Questions tagged [verb-aspects]
Questions dealing with intricacies of grammatical aspects of verbs both in fashioning and in usage.
28
questions
4
votes
2
answers
94
views
Aspect and tense for the verb Войти/Bxодить
In a charming old book "Russian Through Pictures" designed by Harvard University we have a picture of a mother and daughter preparing to enter a shop, and the text underneath says
Они ...
1
vote
2
answers
98
views
What's the most common usage and meaning of the verb исходить, which belongs to two impf/pf verb pairs, each with a different meaning?
According to a table of frequency I found, the verb исходить ranks pretty high (1716 out of 100,000). However, since it has two usages and meanings, I wonder which one is most frequently used:
in the ...
- 195
5
votes
3
answers
436
views
How does the meaning of "не мог/смог сдержа́ть/сде́рживать" vary according to the aspect used?
I'm trying to figure out how exactly these aspectual variations modify the meaning of "Она́ не могла́ сдержа́ть слёз" in the following:
Она не могла сдержать слёз.
Она не cмогла сдержать ...
- 153
0
votes
1
answer
122
views
Are there perfective verbs that only accept perfective infinitives?
The following perfective verbs are said to only accept perfective infinitives.
забыть - to forget
успеть - to manage, have time
удаться - to manage, succeed
суметь - to be able to manage
получиться - ...
- 299
2
votes
2
answers
133
views
Verb aspect is listed as being different or both
For the verb живописать (to describe vividly) Wiktionary [en] lists it as imperfective; the [ru] Wiktionary lists it as perfective; while a database of verbs I has lists it as 'both'.
The database ...
- 299
1
vote
1
answer
136
views
Difference between imperfective (Будет) and perfective future verbs
It seems to me that the difference between the imperfective and perfective future tense of verbs is that the imperfective refers to a general or uncompleted action; while the perfective refers to a ...
- 299
0
votes
1
answer
154
views
Perfective verbs to describe a routine
I am struggling to see why this sentence used perfective verbs when the use of imperfective ones would be more appropriate:
Ба́ня – э́то ме́сто, куда́ ру́сские лю́ди хо́дят, что́бы рассла́биться, ...
- 420
2
votes
3
answers
221
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,...
- 420
6
votes
2
answers
230
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 ...
- 420
2
votes
3
answers
209
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&...
- 53
1
vote
0
answers
45
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 ...
- 111
0
votes
3
answers
251
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?
- 101
5
votes
4
answers
199
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 ...
- 7,742
7
votes
2
answers
234
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 ...
- 7,742
2
votes
2
answers
308
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 ...
- 1,289
4
votes
5
answers
193
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
...
- 441
3
votes
2
answers
495
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 ...
- 339
0
votes
1
answer
571
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 ...
- 111
1
vote
3
answers
134
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....
- 303
1
vote
1
answer
227
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 ...
- 529
3
votes
2
answers
125
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: ...
- 303
2
votes
3
answers
117
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 ...
- 7,742
8
votes
3
answers
154
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. ...
- 1,289
2
votes
2
answers
90
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 ...
- 2,015
3
votes
1
answer
96
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 ...
- 131
1
vote
2
answers
135
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....
- 2,503
7
votes
3
answers
426
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:
...
- 2,037
5
votes
3
answers
182
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 ...
- 2,503