать)
Back: to chew (grind with teeth)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: жую, жуёшь, жуют

Front: беречь (-берегать)
Back: to guard, to take care of, to keep safe

Front: хранить (-хранять)
Back: to keep (maintain possession of), preserve, store, guard, save, protect

Front: тронуть / трогать (-трагивать)
Back: to touch (contact, also emotionally, also 'touch off' as in start moving)

Front: дрогнуть / дрожать (-драгивать)
Back: to shiver, shake, tremble

Front: косить (-кашивать) (1)
Back: to mow (systematically cut in large amounts)

Front: косить (-кашивать) (2)
Back: to twist, to slant, to squint

Front: коснуться / касаться (-касаться)
Back: to touch (make physical contact with), to concern (have relevance to)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: соприкоснуться / соприкасаться - to come into contact with, to touch, to be contiguous
касаться чего, касающийся чего-то

Front: кашлять / кашлянуть (-кашливать)
Back: to cough

Front: калечить (-калечивать)
Back: to maim, cripple, mutilate; pervert, twist, warp

Front: шипеть (-шипывать)
Back: to hiss (steady crackling sound)

Front: смотреть (-сматривать)
Back: to watch, to look at

Front: гладить (-глаживать) [гладкий]
Back: lit. to smooth, to iron (clothes), to pet (animals), to stroke [smooth]

Front: печатать (-печатывать)
Back: to print, to type, to seal (stamp)

Front: равнять (-равнивать) [равный]
Back: to equalize, equate [equal]

Front: кипеть (-кипать)
Back: to boil, to seethe, to burn

Front: пялиться
Back: to stare, to gaze

Front: пялить (-пяливать)
Back: to stretch, to stretch tight; (idiomatic) пялить глаза - to stare

Front: жечь (-жигать)
Back: to burn (apply fire)

Front: палить (-паливать, or -палять)
Back: to singe, destroy with fire, scorch, to fire (discharge a gun)

Front: стрелять / стрельнуть (branches: pf. -стрелить / imp. -стреливать)
Back: to shoot (to fire a weapon)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: пристрелить - to shoot down (i.e. to shoot a plane to the ground)
отстрелить - to shoot something off
застрелить - to shoot (beyond key reference point, i.e. to kill by shooting)

Front: *под-
Back: up, under, down
1. Action occuring under ("upward")
2. Action aiming under ("downward"), or low down
3. Action as if underneath, following along, or supporting in tandum
4. Action that is subversive, secretive, or subtle
поддержать / поддерживать- to hold under, i.e. to support
подбросить / подбрасывать - to throw upward; to throw beneath; to secretly place something or plant fake evidence (e.g. drugs)
поднять / поднимать - to raise up, "to take up"
подсказать / подсказывать - to help someone pronounce something by saying it correctly quietly or subtly
поддакнуть / поддакивать - to utter affirmative words or sounds in conversation as a token that the listener is following along or agreeing
подвыть / подвывать - to howl in echo another's howling; to howl or wail at a low drone, weakly
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Because с- already takes up many meanings of "down", you'll rarely see this mean "to under" or "down" and much more often see its other sense, "upward" (since воз- is out of style for that, there was a job opening)

Front: держать (-держивать)
Back: to hold, to have in hands, to grasp

Front: крепить (-креплять) [крепкий]
Back: to fasten, secure, to strengthen [strong, robust]

Front: разить (-ражать)
Back: to strike, to hit, -flict, -flect
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: возразить / возражать - to strike up, i.e. to object, to protest
отразить / отражать - to strike off, i.e. reflect (e.g. mirror), ward off
заразить / заражать - to strike into, i.e. to infect (with disease), to contaminate
 - / подражать - to imitate, to copy, to ape (see *под-)
выразить / выражать - to strike out (from within), i.e. to express, to convey
поразить / поражать - to strike along, i.e. to amaze, to stagger, to affect
сразить / сражать - strike down (defeat)
сражение - con-flict, a battle
разразить / разражать - to strike out (in many directions), to burst out (of war, into tears, laughter)

