Before we talk about the Perfective aspect of Russian verb, do you know the difference of Russian verb and any other language? Verb in Russian language has something unique. Besides Russian verb just has three forms based on time (past tense, present tense, and future tense), Russian verb is divided into two forms based on aspect (Вид). That is perfective aspect ‘cовершенный Вид’ and imperfective aspect ‘несовершенный Вид’.
All of the imperfective aspect verbs have the couple of perfective aspect verbs, such as Читать (in imperfective aspect) – Прочитать (in perfective aspect) ‘to read’. There are differences of using perfective aspect and imperfective aspect in sentence.
Imperfective aspect verb is used when the subject wants to tell about something that repeated daily, like a habit or daily activities. Using imperfective aspect verb could tell about some activities that not showing about result. For example, Я читаю роман ‘I read a novel’. It could means, that subject of Я ‘I’ read something, but she/he does not finish the reading yet.
Meanwhile, the perfective aspect verbs used when the subject want to tell something that has been done and just once, having a result or some activities that will be done. Both of them (perfective aspect and imperfective aspect) have the same meaning, but the stressing of situation is different.
Perfective Aspect
In the perfective aspect, the verbs are answering the question of Что сделать? ‘What have you done?’. It describes, that the stressing is about results of some actions. In perfective aspect verbs, there are two periods of time, such as past tense and future tense.
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Perfective Aspect Verbs |
The Meaning in English |
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Прочитать |
Read |
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Написать |
Write |
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Увидеть |
See |
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Поговорить |
Talk |
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Провести |
Spend |
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Посмотреть |
Watch |
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Забыть |
Forget |
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Запомнить |
Remember |
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Подождать |
Wait |
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Дожить |
Live |
Look at the examples below :
- Я прочитаю книгу о деревне Omelas. ‘I will read a book about the city of Omelas.’
- Он забыл о моем дне рождения. ‘He forgot about my birthday.’
- Мы посмотрели этот фильм в кинотеатре. ‘We already watched the film at movie theatre.’
- Они подождут дома. ‘They will wait at home.’
The explanations about verbs of perfective aspect might be just a little, but I hope you could learn something new about Russian language, especially for perfective aspect. For the beginners in Russian language, you could look at this article, How to Learn Russian for Beginners and Tips To Learn Russian Language, to get acquainted with Russian.
If you want to memorize some basic words in Russian, take a look at Basic Russian Words for Beginners. If you have a plan to travel in Russian cities, memorize some common greetings at Common Greetings in Russian. Keep learning and never give up. Have fun with Russian language.