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Russian Verbs - Aspect
The Russian language has only three basic tenses. Present, past and future. However due to such simplicity we need to introduce the concept of aspects. There are two aspects in Russian. The imperfective aspect and the perfective aspect. Aspects are only used in the past and future tense. When you are talking in the present tense, you can ignore aspects all together.
Aspects are used to indicate if an action was completed successfully or is ongoing. To do this in English we use extra verbs like “had” and “have”. For example, in the phrase “I ate.”, the action is completed. However, in a phrase like “I have been eating”, it is implied that action is not yet completed. Aspects are used to illustrate this difference, however their use in Russian is much more defined.
The aspects are:
Imperfective - Incomplete, ongoing, habitual, reversed or repeated actions
Perfective - Actions completed successfully.
The perfective aspect is not created by changing the ending. There are normally two words for each verb. One is the imperfective, the other is the perfective. Often these two words are closely related, but this is not always the case. (Often the perfective is simply prefixed with “По”). If you look at the conjugated verbs list on this site you can see some examples of how verbs are conjugated in both aspects. Here are some examples of verb pairs.
(Imperfective, Perfective)
Жить, Прожить - live
Любить, Полюбить - love
Делать, Сделать - do, make
Говорить, Сказать - talk, speak, say.
Работать, Поработать - work
Grammar Note: Aspects indicate whether an action was completed or not. Tenses indicate when an action happened (past, present, future).
If you are unsure which to use, then just use the imperfective. The perfective aspect is specifically for completed actions.
Here is a set of guidelines to help you choose which aspect to use.
Imperfective Aspect
Incomplete, ongoing, interrupted or repeated actions
1. In the present tense the action is still ongoing by definition so the imperfective aspect is always used in the present tense.
2. Unfinished and ongoing actions always use the imperfective aspect.
Я Работал ... - I was working ...
Я Шёл ... - I was going (by foot) ...
3. Actions that are repeated an unspecified number of times, or are habitually repeated are imperfective.
Я Работал каждый день - I work everyday.
Я Шёл часто - I go (on foot) often.
4. Expressions when you specify a length of time use the imperfective aspect. (All day, for 2 hours, etc.) (Verbs beginning with “про” may be an exception to this rule.)
Я Работал два часа - I worked for 2 hours.
5. Verbs that express the state of something, rather than an action, use the imperfective aspect.
Я был дома - I was home.
6. If an action is reversed the imperfective is used. For example if a window is opened, then using the imperfect form of ‘open’ may imply that it has since been closed.
7. If you are saying that something didn’t happen you use the imperfective aspect.
8. If there is no result of the action, or it wasn’t successfully completed then use the imperfective aspect.
Perfective Aspect
Successfully completed actions.
1. The perfective aspect is used for single events where the event has been fully completed.
Я купил кофе - I bought a coffee
Я пошла домой - I went home.
Understanding “successfully” completed.
Using the perfective implies that the action was completed successfully, unless used in the negative (see note below). So for example saying that ‘He took an exam on Friday’, if ‘took’ is used in the perfective it implies that he passed the exam. Using the imperfective would imply that the result is unknown, or he didn’t pass.
It’s important to remember that by using the perfective you are implying that the action was indeed completed successfully. You are also implying that the action was not reversed or undone.
Aspects in the negative
Using the negative with perfective verbs indicates the person failed to do that action. Using the imperfective will normally simply mean that it didn’t happen.
Я не позвонила - I failed to phone (perfective) (but I was expected to)
Я не звонила - I didn’t phone. (imperfective)
Summary
In summary it’s easiest ro remember these simple definitions, and refer back to the main text when you are not sure...
Imperfective - Incomplete, ongoing, habitual, reversed or repeated actions
Perfective - Actions completed successfully.
Actually getting a feel for which aspect to use is something that can only come with practice. Reading and listening to Russian text is probably one of the best methods to do this. When you see an aspect used and you are not sure why, stop and think about the situation and see if it fits with the above rules. An English speaker will find it unnatural at first deciding which aspect to use. It’s really something you need to develop a feel for once you know the basic concept.
Comparing Russian Aspects to English Tenses (Optional)
This is an optional section of this lesson, to help people who have difficulty choosing aspects when translating from English. It is used to clarify that aspects are related to tenses, but are in fact a different concept.
You can not simply choose to use the perfective aspect based on the tense used in English. English tenses tell you when something has happened, Russian aspects tell you if it was completed successfully. However sometimes the English tense will give you a clue... And more importantly understanding the difference between tenses and aspects will help you understand the concept of aspects.
Remember this section is optional, so don’t be stressed if it seems like too much grammar.
Here are the English tenses....
| Present |
| Simple Present: | I eat. |
| Present Continuous: | I am eating. |
| Present Perfect: | I have eaten. |
| Present Perfect Continuous: | I have been eating. |
| Past |
| Simple Past: | I ate. |
| Past Continuous: | I was eating. |
| Past Perfect | I had eaten. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | I had been eating. |
| Future: |
| Simple Future: | I will eat. |
| Future Continuous: | I will be eating. |
| Future Perfect | I will have eaten. |
| Future Perfect Continuous: | I will have been eating. |
You will notice that all the above phrases have a slight different meaning, each indicating when the action happened. This is much clearer when the above phrases are put into full length sentences. However you can also see that when using some of these tenses it does indicate to you if an action was completed or not. But not all the tenses give you this information. But the English tense can often give you a clue as to which aspect to use.
The present tense always translates to the imperfective. There is only one tense in Russian to express the meanings of all the four English tenses. If you wish to be more specific, you can use words like ‘now’, or ‘this morning’.
In the past, the 2 continuous tenses will naturally translate to the imperfective aspect as the actions have not specifically been completed. With the other tenses you can then go through the above rules, to decide which aspect to use. For example here are three different sentences in the simple past, that would use different aspects. See if you can understand the difference.
“I ate an apple at school” - Perfective - Action completed once, and completed successfully.
“I ate 2 apples at school” - Perfective - Action (eating 2 apples) completed once, and completed successfully.
“I ate apples at school” - Imperfective - Action was repeated an unspecified number of times.
The same basic concept applies in the future tense. However the future tense is normally a little more easy to determine, as we tend to make more defined statements when talking about the future. The imperfective aspect uses the word “Буду” (and its various forms), and means “will be”. So again the continuous tenses translate to the imperfective.
The simple future commonly translates to the perfective aspect. Basic sentences like “I will eat” and “I will write” use the perfective. However if there is any indication that the action is habitual, ongoing, or will not be completed then the imperfective should be used. For more information on using and forming the future tense you should refer to the relevant sections.