Front: *воз-
Back: up, above (also вз-, вос, вс)
1. Upward movement, arising
2. (especially for movements that first went downward) re-, again, bring back up (returnment)
3. Old prefix, not very in use, and so, remains with some poetic or antiquated forms
вспомнить / вспоминать - recall, to bring back up into memory
воссесть / восседать - dated/ironic way of saying "sit" (solemnly)
восстановить / восстанавливать - renew, renovate, reconstruct, restore
возникнуть / возникать - arise, appear, emerge, spring up
взять / взимать or взымать (or just брать) - literally "take up", grab, acquire (as opposed to "take away" or "take off")
взметнуть or взметать / взмётывать - to hurl up (upwards)

Front: стонать  (-станывать)
Back: to moan, to groan
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: -ну, -онешь, -онут

Front: льстить (-льщать)
Back: to flatter (adulate, compliment)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: кому чем

Front: манить (-манивать)
Back: to beckon, to wave; to attract, lure, entice

Front: -мкнуть / -мыкать
Back: to close, to lock, to join (of a formation to lose a gap or opening, e.g. a circle, a military unit)

Front: махать / махнуть (-махивать)
Back: to wave (e.g. hand, kerchief, flag), to flap, to brandish

Front: колоть (-калывать)
Back: to stab, thrust, prick, cleave
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: колю, колешь, колют

Front: растить (-ращивать)
Back: to grow (something)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Contrast against "расти". This word is as in "I grow flowers" (transtive).

Front: *вы-
Back: out (from within)
1. Emergence
2. The consequence of emergence, i.e. exhaustion or emptying
3. Emergence of a pattern
выпить / выпивать - to drink (something empty)

Front: зреть (-зирать)
Back: (most forms archaic) to watch, to look at
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: зрю, зришь, зрят

Front: зреть (-зревать)
Back: ripen, mature

Front: метить (-мечать)
Back: to mark, label
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: наметить / намечать - "mark up", put on markings/labels

Front: крыть (-крывать)
Back: to cover

Front: слушать (-слушивать)
Back: to listen
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: вслушаться / вслушиваться - to listen in, listen attentively
заслушаться / заслушиваться - to be engrossed listening, to be sucked in listening
прислушаться / прислушиваться - to listen in (e.g. ear 'up to' a door)
наслушаться / наслушиваться - to hear one's fill, to hear plenty

Front: *недо-
Back: 1. Under-, insufficiently, poorly, without reaching intended point
недослушать / недослушивать - to listen inattentively, in part, or not to the end

Front: Example Verb: пить - to drink
Back: выпивать / выпить - to drink (something out, empty by drinking) (This is considered 'the perfective' mostly because that is the way we tend to speak about 'drinking', in particular. That is the emphasis we tend to have in mind. But not always:)
напить - to drink a certain amount (a bottle, a 12-pack, a whole bar)
пропить - to drink for a certain amount of time, to drink through (spend money on drinking) etc.
Here's a rather forced example:
Мы напили все три бутылки. (Wow, how much you drank!)
Мы пропили весь день все три бутылки. (Wow, how long it took!)
Мы выпили все три бутылки. (Wow, all three are empty!)
This example illustrates the non-vital quality the prefixes can take on. They mean things, but more than half the time the meaning can be scrounged up from the context, when the prefix can't be deciphered.

Front: пнуть / пинать (-пинать)
Back: to kick (hit with foot)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: запнуться / запинаться - lit. to kick oneself over, i.e. to trip over something, to stumble (о что, на чём)

Front: тискать / тиснуть (-тискивать)
Back: to squeeze, snuggle, print
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: протискиваться - to squeeze/elbow one's way through (e.g. a crowd)

Front: мотать (-матывать)
Back: to wind, to reel; to wave or shake

Front: чинить (-чинивать, -чинять) (1)
Back: to repair, to fix; to sharpen

Front: чинить (-чинять) (2)
Back: to administer, to give place

Front: гореть (-горать)
Back: to burn (instr.), to be alight, on fire, to gleam

Front: судить (-суживать, -суждать)

Front: сосать (-сасывать)
Back: to suck

Front: гнуть (-гибать)
Back: to bend

Front: давить (-давливать; potentially -давлять)
Back: to weigh, press, apply pressure, to crush

Front: imp. гнать and  imp. гонять
Back: Motion verb imperfective doublet, forms the tree:
гнать (-гонять)
to chase, drive

Front: слать (-сылать)

Front: мять (-минать)
Back: to rumple, crumple, wrinkle, knead
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Contrast meaning against жать (press). Мять > я мну, ты мнёшь, они мнут.

