Questions tagged [verb-aspects]
Questions dealing with intricacies of grammatical aspects of verbs both in fashioning and in usage.
22
questions
2
votes
3answers
156 views
Пытался for a one-time action
Why is the past tense of the imperfective verb пытаться used in this context?
Говорят, он пытался убить сына Поттеров, Гарри. Но – не смог.
I would expect попытался to be more appropriate here since,...
6
votes
2answers
199 views
The verb слышать for finished action
На обратном пути, сжимая в руке пакет с большим пончиком, он
случайно услышал обрывки их разговора:
– Поттеры, все верно, именно так я и слышал…
Why is the imperfective version of the verb слышать ...
2
votes
3answers
189 views
Я помогу + написать or писать?
In my Russian textbook I came across this example:
я помогу Татьяне написать письмо.
Why is помогу used with the perfective infinitive? I was expecting an imperfective verb, because "writing&...
1
vote
0answers
41 views
Do Russian infer the first conjugation from the verb like in Latin and Italians do? [duplicate]
In Latin one does not need to have seperate words for I, you, we, she/he ect it is just inferred by the ending of the first conjugation verbs and the context. Say for example in I give or you give ...
0
votes
3answers
229 views
“Готовил” vs “приготовил” usage in emphasising time
Why does the following sentence use НСВ готовил instead of CB приготовил
Повар 3 часа готовил обед.
If I use готовил doesn't that mean I regularly cooked for 3 hours?
5
votes
4answers
174 views
Use of the imperfective where the perfective would be expected to express a completed action in the past
This is the opening line in a dialog from a Russian course:
Я заказывал у вас номер по телефону.
Why is the imperfective заказывал used here instead of заказал if the speaker completed the ...
7
votes
2answers
185 views
Choice of aspect in question and answer
In a Russian dialogue course, I came across the following snippet in which the questioner uses the imperfective phrase мне выходить, and the respondent uses the perfective phrase вам выйти, and was ...
2
votes
2answers
273 views
Why “не могу выехать из гаража” but “нельзя выезжать с территории завода”?
Going through some review on verbs of motion in Поехали II, page 40, was the following exercise.
Я не умею водить машину и не могу ______ из гаража.
So noting that it seemed a one-time, completed ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
не забудь and не забывай [duplicate]
What is the difference between не забудь and не забывай. In the same token what is the difference between imperative using imperfective and perfective modes respectively.
4
votes
5answers
184 views
How to tell apart “нареза́ть” from “наре́зать”?
Можете нарезать хлеб и сыр? (perfective)
Ты хочешь нарезать лук? (imperfective) ... I think
It seems like for the verb нарезать the perfective and imperfect infinitive forms are
нареза́ть
наре́зать
...
3
votes
2answers
182 views
Perfective and imperfective with infinitive
AFAIK the perfective aspect expresses an event which has already finished once and the imperfective aspect expresses a single unfinished event or a periodic event. Why would someone use the perfective ...
0
votes
1answer
336 views
Future simple and future perfect in Russian
I'm trying to understand Russian future verb tenses and aspects.
I'm aware Russian has three tenses, the present, the past and the future. And I'm aware the imperfective verb indicates non complete ...
1
vote
3answers
127 views
Do “целить” and “нацеливать” mean the same thing?
They both seems to mean “to aim”, but dictionaries seem to indicate that it’s:
наце́лить – наце́ливать
which constitute an aspectual pair, and not
це́лить – наце́лить
as I have previously thought....
1
vote
1answer
139 views
Verbs of motion with prefix “у-” and “при-”
I am currently learning how to use verbs of motion with the prefixes у- and при- to express that someone departs from or arrives at a certain location.
However, I struggle with the following sentence ...
3
votes
2answers
113 views
Aspectual pairs with one reflexive
Normally a reflexivity of a verb stays the same regardless of aspect (not talking about semantic derivation). But I have learned three exceptions to this rule already:
станови́ться – стать (but: ...
2
votes
3answers
115 views
Intepretation of the imperfective participle “переводивший”
In the sentence:
Cтуденты, переводившие эту статью, говорят, что она очень трудная.
¿Is the meaning one of a perfect action of the type "Students, having translated this article,..." or is it more ...
8
votes
3answers
132 views
(по)вредить with accusative and/or dative
According to my dictionary (Kenneth Katzner, link), see attached pic,
I think I should use the dative case after this verb. BTW, the повредить entry basically directed me to the вредить entry. ...
2
votes
2answers
69 views
What's the appropriate verb for the following context? (найти Vs. находить)
I just want to say "I need to find it", or "The main thins is that you will find it" (for example, the key, the document, etc.). Now I am not sure which verb is more appropriate to the context that I ...
3
votes
1answer
93 views
What is the difference between the forms of verbs?
Very often in russian verbs have two forms, some examples are:
делать/сделать
встречаться/встретиться
My russian friends keep telling it is important to differentiate both but cannot explain to me ...
1
vote
2answers
121 views
Off-aspect conjugations
It has been confusing me the fact that a few verbs have participles which, according to textbooks, normally don't match a particular verb aspect (perfective or imperfective).
For example, гореть (imp....
7
votes
3answers
316 views
Imperative with imperfective verbs
Is it rude to use imperative with imperfective verbs?
Like, suppose you are a customs officer asking someone to open their case, you could probably (I'm just guessing at this point) say either:
...
5
votes
3answers
159 views
Perfective of таскать
Before asking my question, let me tell what I know about verbs of motion so far:
-For each verb of motion in English (ex.: to go) there are multiple verbs in Russian;
-Each nuance of motion verbs in ...
