What are aspect pairs in Russian?

Single-aspect verbs are verbs in Russian that do not have an aspect “partner” but come only as imperfective or only as perfective.

While there is no rule that would tell you which verb is a single-aspect one, most single-aspect imperfective verbs fall into one of these categories:

• Verbs with the meaning of feelings, e.g.

  • ненавидеть[ninaVEEdyet](to hate)

  • сожалеть[sazhyLYET](to feel sorry)

  • обожать[abaZHAT](to adore)

  • сочувствовать[saCHOOstvavat](to feel for someone)

• Verbs denoting states, e.g.

  • спать[spat](to sleep)

  • жить[zhyt](to live)

  • стоять[staYAT](to stand)

  • молчать[malCHAT](to be silent)

  • иметь[iMYET](to have, to own)

  • находиться[nakhaDEEtsa](to be (located))

• Verbs of motion without prefixes, e.g.

  • идти[iTEE](to go)

  • ходить[khaDEET](to go)

  • бежать[biZHAT](to run)

  • ездить[YEZdit](to go by a vehicle)

Here are some categories of verbs that are often single-aspect perfective verbs:

• Verbs denoting beginning or end of an action, e.g.

  • засмеяться[zasmiYALsya](to start laughing)

  • запрыгать[szaPRYgat](to start jumping)

  • долететь[daliTYET](to reach a destination by flying)

  • отработать[atraBOtat](to finish work)

• Verbs meaning short-term action, e.g.

  • поспать[paSPAT](to sleep a little)

  • пожить[paZHYT](to live for a short time)

  • порисовать[parisaVAT](to draw/paint a little)

Double-aspect verbs are little language chameleons: they change their aspect depending on context. So they act sometimes as imperfective, and sometimes as perfective without changing their forms.

There are not many double-aspect verbs in Russian. Most of them are verbs with the suffix -ова-, and many are loan words, for example:

• использовать[isPOLzavat](to use)

• исследовать[iSLYEdavat](to examine)

• расследовать[raSLYEdavat](to investigate)

• атаковать[atakaVAT](to attack)

• модернизировать[maderniZEEravat](to modernize)

• парализовать[paralizaVAT](to paralyze)

But there are others, too, that are hard to classify, e.g.

• ранить[RAnit](to injure)

• казнить[kazNEET](to execute)

• обещать[abiSHCHAT](to promise)

• крестить[krisTEET](to baptize)

• жениться[zhyNEEtsa](to get married)

Because language usually pushes for uniformity, many double-aspect verbs show a tendency to acquire an aspect “partner” over time. Thus, some of these verbs exist in a bit unstable status in modern Russian, when the verb can be used both as single-aspect one, or as a regular imperfective verb with a perfective aspect partner, for example:

Some verbs have two imperfective or two perfective forms, thus forming aspect trios. For example:

• “to reach, to achieve”

  • достигать[dastiGAT] → imperfective

  • достигнуть[daSTEEGnoot] / достичь[daSTEECH] → perfective

• “to eat”

  • есть[yest] / съедать[syiDAT] → imperfective

  • съесть[syest] → perfective

• “to read”

  • читать[chiTAT] / прочитывать[praCHEEtyvat] → imperfective

  • прочитать[prachiTAT] → perfective

• “to burn”

  • жечь[zhech] / сжигать[zhyGAT] → imperfective

  • сжечь[zhech] → perfective

Such verbs tend to get rid of the “extra” form eventually. The verbs in trios either start to differentiate in meaning or in register, or one form simply becomes less common, and then obsolete.

One way to make a perfective verb from an imperfective verb is by adding a prefix to it. Problem is, there is no rule as to which prefix to use. The most common are по-, с-, о-, на-, and про-. For example:

Note that prefixes, including the ones mentioned above, can often change not only (and not necessarily) the aspect, but the meaning of a verb. Thus, you should not assume that adding a prefix is a secure way to form a perfective verb from an imperfective one. Compare the examples above with the ones below:

• Imperfective	говорить[gavaREET](to speak / to talk)
  Perfective	поговорить[pagavaREET](to have a short chat)

  This is NOT an aspect pair because of the difference in the meaning of the verbs, the actual aspect partner for говорить is сказать[skaZAT](to say), while поговорить is a single-aspect verb.

• Imperfective	cпать[spat](to sleep)
  Perfective	проспать[praSPAT](to oversleep)

  This is also NOT an aspect pair. Спать is a single-aspect verb, проспать has an imperfective partner просыпать[prasyPAT](to oversleep).

The suffix -ыва-/-ива-/-ва- found in a verb infinitive is a marker of an imperfective verb. If you remove it from a verb, you’ll make it perfective. In most cases both verbs in a pair will have a prefix as well that remains unchanged.

The alteration of a suffix can also change the aspect of a verb. By changing the suffix -а-/-я- to -и- you’ll turn an imperfective verb into a perfective one. Some verbs will experience alteration of the consonants before the suffix as well:

Another possible way to change the aspect of a verb from imperfective to perfective is to change the suffix -а- to -ну-.

Historically, some verbs experienced significant alterations in their stems while aspect pairs were formed. Usually it happened because of the stress shift or added suffixes. You don’t need to know all the whys and hows, but in modern Russian the verbs in these aspect pairs have some alterations in their stems:

Sometimes one verb in an aspect pair is created from the other by adding both a prefix and a suffix. It might be either verb, perfective or imperfective, and there is no rule regarding the choice of prefix or suffix:

There are some unique aspect pairs in Russian where the imperfective and the perfective verbs look very different, as if they were not related to one another at all. Interestingly, in some cases the imperfective and the perfective verbs in such pairs will be translated as two different words in English too. This is because the meaning of the imperfective verb describing a process and a perfective verb describing the result are so distinct that cannot be described by the same word.

Although it is not the most productive model, a change in stress alone can sometimes create a verb of a different aspect: