#60 The Relationship Between Perfective and Imperfective Aspects

Russian verbs have two grammatical aspects: the imperfective aspect, which can express actions in progress or repeated actions, and the perfective aspect, which presents an action as a single whole and can emphasize its completion or result.

For example, the action of “reading” can be expressed by two verbs: чита́ть (to read: imperfective) and прочита́ть (to finish reading: perfective).

чита́ть is used when the focus is on the act of reading itself, an action in progress, or repeated action. By contrast, прочита́ть focuses on reaching a result, such as reading a book all the way to the end.

In this way, Russian often has corresponding imperfective and perfective verbs with closely related meanings.

However, there are several ways in which these verbs can correspond to one another. Some perfective verbs are formed by adding a prefix, as in чита́ть → прочита́ть, while others involve changes to suffixes or stems. A single verb may also be related to several perfective verbs, and some verbs do not form a clear aspectual pair.

In this article, I will explain how perfective and imperfective verbs correspond to one another in Russian, with examples of common formation patterns and verbs.

1. Perfective and Imperfective Verbs Can Form Pairs Expressing the Same Basic Action

In Russian, two different verbs can form a perfective-imperfective pair when they express the same basic action but present that action from different perspectives.

For example, the action of “reading” can be expressed by the following two verbs:

• чита́ть — to read (imperfective)
• прочита́ть — to finish reading (perfective)

чита́ть is an imperfective verb that focuses on the act of reading itself. It can be used to express an action in progress, an action continuing for a certain period of time, or an action performed repeatedly.

For example, in the sentence Я чита́л кни́гу два часа́. (I was reading a book for two hours), the focus is on the activity of reading continuing for two hours.

By contrast, прочита́ть is perfective. It presents the act of reading as a single whole and indicates that the action has been completed and a result has been reached.

In the sentence Я прочита́л кни́гу. (I finished reading the book), the focus is on the result of having read the book to the end rather than on the process of reading.

Many other verbs have similar relationships:

• де́лать (to do, to make: imperfective) / сде́лать (to do, to make: perfective)
• реша́ть (to solve: imperfective) / реши́ть (to solve: perfective)
• открыва́ть (to open: imperfective) / откры́ть (to open: perfective)

In such pairs, the imperfective and perfective verbs share the same basic lexical meaning but differ in how the action is viewed. The imperfective aspect focuses on features such as the process, duration, or repetition of an action, while the perfective aspect presents the action as a single whole and focuses on its completion, result, or endpoint.

For this reason, when learning Russian verbs, it is useful to learn them as aspectual pairs such as чита́ть / прочита́ть. This makes it easier to understand how the two aspects are used differently.

2. Forming Perfective Verbs by Adding Prefixes

One common way of forming a perfective verb from an imperfective verb is to add a prefix, as in the following examples:

• чита́ть → прочита́ть (to read → to finish reading)
• писа́ть → написа́ть (to write → to finish writing)
• де́лать → сде́лать (to do, to make → to complete, to finish making)
• гото́вить → пригото́вить (to prepare, to cook → to finish preparing, to prepare or cook something)

чита́ть (to read) is imperfective and can express the activity of reading itself, an action in progress, or repeated reading.

When the prefix про- is added, it forms прочита́ть, a perfective verb expressing the action of reading a book, text, or similar material all the way to the end as a complete event.

• Я чита́л кни́гу два часа́.
  — I was reading a book for two hours.
• Я прочита́л кни́гу за два часа́.
  — I finished reading the book in two hours.

As these examples show, adding a prefix can form a perfective verb from an imperfective verb.

Russian verbs can take a variety of prefixes, including про-, на-, с-, при-, по-, вы-, за-, and пере-.

However, these prefixes can also add meanings such as passing through, reaching a destination, beginning an action, or repeating an action. As a result, adding a prefix may change not only the aspect of a verb but also its lexical meaning.

For example, several perfective verbs can be formed from писа́ть (to write) by adding different prefixes:

• написа́ть — to write, to finish writing
• переписа́ть — to rewrite, to copy out
• подписа́ть — to sign
• записа́ть — to write down, to record
• дописа́ть — to finish writing, to add to something in writing

написа́ть shares the basic meaning of “writing” with писа́ть while presenting the writing of a text, letter, or similar item as a completed action. By contrast, prefixes in verbs such as переписа́ть and подписа́ть add new lexical meanings such as “to rewrite” and “to sign.”

Thus, prefixation can produce a perfective verb that forms a close aspectual pair with the original verb, or it can create a verb with a new lexical meaning.

3. Forming Imperfective Verbs with Suffixes

In Russian, suffixes are sometimes used to form a corresponding imperfective verb from a perfective verb.

One common pattern involves suffixes such as -ывать / -ивать. In other cases, the stem or suffix changes, as in реши́ть → реша́ть and объясни́ть → объясня́ть.

