Colloquial Russian

154 Unit 11: Как снять кварти ́ ру

открыва�ться to open up

(of a view)

пи�сьменный writing desk

стол

пол (на полу�) (on) the floor

посу�да crockery

сторона� side

стул chair

холоди�льник fridge

ча�йник kettle

электроплита� electric

cooker

Грамма�тика

Imperfective and perfective aspects

Each English infinitive has two equivalents in Russian. ‘To read’ can be

translated either by чита�ть or прочита�ть. Чита�ть is called the imper-

fective infinitive or the infinitive of the imperfective aspect. All the verbs

you have used so far have been imperfective. From the imperfective

infinitive you can form the present tense, the imperfective past and the

imperfective future:

чита�ть present tense: чита�ю, чита�ешь, чита�ет etc.

past tense: чита�л, чита�ла, чита�ло, чита�ли

future tense: бу�ду чита�ть, бу�дешь чита�ть etc.

Прочита�ть is called the perfective infinitive or the infinitive of the per-

fective aspect. From the perfective infinitive you can form the perfective

past and the perfective future.

Formation of the perfective past

You form the perfective past in exactly the same way as the imperfec-

tive past, but by using the perfective infinitive, e.g.:

прочитать� я/ты/он прочитал �

‘I read, have read, had read’ etc.

я/ты/она� прочита�ла

оно� прочита�ло

мы/вы/они� прочита�ли