Aspect in Russian: present, past and future
How it works
In Russian there are two aspects of verbs: the imperfective (‹несовершенный вид›) and the perfective (‹совершенный вид›). The imperfective aspect describes actions that are regular, repeated, or currently in progress, e.g. ‹читать›. The perfective aspect describes actions as a completed result, e.g. ‹прочитать›. In the present tense, only the imperfective aspect is used, e.g. ‹я читаю›. In the past tense, both aspects can occur: ‹я читал› and ‹я прочитал›. In the future tense, the imperfective aspect forms the compound future, e.g. ‹я буду читать›, and the perfective aspect forms the simple future, e.g. ‹я прочитаю›. The choice of aspect depends on whether the action is presented as a process/repetition or as a completed result.
In the present tense, only the imperfective aspect is used. In the past tense, you choose according to meaning: imperfective for process or repetition, perfective for completed actions. In the future tense, ‹буду› + infinitive is often used for imperfective, repeated, or ongoing actions, and the simple future form for perfective, completed actions.
An example
Which form is correct for a completed action in the past: ‹я писал письмо› or ‹я написал письмо›?
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50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: Russian. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.