In "мне захотелось пить" - should I think that past tense «захотелось» means «A desire to drink has come to me, and as a result there's an ongoing state where I want to have a drink now»?
-
please, don't use uppercase the way you use it in titles– shabunc ♦Sep 30, 2018 at 9:19
-
"I felt a desire to drink", then depending on how long ago are you talking about: if it's a second or a minute ago, you're probably saying that you're thirsty right now, if it's about more distant past - then it's about how you were thirsty in the past.– HeadcrabOct 2, 2018 at 0:32
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
This is ambiguous, it can function as both Past Simple and Present Perfect.
Past Simple - Когда я наелся вяленой рыбы, мне так захотелось пить, что я выпил литр воды за раз.
Present Perfect - Мне захотелось пить, у тебя не найдётся минералочки?
answered Sep 30, 2018 at 7:17
Although it may mean that the desire has come or had come depending on the context, I won't use the phrase to say I want to drink now.
To make it sound natural in the present perfect sense you have to relax it, make it sound more colloquial, for example:
Мне что-то захотелось пить. - I'm kind of thirsty.
Notice that что-то is not an object of пить, but just a word used to mince the phrase.
In a Past Simple form it's quite common, sort of "I was thirsty".
In a Present Perfect it sounds a bit awkward. A more natural form would be "Мне захотелось попить".
