< Grammar 19—Imperfective, Perfective, and Future Tense
< Grammar 19—Imperfective, Perfective, and Future Tense
Russian verbs come in pairs. One of each pair is said to be imperfective. This means that it refers to an ongoing action or repeated action. The other is perfective which means that it describes a single completed action and the narrator believes that its completion moves his story forward. Consider these examples:
Imperfective:
Я спрашивал каждого.
I was asking each person.
Perfective:
Я спросил вас.
I did ask you.
In the imperfective example, the speaker is simply explaining what he was doing. In the perfective he is making the point that you had your chance to voice an opinion. It moves his story forward.
In Grammar 8—Verb Conjugation we showed you the past and present tenses of imperfective verbs. We now show you the future tense which is formed differently for imperfective and perfective verbs. The future tense of imperfective verbs is made using a form of “to be” as a helping verb, just like in English. Perfective verbs have no present tense. The future tense looks like the present tense of an imperfective verb.
| Past Tense | Present Tense | Future Tense | |
|
Imperfective спра́шивать to be asking |
Я спра́шивал(а) Мы спра́шивали Ты спра́шивал(а) Вы спра́шивали Он спра́шивал Она́ спра́шивала Оно́ спра́шивало Они́ спра́шивали |
Я спра́шиваю Мы спра́шиваем Ты спра́шиваешь Вы спра́шиваете Он/Она́/Оно́ спра́шивает Они́ спра́шивают |
Я бу́ду спра́шивать Мы бу́дем спра́шивать Ты бу́дешь спра́шивать Вы бу́дете спра́шивать Он/Она́/Оно́ бу́дет спра́шивать Они́ бу́дут спра́шивать |
|
Perfective спроси́ть to ask (once) |
Я спроси́л(а) Мы спроси́ли Ты спроси́л(а) Вы спроси́ли Он спроси́л Она спроси́ла Оно спроси́ло Они спроси́ли |
Perfective Verbs have no Present Tense |
Я спрошу́ Мы спро́сим Ты спро́сишь Вы спро́сите Он/Она́/Оно́ спро́сит Они́ спро́сят |
| Past Tense | Present Tense | Future Tense | |
|
Imperfective давать to be giving |
Я дава́л(а) Мы дава́ли Ты дава́л(а) Вы дава́ли Он дава́л Она дава́ла Оно дава́ло Они дава́ли |
Я даю́ Мы даём Ты даёшь Вы даёте Он/Она́/Оно́ даёт Они́ даю́т |
Я бу́ду дава́ть Мы бу́дем дава́ть Ты бу́дешь дава́ть Вы бу́дете дава́ть Он/Она́/Оно́ бу́дет дава́ть Они́ бу́дут дава́ть |
|
Perfective дать to give (once) |
Я дал(а́) Мы да́ли Ты дал(а́) Вы да́ли Он дал Она дала́ Оно да́ло Они да́ли |
Perfective Verbs have no Present Tense |
Я дам Мы дади́м Ты дашь Вы дади́те Он/Она́/Оно́ даст Они́ даду́т |
Note that the conjugation of давать in the present tense and дать in the future are irregular.
Students often misunderstand the statement that the perfective describes a single action. They mistakenly ask themselves whether the action has ever been or ever will be repeated. What actually matters is whether or not the speaker is referring to a single instance of the named action. The illustration below should make this clear. In each case the factual context is the same: the teacher regularly assigns homework. But depending on what he wants to say he chooses the perfective or the imperfective to talk about how he assigns homework.
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Notice that when he wants to say that he is the kind of person who assigns homework, he uses the imperfective (давать). But when he refers to giving a particular homework assignment and wants to say that as a consequence the students ought to have done it or will be able to do it, he uses the perfective (дать).
The need for the perfective is not simply a question of how many times the event occurs. For example, in this sentence our teacher uses the imperfective to talk about the giving of a single assignment:
Я давал домашнее задание когда землетрясение ударило.
I was giving the homework assignment when the earthquake struck.
Here he is not making the point that the assignment was definitely given. The giving of the assignment is simply context, so he use the imperfective. He is really telling a story about an earthquake. In this story the earthquake striking is a single completed action which advances the plot. Consequently it is expressed using an perfective verb (ударить).