Thread: "I drink" или "I'm drinking" по-русский

In Russian, does "я пью," for example, mean "I drink" or "I'm drinking?" Do both those phrases mean the same thing in Russian?

Yes, it means the same thing.

I drink - Я пью
I'm drinking - Я пью

В русском языке глаголы употребляются только в "Past Simple", "Present Simple" and "Future Simple".

Я пью - Present Simple
Я пил - Past Simple
Я буду пить - Future Simple

Originally Posted by i_learn_english

В русском языке глаголы употребляются только в "Past Simple", "Present Simple" and "Future Simple".

А совершенный\несовершенный вид?

Я пил. Я напился.
Я буду пить. Я напьюсь.

There is no grammatical distinction between Indefinite and Continous in Russian.
Hence, it's я пью in both cases (on principle), but the distinction is usually clear from the context.

In fact, Russian learners of English often don't see why Indefinite and Continious exist at all, because Russian functions properly without complex grammatical tenses.

Спасибо за ответы, все! I'm glad it's as simple as that.

Игорь Иртеньев - «Я обычно как напьюсь» (Сайт иронической и юмористической поэзии)

Originally Posted by alexsms

In fact, Russian learners of English often don't see why Indefinite and Continious exist at all, because Russian functions properly without complex grammatical tenses.

Russian can function properly with basically two aspects instead of four (unlike English), but again, those verbs of motion and stuff. =)) In fact, some verbs still make a distinction between simple and continuous aspects, like бегаю/бегу, плаваю/плыву, летаю/лечу, etc.