Front: грести (-гребать)
Back: to rake, row, scrape, scull, shovel

Front: говорить (-говаривать)

Front: деть / девать (-девать)
Back: to put, to place, to do with, mislay

Front: любить (-люблять)
Back: to love

Front: качать / качнуть (-качивать)
Back: to rock, shake, toss; to pump (move through pipes)

Front: красть (-крадывать)
Back: to steal
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: -аду, -адёшь, -адут

Front: веять (-веивать, -вевать)
Back: to blow gently, drift, wave or flutter

Front: pf. купить (-купать)
Back: to buy
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Infrequent case of a lone -ить Root Verb being perfective. Rest of tree looks as expected.

Front: варить (-варивать)
Back: to cook, to boil, to brew

Front: мерить (-мерять, -меривать)
Back: to find size of something (e.g. use a ruler, try on clothes), to measure

Front: морить (-маривать)
Back: to kill, exterminate, exhaust

Front: марать (-марывать)
Back: to soil, stain, dirty, sully, tarnish

Front: -речь / -рекать
Back: to say, to speak (in high register contexts)

Front: рубить (-рубать)
Back: to axe, to chop, to hack

Front: спорить (-спаривать)
Back: to argue, to dispute, discuss, fight

Front: следовать (-следовать)
Back: to follow, to go after (perfective/imperfective identical)

Front: следить (-слеживать)
Back: to watch, follow, spy; to leave footprints

Front: вязать (-вязывать)
Back: to tie, to bind

Front: царапать / царапнуть (-царапывать)
Back: to scratch, to scrape, to scrawl, to scribble

Front: сечь (-секать)
Back: to cut, to chop, to slash, to cleave; to catch on, to get (understand)

Front: прятать (-прятывать)
Back: to conceal, to hide (transitive)

Front: -становить / -станавливать or -становлять
Back: to stand, to place, set up

Front: дохнуть / дыхать (-дыхать)
Back: to breathe

Front: -прячь / -прягать
Back: to stretch; to harness [compare imperative of прятать]

Front: хвалить (-хваливать, -хвалять)
Back: to compliment, to praise

Front: стать / становаиться (-ставать)
Back: to become, to stand, to start
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: остаться / оставаться - to remain, to be left
достать / доставать - to get, to take out, retrieve, to attain, obtain
встать / вставать - to arise, to stand up (of people)
восстать / восставать - to arise, rebel, revolt

Front: никнуть (-никать)
Back: to hang down, wither, droop*
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: *Very odd word to try to define,
Few main uses are:
проникнуть / проникать - to penetrate, perforate, permeate
возникнуть / возникать - to arise, appear, emerge, to spring up "Возник вопрос... Кто я такой?"
вникнуть / вникать - to penetrate, to delve into, to consider carefully

Front: вонять (-ванивать)
Back: to stink, to reek

Front: цвести (-цветать)
Back: to bloom, blossom, flower

Front: волочь (-волакивать)
Back: (coll.) to drag, to haul

Front: решить / решать (-решать)
Back: to solve, to settle, to decide, resolve

Front: искать (-искивать)
Back: to look for, to search
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: искать чего, что. ищу, ищешь, ищут. Spelled with -ы- after prefixes ending in hard consonants.

Front: мешать (-мешивать)
Back: to stir, mix, blend; hinder, interfere

Front: платить (-плачивать)
Back: to pay (give money)

Front: грузить (-гружать)
Back: to load (a file on a computer, a truck with cargo, a thing with things etc.)

