LESSON 1: VERB ASPECT

Let’s review imperfective and perfective aspects of Russian verbs.

In short, the imperfective aspect is used for the 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, completed action or an action with a clear result. Its meaning is reminiscent of the Perfect tenses in English.

Compare the examples with imperfective and perfective verbs in present and past tenses:

Imperfective aspect	Perfective aspect
Focus on process	Focus on result/completion of the action
Я сейчас читаю статью. I’m reading the 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 writing the report for two hours. (describing action as continued process)	Я уже прочитал статью. I’ve already read the article. (action is completed) Я приготовила мясо и два салата на ужин. I prepared meat and two salads for dinner. (describing the result of the action) Я сделал отчёт за два часа. I wrote 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)

Pay attention:

Imperfective verbs can be 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*

*You can review future tense forms of the perfective verbs here.

Below are some aspect pairs of the verbs that we have learnt already:

Meaning of the verb

Imperfective

Perfective

to do, to make

to read

to cook

to watch

to eat

to learn

to understand

to get up

to speak/say

to write

to be late

to forget

to meet

to explain

to answer

to invite

to enter/enroll (in university)

to get acquainted

делать

читать

готовить

смотреть

есть

учить

понимать

вставать

говорить

писать

опаздывать

забывать

встречать

объяснять

отвечать

приглашать

поступать

знакомиться

сделать

прочитать

приготовить

посмотреть

съесть

выучить

понять

встать

сказать

написать

опоздать

забыть

встретить

объяснить

ответить

пригласить

поступить

познакомиться

Test: ChooseCorrect

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Test: MatchTextDialog

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Test: MatchTextDialog

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Test: ListenAndWriteDialog

Listen to the audio to hear the correct answers

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