Verbs · Lesson 1
Вид глагола
Aspect
Almost every Russian verb is imperfective or perfective. Aspect is not tense — it is whether you look at the process, or at the result.
How it works
Almost every Russian verb is imperfective or perfective. Aspect is not tense — it is whether you look at the process, or at the result.
Then open Tables, Notes, Exceptions, and Examples in that order.
When to use it
- Imperfective (несовершенный вид): process, habit, repeated action, ongoing, unfinished, ability.
- Perfective (совершенный вид): a completed event, a result, one-time change of state.
- Present tense forms exist only for imperfective verbs (я читаю). Perfective «present» forms are future (я прочитаю).
- Both aspects have past (читал / прочитал) and infinitive (читать / прочитать).
Pro tip
If you can add «was in the middle of» and it still fits, you want imperfective. If the point is «and then it was done», you want perfective.