Front: лечить (-лечивать)
Back: to heal

Front: винтить  (-винчивать)
Back: to screw (a screw, a bottlecap, lid)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: отвинтить

Front: брести (-бредать)
Back: to stroll, plod, walk (slowly, casually, or aimlessly)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Technically a unidirectional motion verb; compare multidirectional бродить.

Front: щупать (-щупывать)
Back: to feel, probe, grope (to use hands in order to feel)

Front: пискнуть / пищать (-пискивать)
Back: to squeak, to peep

Front: вить (-вивать)
Back: to create (something) by twisting or weaving
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: привить / прививать - vaccinate, innoculate
развить / развивать - to develop (grow and evolve)

Front: пихать / пихнуть (-пихивать)
Back: (coll.) to shove, push, elbow

Front: расти (-растать)
Back: to grow (e.g. of plants or people), to increase (e.g. numbers)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Past tenses: рос, росло, росла, росли

Front: топить (-тапливать)
Back: to heat, to stoke (an oven); to melt (fat)

Front: топить (-топлять)
Back: to sink, to drown (something)

Front: тонуть (-топать)
Back: to drown (in), to wallow

Front: топать / топнуть (-топывать)
Back: to stomp, to stamp one's foot

Front: терять (-теривать)
Back: to lose (no longer have)

Front: путать (-путывать)
Back: to tangle, mix up, confuse

Front: калить (-каливать)
Back: to incandesce, to heat, to roast

Front: дёргать / дёрнуть (-дёргивать)
Back: to pull, tug, twitch, jerk

Front: мазать (-мазывать)
Back: Actions to do with a viscous liquid being moved, applied, etc.
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Better than a definition, see some of the more specified prefixed meanings:
смазать / смазывать - apply grease; wipe off; to blur a photo; to diminish clarity
замазать

Front: выть (-вывать)
Back: to howl, to wail

Front: *до-
Back: unto, until, up to, out (finish)
1. Emphasizes the removal of final distance to some aim, point, place, space, level
2. Emphasizes reaching a goal, measure
3. Pre- (before)
допить / допивать - drink till the end (notice that this emphasizes reaching the end after a process, in contrast to выпить which emphasizes emptying of the drink. It's a very slight difference, not the end of the world!)
долить / доливать - to add by pouring (reaching, say, a particular amount)
допечь / допекать - to bake unto the necessary amount, to reach doneness in baking (emphasizes reaching an amount, whereas напечь emphasizes amount merely in the sense of quantity or extent, whether it be correct or surprising)
дожечь / дожигать - to burn until the end (e.g. a candle)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: The abstract meanings of prefixes are conceivably later derivatives of the realm of physical, movement meanings they have. до- often can mean physically something is done unto something (generally carrying a sense of 'small addition'), or it can mean something was done unto an amount. The same verb, like with all prefixes, can mean any of the options, depending on context. One useful rule of thumb is that if the clause (sentence) you find the prefixed verb in contains the a preposition (e.g. перейти через, налить на, вбить в, дойти до, вбить из, отойти к), you can suspect the physical meaning (often listed first in this deck). Without a prepositional phrase, which generally describe movement directions, the prefix is more likely to not be describing movement, but rather the more abstact senses of the prefix (e.g. за- as extreme action, rather than "behind")

Front: печь (-пекать)
Back: to bake
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: пеку, печёшь, пекут

Front: плясать (-плясывать)
Back: to dance (esp. folk styles, hop, jig)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: пляшу, пляшешь, пляшут

Front: врать (-вирать)
Back: to lie, to be inaccurate, tell tales
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: вру, врёшь, врут

Front: лгать (-лыгать)
Back: to lie, to tell lies [лгу, лжёшь, лгут]

Front: тушить (-тушать)
Back: to extinguish, put out, turn off, quench, suppress

Front: стоять (-стаивать)
Back: to stand, be situated; to stop (i.e. stand not walk)

Front: *из-
Back: forth, out (from within)
1. Same as вы- but tends towards higher register, more abstract senses

Front: *пре-
Back: forth, out (from the rest)
1. Separation from a row by moving out of line (exceedingness, totalness, breaking formation)
In older, speech (for instance liturgical language), can be added to adjectives to strengthen them (like Spanish "re-")
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Also can be a transliteration of Latin pre- (before, beforehand)

