Imperfective and perfective verbs
Russian distinguishes WHETHER an action is completed, not just WHEN. Almost every verb has two forms: imperfective (process, repetition, ongoing) and perfective (a single completed action with a result). This is the most important grammar concept past A2 — get it now and the rest of B1 unfolds easily.
Imperfective — what you've been using
All the verbs you know so far are imperfective: читать, работать, говорить, любить, делать. They describe an action as a process — what you do regularly, what's in progress, what was happening. Я читал книгу = I was reading a book / I used to read a book. Action emphasized, no claim about finishing.
Perfective — emphasis on completion
Each imperfective verb has a perfective twin. The perfective says the action was DONE, completed, with a result. Impf. читать → pf. прочитать. Я прочитал книгу = I read the book (and finished it). The twin is usually formed by adding a prefix (про-, на-, по-, etc.) or changing the suffix.
How to spot which is which
Common perfective markers: - prefixes: прочитать, написать, сделать, поговорить, посмотреть - suffix change: давать (impf) → дать (pf), решать (impf) → решить (pf) - completely different word: говорить (impf) → сказать (pf — to say once) Dictionaries list verbs as pairs separated by '/': читать / прочитать.
Tenses available
Imperfective verbs have all three tenses: past, present, future (compound: буду читать). Perfective verbs have only past and future. They can't be present tense — by definition a perfective is a single completed event, which can't be 'happening right now'.
Picking the right one
Use imperfective for: - repeated/habitual actions (every day, often) - ongoing actions (was reading when X happened) - the simple fact of an action (Did you read?) Use perfective for: - a single completed action with a result - a specific event in the past or future