• рассказа́ть (to tell: perfective) → расска́зывать (imperfective)
• показа́ть (to show: perfective) → пока́зывать (imperfective)
• подписа́ть (to sign: perfective) → подпи́сывать (imperfective)
• реши́ть (to solve: perfective) → реша́ть (imperfective)
• повтори́ть (to repeat: perfective) → повторя́ть (imperfective)
• объясни́ть (to explain: perfective) → объясня́ть (imperfective)

For example, adding the prefix под- to the imperfective verb писа́ть (to write) produces the perfective verb подписа́ть (to sign). The addition of the prefix changes the meaning from the general action of “writing” to the more specific action of “signing.”

The imperfective verb corresponding to подписа́ть is then formed with -ывать, producing подпи́сывать.

• писа́ть (to write: imperfective) → подписа́ть (to sign: perfective) → подпи́сывать (to sign: imperfective)

An important point here is that the first verb, писа́ть, and the final verb, подпи́сывать, are both imperfective, but they describe different actions.

писа́ть refers to the general action of writing, whereas подпи́сывать means “to sign.” In other words, a prefix first creates a perfective verb with a new lexical meaning, and an imperfective verb is then formed while retaining that new meaning.

Comparing the perfective подписа́ть with the imperfective подпи́сывать also shows that both center on the meaning “to sign,” while presenting the action differently.

• Я подписа́л докуме́нт.
  — I signed the document.
• Я подпи́сывал докуме́нты ка́ждое у́тро.
  — I signed documents every morning.

The first sentence uses the perfective verb подписа́ть and focuses on the completion of a single act of signing. The second uses the imperfective verb подпи́сывать and focuses on an action that was performed repeatedly.

In this way, Russian can form a perfective verb with a new meaning by adding a prefix and then use a suffix or other morphological change to create an imperfective verb corresponding to that new meaning.

4. Some Aspectual Pairs Have Very Different Forms

Perfective and imperfective verbs in Russian do not always correspond through regular changes involving prefixes or suffixes. Some pairs consist of verbs whose forms differ considerably.

Common examples include:

• говори́ть (to speak, to say: imperfective) / сказа́ть (perfective)
• брать (to take: imperfective) / взять (perfective)
• класть (to put: imperfective) / положи́ть (perfective)
• лови́ть (to catch: imperfective) / пойма́ть (perfective)

For example, брать and взять both express the basic meaning “to take.”

• Я ча́сто брал кни́ги в библиоте́ке.
  — I often borrowed books from the library.
• Я взял кни́гу в библиоте́ке.
  — I borrowed a book from the library.

The first sentence uses the imperfective брать and focuses on an action that occurred repeatedly. The second uses the perfective взять and presents a single action as a complete event.

The pair класть / положи́ть similarly shares the basic meaning “to put.”

• Она́ кла́ла кни́ги на стол ка́ждое у́тро.
  — She put books on the table every morning.
• Она́ положи́ла кни́гу на стол.
  — She put the book on the table.

говори́ть and сказа́ть are also commonly explained as an imperfective-perfective correspondence.

However, говори́ть can refer to the continuing activity of speaking, whereas сказа́ть is frequently used for a single act of saying something. Therefore, these two verbs differ not only in aspect but also to some extent in their lexical meanings.

5. Some Verbs Do Not Form Aspectual Pairs

Many Russian verbs have corresponding perfective and imperfective forms.

For example, чита́ть (to read: imperfective) and прочита́ть (to finish reading: perfective), as well as реша́ть (to solve: imperfective) and реши́ть (to solve: perfective), are pairs of closely related verbs that differ in aspect.

However, Russian also has verbs that occur in only one aspect and do not have a corresponding aspectual partner.

For example, verbs expressing states or relationships are often imperfective only:

• знать — to know
• име́ть — to have
• существова́ть — to exist
• принадлежа́ть — to belong

These verbs express states, relationships, or similar meanings and are used as imperfective verbs.

There are also verbs that are perfective only, such as:

• хлы́нуть — to gush, to pour down suddenly
• очну́ться — to regain consciousness, to come to one’s senses

Some perfective-only verbs describe momentary events or changes into a particular state, presenting the event as a single whole.

6. Summary

The perfective and imperfective aspects form an important grammatical system in Russian for presenting actions from different perspectives.

The main points discussed in this article can be summarized as follows:

Understanding the relationship between perfective and imperfective verbs makes it easier to see how Russian verbs are connected to one another within the language’s aspectual system.

It also helps you recognize whether a speaker is focusing on the process, repetition, completion, or result of an action in a sentence.

Yuri Miyajima

Writer

I’m a Japanese writer with a deep interest in Russia. Through my articles, I explore a wide range of topics related to the country, including its culture, history, traditions, food, everyday life, and language.