Front: *пред-
Back: before, fore-
1. In front of (передо мной = before me, "in front of me")
представиться / представляться - to put oneself before someone, i.e. to introduce or present
предсказать / предсказывать - foretell, foresay

Front: клевать / клюнуть (-клёвывать)
Back: to peck, to pick (of birds), to bite (a lure or bait)

Front: New Word Aspect Recognition & Pair Derivation
Back: Prefixes perfectivize.
Suffixes imperfectivize.
Root Pairs have a pattern: lone verbs, especially -ить, tend greatly to be imperfective. Pairs, however, tend to be "per. -ить / imp. -ать" and "perf. -нуть / imp. -ать."
All Branches can be navigated if you know where they started from, but most branches can be navigated without knowing the roots.
Pesky instances where the Root form coincides with Branch forms ruin things:
While -ывать/-ивать guarantees an imperfective and is recognizable, -ать -ять causes a conundrum. Is this a Root verb ending in the letters "ать", gaining a prefix to become perfective, or a Root verb gaining a prefix, and then the true suffix ать, making it imperfective? One must know the roots.
A generalized example, using с- is shown here:
(с-+root) Perfective >> с-___ать << Imperfective (prefix-+root-+ать)
If you know the root pair, you can determine which is the case.
сказать - perfective because казать + с
укреплять - imperfective, because крепить + у + ять
Prefixed verbs ending in -ать/-ять verbs require the most foreknowledge.
This is much more difficult to explain in words than it is to understand and know. So, a bunch of examples will make it clearer than an explanation:
(The following are random verbs taken from a book.)
"засунул" - perfective for sure, because prefix за, and doesn't end in -ать
"договаривались" - imperfective, because -ивать,
"заблестели" - perfectice, because prefixed, no ambiguous -ать
"вспомнился" - perfective, because вс-, no ambiguous -ать (if you know your quirky-roots, you know its -помнить / -поминать, and thus the pair вспоминаться)
"отталкивал" - imperfective, because although prefixed, has -ивать (there is no root verb "талкивать", therefore this must be толкать + от + ивать)
беседовали - imperfective, no prefix, it's a root verb, and it's a root verb that doesn't come in a pair, doesn't end in -нуть
"обшарпанной" (reverse engineer to обшарпать) - if you don't know the root: most likely perfective, if you know the root is шарпать, then definitely perfective (шарпать + perfectivizing prefix), and you know its imperfective would be обшарпывать
"разрешают" - imperfective (therefore present tense!), because I know the root решить / решать uses the branches -решить / -решать, therefore imperfective решить + раз- + -ать = imperfecive)
"внимательно" - this is an adjective, but -тельный replaces -ть on verbs, so внимать is hidden in it, imperfective, because I know the basal quirky-нять / -нимать
"останется" - perfective, cause prefixed, no -ать (from стать, a single syllable -вать word, giving pair оставаться)
"опустевших" - опустеть (from пустой) - perfective, because prefixed, no -ать.
пустеть - if you saw this word and didn't know anything about it, (because of the -еть you could guess imperfective for a high chance, but there is the chance you'd be wrong. In this case, you wouldn't.
"выдержал" - perfective, because there is no держить, держать is the root lone imperfective verb, therefore this is perfective due to 1-step having been applied (add perfectivizng prefix), with pair выдерживать. If you didn't know the root, you wouldn't know whether it was hypothetical *держить + вы + -ать, which would be an imperfective.
"прицелиться" - perfective, because при-, and I can be sure, because -ить
"вереща" - You can tell its imperfective because its prefix-less, if you know that it doesn't come in a pair. (You also know for sure its imperfective if its in a present tense participle form -а, -ая, or -ающий -ущий, -ящий etc.)
"обнажал" - This is hard. You have to know that it isn't об+на+жать (which would be perfective). This is actually обнажить / обнажать (from нагой). нажать also exists, but it is жать plus на- (a whole different tree). нажать does not exist as a root. It is imperfective because it is -ать added to обнажить, or, put otherwise, because it is the -ать in an -ать -ить pair.
"отшатнулся" -  "-нуть" and prefix means surefire perfective
"продолжалось" - Is this verb from должать? No. Then this is something + -ать and therefore imperfective.
By contrast задолжать is perfective, from должать, and therfore gain a prefix, but didn't gain a suffix. The perfectivity can therefore depend on the context determining which sense of the word is being used, but this is very rare in Russian.
облипать - imperfective, because this is not a derivative of a hypothetical "*липать", but rather липнуть + об + ать. If *липать existed, it would 1) be a totally different word/meaning than липнуть, and therefore 2) you could use context to tell whether you were dealing with *липать + об (perfective) or with липнуть + об + ать (imperfective)
"набрякло" - perfective, because -кло past tense could only occur from -нуть (which is sometimes dropped completely to form past tense, as in this case), prefix + нуть means surefire perfective (набрякнуть)
избавиться - perfective, из+ prefix, no -ать, which means it must be бавить + из (that doesn't tell you, though, that it's -бавить, with hiphen, and that there is no word "бавить")
"скомандовал" - perfective, because командовать + с. Some native Russian verb pairs are  -овать / -овать pairs (indistinguishable), but generally with -овать the pair is an unprefixed and prefixed (e.g. командовать / скомандовать...)
"иссыхает" - Hard to tell. ис- prefix means it could be a perfective *сыхать + из. One would have to simply know that it comes from -сыхать / -сохнуть (compare -дыхать -дохнуть). Thankfully, if it came from *сыхать, one would likely have seen it ever anywhere else.
"воцарилось" - perfective, from prefix with no -ать. One could guess the imperfective as either воцариваться or just цариться.
"отправлялись" - Is this правлять + от (perfective)? No. Such a word is unlikely anyway, since that вля reeks of consonant mutation from -ять being added: making an imperfective. Imperfective править > perfective отправить > imperfective отправлять
ивать
ивать
ивать - always prefixed, always imperfective Branch verb, very easy :)
If you know the Root Space of a novel word, you can pull it apart and find its aspect by knowing the order of operations.

