LESSON 1: ASPECT OF THE VERB

Most Russian verbs have two aspects – imperfective and perfective. Simply put, the verb aspect shows if the action is completed or not.

Russian verbs often come in aspect pairs. Here are some examples:

читать (imp.) / прочитать (perf.) - both verbs mean ‘to read’ in English
готовить (imp.) / приготовить (perf.) - ‘to cook’
делать (imp.) / сделать (perf.) - ‘to do’
есть (imp.) / съесть (perf.) - ‘to eat’

Compare examples with these pairs of imperfective and perfective verbs and note the difference in their usage:

Imperfective aspect	Perfective aspect
Focus on process	Focus on result/completion of the action
Я сейчас читаю статью. I’m reading an article now (action in process) Днём я готовила ужин. I was cooking dinner in the afternoon. (describing action as process) Я делал отчёт два часа. I was doing the report for two hours. (describing action as continued process)	Я уже прочитал статью. I’ve read an article already. (action is completed) Я приготовила мясо и два салата на ужин. I cooked meat and two salads for dinner. (describing the result of the action) Я сделал отчёт за два часа. I’ve done the report in two hours. (describing completed action with the result)
Repeated/regular actions	Single action (is done once)
На завтрак я обычно ем сэндвичи. I usually eat sandwiches for breakfast. (regular action)	Сегодня утром я съел салат. This morning I ate a salad. (one-time action)

In short, the imperfective aspect is used for actions that are ongoing, continuous, repeated or represent a permanent state, with no focus on the start or end of the action.

The perfective aspect is used for a single action, one that is complete or has a clear result. Its meaning is reminiscent of the Perfect tenses in English.

There is also a key difference between aspects in tense forms:

Imperfective verbs are used in all three tenses: present, past and future.
Perfective verbs, however, are only used to form past and future tenses.

	Past tense	Present tense	Future tense
Imperfective verbs	я читал	я читаю	я буду читать
Perfective verbs	я прочитал	✕	я прочитаю*

*Future tense forms of the perfective verbs will be explained in Unit 13.

Below are the verbs that we learnt in previous units with their perfective forms:

Meaning of the verb

Imperfective

Perfective

to do, to make

to read

to cook

to watch

to have breakfast

to have lunch

to have dinner

to eat

to drink

to learn

to understand

to get up

to speak, to say

делать

читать

готовить

смотреть

завтракать

обедать

ужинать

есть

пить

учить

понимать

вставать

говорить

сделать

прочитать

приготовить

посмотреть

позавтракать

пообедать

поужинать

съесть

выпить

выучить

понять

встать

сказать

If you compare the verbs in pairs above, you may notice how the imperfective and perfective verbs can differ from each other:

by prefix (perfective verbs usually have prefix): делать - сделать, читать - прочитать
by modification in internal structure: понимать - понять, вставать - встать
by using completely different roots: говорить - сказать

Don't panic! Gradually, you will get used to the way Russians use perfective and imperfective verbs. And we will help you with that. In the meantime, try to grasp the key difference between them.

Test: MatchTextDialog

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Test: ListenAndWriteDialog

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Test: ChooseCorrect

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Test: ListenAndWriteDialog

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