What is the imperfective aspect in Russian?

The Russian past tense is formed in the same way for perfective and imperfective verbs, by adding -л, -ла, -ло, or -ли to the infinitive stem of a verb:

To learn more about the forms of imperfective verbs in the past tense, look at our post on the past tense in Russian.

Since perfective verbs are not used in the present tense in Russian, imperfective aspect is effectively the only one used with the reference to the present. Here is the example of the imperfective verb forms in the present tense in Russian:

To learn more about the forms of imperfective verbs in the present tense, look at our post on the present tense in Russian.

Imperfective verbs can be used to describe future action. To do this, however, they require some “help” from the verb быть (transcribed byt, meaning “to be”) which functions as an auxiliary and is joined by the infinitive of an imperfective verb to form the so-called “imperfective future”:

It is important to note that perfective verbs do not follow this pattern. To learn more about the forms of imperfective verbs in the future, look at our post on the Russian future tense.

The imperfective aspect is the one that can describe an ongoing action in the past, present, or future. Often accompanied by time markers, such as в 8 вечера (transcribed v VOsim VYEchira, meaning “at 8 PM”), сейчас (transcribed siCHAS, meaning “now”), когда (transcribed kagDA, meaning “when”), imperfective verbs in this use describe what was/is/will be happening at a specific point in time:

We use imperfective verbs to describe an action that lasted a certain period of time, with the emphasis on the duration of this action. For this reason, you’re likely to use the imperfective aspects with words and phrases like:

• долго (transcribed DOLga, meaning “for a long time”)

• три года (transcribed tree GOda, meaning “for three years”)

• несколько дней (transcribed NYEskalka dnyey, meaning “for a few days”)

• с 3 до 6 (transcribed s tryokh da shysTEE, meaning “from 3 to 6”)

Here are some examples:

While perfective aspect is used to say that actions took place one after another, imperfective verbs describe actions happening simultaneously:

The imperfective aspect is used to describe facts or permanent states. Normally we use the present tense to do this, for example:

We use imperfective verbs when we need to say that an action has a regular or habitual nature.

We generally use the imperfective of verbs for actions that necessarily involve a number of different actions, when we’re talking about a process as a whole. Some examples might include руководить (transcribed rookavaDEET, meaning “to manage/lead”) or изучать (transcribed izooCHAT, meaning “to study/do research”). This meaning is very close to the one describing habitual actions except these words are ‘habitual’ by the very nature of their meaning:

The imperfective aspect also describes an action that can be done based on a person’s abilities and skills, or some characteristics of an object. For instance:

When we talk about a past action as a general fact, without any reference to its time or duration, but because it is relevant to the present or somehow explains what is going on at this moment, we use imperfective verbs. In this use Russian imperfective aspect is very close to the present perfect (e.g. “has seen”) in English:

This meaning of the imperfective aspect is also sometimes called “a canceled result,” because the action described by the verb did end, but then its result had already disappeared by the moment of speaking (usually the present moment) because the opposite action had taken place. Only verbs that can have a pair with the meaning of the opposite direction (e.g. open-close, come-leave, etc.) can be used in this meaning:

We use imperfective verbs instead of perfective with some negative verb forms:

• Negative imperative:

  Perfective aspect	Imperfective aspect
  Посмотри туда! Transcription: pasmatREE tooDA Translation: Look there!	Не смотри туда! Transcription: nye smatREE tooDA Translation: Don’t look there!
  Добавь больше масла! Transcription: daBAF BOLshe MASla Translation: Add any more oil!	Не добавляй больше масла! Transcription: nye dabavLYAY BOLshe MASla Translation: Don’t add any more oil!

• Infinitive used with a negated modal verb:

  Perfective aspect	Imperfective aspect
  Мы должны открыть эту дверь! Transcription: my dalzhNY atKRYT Etoo dvyer Translation: We should open this door!	Мы не должны открывать эту дверь! Transcription: my nye dalzhNY atkryVAT Etoo dvyer Translation: We should not open this door!
  Надо им помочь! Transcription: NAda eem paMOCH Translation: (We/you) should help them!	Не надо им помогать! Transcription: nye NAda eem pamaGAT Translation: (We/you) should not help them!