Front: шарить (-шаривать)
Back: to fumble, to rummage; (coll.) to understand, to have knowledge of

Front: грызть (-грызать)
Back: to gnaw, to nibble, to crack (nuts)

Front: сесть (-седать, -саживать)
Back: to sit down (intr.)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Compare сидеть. See садить for transitive.

Front: ведать (-ведывать, -ведовать)
Back: [archaic root] to know; to govern, manage control
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Root itself is archaic/poetic, but branch forms are seen.

Front: значить (-значать)
Back: to mean, to signify, matter

Front: переть (-пирать)
Back: intransitive: to go (ignoring obstacles or prohibitions, often long journey)
transitive: carry or trudge, snag (steal)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Very hard to translate simply. Useful forms:
опираться / опереться - to lean against, to rest on, to rely on
упереть / упирать - to rest against, to set (something) against
Some forms focus on "locks":
отпереть / отпирать - to unlock (e.g. door with key)
запереть / запирать - to lock, to block up, blockade

Front: долбить (-далбливать)
Back: to peck, gouge, to repeatedly hit, etc.

Front: лохматить (-лохмачивать)
Back: to dishevel, to tousle, ruffle

Front: греть (-гревать)
Back: to warm, to heat (something)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: разогреть(ся) / разогревать(ся) - to warm up (e.g. sports)

Front: молоть (-малывать)
Back: to grind (make smaller by crushing)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: кофемолка

Front: дуть (-дувать)
Back: to blow
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Дуть на кружку чая

Front: маять (-маивать)
Back: to exhaust (tire out)

Front: Example Verb: делать - to do/make
Back: сделать - often used as the perfective because the с- on this verb denotes "coming together to form something", so, when using the verb as in "to make" something, this is generally the perfective. However, there also is used:
наделать / наделывать - to make (emphasizing quantity)
поделать / поделывать - to do (over some span of time), to do in sequence a lot or a number of things

Front: колотить (-колачивать)
Back: pound, bash, hammer (action of installing nails)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: колочу, колотишь, колотят

