Exam preparation: Verb forms, aspect and temporal reference in Russian
How it works
Russian verbs differ by aspect (perfective ‹совершенный вид› and imperfective ‹несовершенный вид›) and tense (present, past, future). Aspect shows whether an action is completed (perfective, e.g. ‹написал›) or expresses a process, repetition or duration (imperfective, e.g. ‹писал›). Tenses determine when the action takes place. The correct verb form depends on the context. Example: For a completed action in the past, one uses the perfective aspect in the past tense: ‹Я прочитал книгу› (I read the book). For a regular action in the past, one uses the imperfective aspect: ‹Я читал книгу каждый день› (I read the book every day).
Choose the correct verb form according to aspect (perfective/imperfective) and tense (past, present, future) to fit the context. Pay attention to signal words like ‹вчера›, ‹часто›, ‹уже›, which give clues about aspect and tense.
An example
Which verb form is correct? ‹Вчера я ___ письмо.› (yesterday, completed)
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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.