Russian grammar - Introducing verb aspects: говорить / сказать |
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Russian verbs have two 'aspects'. Aspects are used to indicate if an action was completed or is ongoing. • The imperfective for incomplete or ongoing actions. • The perfective for completed actions. The verbs говорить and сказать are an imperfective / perfective pair. • The verb говорить is imperfective: it is used for ongoing or incomplete speech ('speaking'/'talking', or 'was speaking'/'was talking') • The verb сказать is perfective: it is used for completed speech ('said/told') There is no present tense form for perfective verbs. |
Examples: | |
Я говорю громко.
I am speaking loudly.
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Я говорил громко.
I (male) was speaking loudly.
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Я громко сказал «нет».
I (male) said 'No' loudly.
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Он говорит о хорошей погоде.
He is talking about the fine weather.
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Он говорил о хорошей погоде.
He was talking about the fine weather.
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Он сказал, что погода хорошая.
He said that the weather is fine.
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О ком вы говорите?
About whom are you (formal) speaking?
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О ком вы говорили?
About whom were you (formal) speaking?
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Что он сказал?
What did he say?
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Он сказал, что Михаил нездоров.
He said that Mikhail is not well.
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