Front: Concept of Perfectivity
Back: Unprefixed root verbs can be considered "Acts" (Imperfective). They refer to the action of the words meaning.
From there, by adding a prefix we specify a criterion for completion-state (apartness, throughness, downness, togetherness), by virtue of the meaning of the prefix. Prefixes add a direction-destination, whether abstract or physical, by which it is not only possible but logical that the verb become "perfective." Then, instead of acts, we refer to "goals" (some of which are literal "completion," but the prefix applied can mean a variety of things other than).
Perfectivity is not completion, precisely—it's goal-emphasis rather than act-emphasis
писать - writing as an act in and of itself
пописать - passing some amount of time (по-), writing (писать)
пописал - spent some time writing
пописывать - the act of writing (in the context of spending some time doing it)
пописывал - engaged in the act of spending some time writing
This explains how perfectivity-imperfectivity is more interchangeable than you think, and that the usual rules do not encompass the variety of usages you can encounter.
-нуть perfectives can be perfective without a prefix generally because they refer to singular actions, especially singular instantaneous actions (actions with no duration).

Front: Example Verb: -полнить / полнять - to fill [полный]
Back: As usual, -ять, when used to form imperfective branch verbs, is stressed.
You'll tend to find that definitions of one of the following simply list one of the others (e.g. "заполнить: (v.) наполнить"). This demonstrates a closeness in their meaning, which would benefit us to note. It also demonstrates further the non-crucial aspect of prefixes at times.
заполнить / заполнять - to fill completely; to fill in (document's blank spaces)
переполнить / переполнять - overfill, fill such that something crosses over the top
наполнить / наполнять - to fill up (fill completely)
дополнить / дополнять - to add unto, fill unto a specified measure
пополнить / пополнять - to increase by adding, add what was missing (arbitrary amount), fill a bit (along)

Front: Example Verb: помнить (-поминать) - to have in memory
Back: помнить - to mind, to hold in memory
припомнить / припоминать - to bring to mind, to get back at someone (bring back to mind for them how they wronged you)
вспомнить / вспоминать - recall, to bring back up into memory
опомниться / опоминаться - to come about one's mind, to mind about oneself (regain consciousness; to come to understand one's mistake)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: упомянуть / упоминать (to mention, refer) is related, but most of the помянуть forms are completely out of recognition.

Front: мигать / мигнуть (-мигивать)
Back: to blink (one's eye), to wink (sending a message), to blink (of lights, candles, stoplights etc.)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Branch imperfectives are all with -мигивать, and there is a doubled perfective branch (like you can assume with most -ать / -нуть root pairs). замигать exists, but замигнуть not so much. подмигнуть exists, but подмигать not so much. This makes sense, given the explanation at the bottom of the main card "Trees..."

Front: глотать / глотнуть (-глатывать, -глощать / -глотить)
Back: to swallow
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: глоток - a gulp, a swallow
глотка - throat, gullet, pharynx
While "глотить" on its own is not seen, understandably the tree takes the form:
Root Verbs: глотать / глотнуть
Branch Verbs: заглотать / заглатывать and sometimes the pattern поглотить / поглащать
The most common perfective, for simple reasons, is проглотить ("swallow through").

Front: -вратить / -вращать
Back: to turn (multiple senses)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: возвратить / возвращать - to return, give back
обратить / обращать (внимание) - to turn (attention)
превратить(ся) / превращать(ся) - to turn (into something - во что)
отвратить / отвращать - to turn offward, ward off, avert
отвратительный - disgusting

Front: сти and сть verbs
Back: расти - расту, растёшь, растут, (-растать)
вести - веду, ведёшь, ведут, (-водить: motion verb tree)
пасти - пасу, пасёшь, пасут, (-пасать)
трясти - трясу, трясёшь, трясут, (-трясать, see card)
цвести - цвету, цветёшь, цветут, (-цветать)
грести - гребу, гребёшь, гребут, (-гребать)
плести - плету, плетёшь, плетут, (-плетать)
гнести - гнету, гнетёшь, гнетут, (-гнетать)
___сти - ___Cу, ___Cёшь, ___Cут, (___-Сать)
The consonant found in the imperfective branch form is the same as revealed in the conjugations.
красть - краду, крадёшь, крадут, (-крадывать)
класть - кладу, кладёшь, кладут, (-кладывать)
сесть - сяду, сядешь, сядут, (-седать, etc.)

