Aspect: A Matter of Perspective

Let's look at something that doesn't always get much attention in beginning Russian: the importance of the speaker's perspective in choosing which aspect to use.
Though we often think of using the perfective for one-time actions, there are times when you'll hear the imperfective for something that happened just once - and it's quite common in everyday Russian! This is where the speaker's point of view in a given context is important. In this video we'll talk about several contexts to distinguish whether just we're stating whether something happened (or not), as opposed to providing detail or considering the result of an action.
This video was inspired in part by the approach taken in Живая речь, textbooks by Ирина Андреева, Елена Арсенова, and Кирилл Микитьянц, published by Lingua-Vita (www.lingua-vit...). The focus on aspect is found in Volume A1+.

[@setharnold9764]

I wish these little green and blue boxes would appear over everything I read :) these are great videos, thanks.

[@jeffm9227]

This answered some questions I've had for years on this topic, especially imperfective for one time past actions.

[@michaelandre9350]

What a great video and insights re: perfective and imperfective aspects. Thank you very much, Dr Ford for putting this together for us.

[@sunving]

Thank you , I am actively learning Russian , I find your video very good in explaining nuances .

[@mulinghe8220]

this video solved one of the biggest mysteries in my life

[@sapientiayu5597]

Collocations like Сделал прививку, получил вакцину are used to ask if the vaccination was completed. The result matters. This makes sense.

[@russiangrammar]

Timely and relevant examples!

[@firely98]

I've just discovered your channel and really like your videos, thanks a lot :)

[@AlisaPreviero]

Could you please make a video about equivalents of English modal verbs - different obligations? Must, should, have to....

[@Makrania]

In Служебный роман, what if Shura did say, “вы заплатили”? How would the meaning change? Unfortunately, and often, I cannot determine if the action is a process or a result, when I consider an action that is not expressed in Russian.

[@Afdch]

In this case, virtually no difference. Tbh it even may go as "Вы уже платили?" "Заплатил". The aspect change, but that's spoken language. But, say, in some other context the payment may be in 2 or more parts. Imperfective would mean that at least one payment have been done, but perfective that the whole payment is done.

[@Makrania]

@@Afdch Я понял. Спасибо за помощь!

[@russiangrammar]

There are some words that are often used when viewing an action as a process (долго, весь день, медленно), and that can give a clue as to the context. It's worth keeping in mind that an action need not be *only* a process or *only* a result; sometimes it's the speaker's perspective in a given context that can decide the choice of aspect.

[@Llampec95]

Great video as always :) Regarding the sentence "did you finish writing the letter", could we use the prefix "do" to indicate the termination of the action?

[@russiangrammar]

Do you mean the prefix до- (not English "do")? Yes - 'Ты дописал письмо?' implies completion of something that had been started earlier. До- can also be used with imperfectives, when the context calls for it: 'Она дописывала письмо, когда я пришёл' = 'She was [in the process of] finishing the letter when I arrived.'

[@Llampec95]

@@russiangrammar Thanks! Yes, that's what I was referring to :)

[@catboy721]

Hi. Have to say that Lingua Vita site has some pretty obtuse terminology to sell its approach. And clearly, English isn’t their long suit. Hope the book is a different experience. Thx for the video. Tough topic, covered well.

[@russiangrammar]

I've attended a few of their webinars and appreciated their approach to some, er, aspects of teaching aspect that many other books neglect. I'm not sure whether their books would be suited for (or are intended for) self-study, though. Thanks for the comment!