Front: ехать / ездить (-езжать, -езживать)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Doubled Perfective Branch (not shown)
Doubled Imperfective (not shown. Based on either ending)
Image shows absolute canonical motion verb tree format, whereby each root forms their respective branch. Despite this pattern, some motion verbs get more complicated, such as ехать/ездить, which has a doubled perfective branch: выехать выездить both exist.
It's important to note that this, because motion verbs require a different than usual metric to judge aspect: заходить is not perfective! In motion verb trees, the "abstract" root forms the imperfective tree. So, usually, there aren't doubled perfective branches in motion verbs.
This verb, however, looks more like a usual verb tree.

Front: чеканить (-чеканивать)
Back: to perform repetitive actions forcefully and with separation
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: to mint, to coin, to stamp (an image on metal)

Front: черкать / черкнуть (-чёркивать)
Back: to write, scribble
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: The stress can also be such that it is чёркать.

Front: таять (-таивать)
Back: to melt, thaw, melt away
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: See таить

Front: таить (-таивать)
Back: to hide, conceal, harbour, keep secret
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Imperfective branch forms collide with those of таять.

Front: ныть (-нывать)
Back: to whimper, to whine, snivel; to ache (of a bodypart)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: крыть style conjugation

Front: -личить / -личать
Back: from лицо - to give a face, "to distinguish"
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: обличить / обличать - to reveal the face, to umask, to condemn
различить(ся) / различать(ся) - to distinguish, tell apart, discriminate
отличить(ся) / отличать(ся) - to differ, tell from

Front: просить (-прашивать)
Back: to ask, to request
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Most forms can "request кого" or "request у кого делать"
попросить / попрашивать - to request someone to do something
расспросить / расспрашивать - ask apart, delive rmultiple questions with an aim to find something out
спросить / спрашивать - to ask a question (request down from someone's mind)
выпросить / выпрашивать - receive or achieve by intensive requesting
запросить / запрашивать - to overask (to sell for an unreasonable high price) etc.
порасспросить / порасспрашивать - to spend some time asking apart by question
по-рас-с-просить

Front: стеречь (-стерегать)
Back: to guard, to watch (stay at to protect)

Front: править (-правлять)
Back: to direct, rule

Front: яснить (-яснять)
Back: to clarify
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: ясный - bright (therefore visible)
'яснить' in and of itself is practically not a real word (ясниться exists)--the point is that a tree exists with many useful words:
пояснить / пояснять - to clarify
выяснить / выяснять - clear up
разъяснить / разъяснять - remove unclarity, make clear (parse)
объяснить / объяснять - to explain
уяснить / уяснять - make clear, understandable, come to understand
The difference between forms is, of course, subtle, ignorable, artful, and described by the prefix cards.

Front: хлынуть (-хлынивать)
Back: gush, flow, pour
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Used sometimes with emotions, about crowds, or all sorts of figurative uses

Front: хлестать / хлестнуть (-хлёстывать)
Back: lash, slash, slosh
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: "to hit with something non-solid" (whether that be something pliable and bendy, like a whip, or a stream of water)

Front: плавить (-плавять, -плавливать)
Back: to melt, fuse, smelt, soften by heating

Front: гранить (-гранивать)
Back: to facet, to cut, to form a face in some kind of hard material
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: грань - face (of a polyhedron), facet, border, verge
граница - border, edge, boundary

Front: сверкать / сверкнуть
Back: to sparkle, twinkle, glitter, glare

Front: прыскать / прыснуть (-прыскивать)
Back: spray, splash (actions related to droplets)
Other fields (not shown on cards):
Additional Notes: Also used to mean "burst into laughter"
впрыскать / впрыскивать - to inject
(compare "плескать / плеснуть")

Front: ворчать
Back: mutter, grumble