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Немно́го о языке́ 6.6 Где ты бу́дешь встреча́ть Но́вый год?

Telling on What Date Something Happens

We saw earlier in this unit that Russians express the date by using the neuter form of the ordinal number together with the genitive case of the month.

Сего́дня 15-ое [пятна́дцатое] декабря́. = Today is the fifteenth of December.

To say that something happens on December 15, Russian uses the genitive case of the ordinal number together with the genitive case of the month.

Я роди́лся 15-го [пятна́дцатого] декабря́. = I was born on December fifteenth.

Note that in Russian there is NO preposition corresponding to the English ON. This notion is conveyed entirely by the genitive case. In announcements and documents, such dates are often written expressed by combining the number with the ending –го.

Упражне́ние 1

Listen to the dates and decide whether the forms are in the nominative and could be used to to complete the sentence Сего́дня… or whether they are in the genitive case and could be used to complete the sentence Я роди́лся …. You will need to listen carefully to catch the /v/ sound that the Russian letter г has in the genitive singular ending.

Expressing Future Actions

In part 1 of this unit, you saw how in the past tense Russian uses imperfective verbs to express repeated actions, ongoing actions, simultaneous actions, while perfective verbs were used for actions that focus on completion and achieving a result or occur in a sequence.

In this section of the unit, we will look at how Russian expresses the notions of imperfective and perfective aspects in the future tense. Consider the examples:

Что ты бу́дешь де́лать в январе́? What will you be doing in January? Imperfective future. Formation: future forms of быть + imperfective infinitive
Когда́ всё бу́дет я́сно, обяза́тельно расска́жу́. When everything is clear, I will definitely tell you. Perfective future. Formation: Conjugating a perfective verb according to the rules for present tense verbs

Imperfective

Imperfective verbs in the future are used to express:

Duration (ongoing actions/processes that unfold over time)
На но́вой рабо́те я бу́ду рабо́тать на компью́тере весь день. At my new job I will work at the computer all day long.
Repeated or Habitual Actions
Ка́ждое у́тро я бу́ду за́втракать. Every morning I will eat breakfast.
На заня́тиях мы бу́дем чита́ть расска́зы и отвеча́ть на вопро́сы. In class we’ll read stories and answer questions.

(Class will meet regularly, and we will do these activities repeatedly.)
Naming an Action
Что вы бу́дете де́лать сего́дня ве́чером? What will you do tonight?

Perfective

Perfective verbs in the future are used to express:

Result (action’s completion and result)
Я напишу́ два письма́. I will write two letters.

(Two letters is a specific amount, and so I can focus on the completion of this defined amount; I will achieve a result of two written documents.)
Ама́нда пригото́вит презента́цию. Amanda will prepare her presentation.

(Amanda will have all the work done and will produce a completed presentation.)
Sequence (a series of actions)
Ама́нда снача́ла прочита́ет э́ту статью́, напи́шет план, и наконе́ц напи́шет текст. Amanda will first read this article, write an outline, and finally will write her text.

(The three actions are in a series, where the first action will be completed before the next action starts.)
Expected Outcome (anticipated action or result)
Ты пригото́вишь за́втрак? Will you make breakfast?

(I know that you were planning to and now I am checking back in on your plans.)
Вы прочита́ете А́нну Каре́нину? Will you read Anna Karenina?

(I know that you were interested in reading the novel and I may even know that you’ve started it, so now I am checking to see if you will actually accomplish the task.)

Упражне́ние 2

Review these examples of future tense statements from the storyline of Part 3, and tell which meaning the imperfective and perfective future tense verbs have. You will be able to recognize the imperfective verbs in the future because they are formed by combining the future tense of быть (я бу́ду, ты бу́дешь, etc.) with an imperfective infinitive.

New conjugation patterns

While the perfective verbs that you encounter in this unit will take the first and second conjugation verb endings that you already know, it can be challenging to figure out their stems, and which conjugation type they belong to.

Imperfective/Perfective Verb Pairs

Before focusing on the conjugation of new verbs, practice pairing imperfective and perfective infinitives, and review the meanings of imperfective/perfective pairs using the exercises that follow.

Упражне́ние 3

Before focusing on the conjugations of new verbs, review the aspect pairs below by matching the imperfective infinitives with their perfective partners.

Упражне́ние 4

Before focusing on the conjugations of new verbs, review the basic meaning of the aspect pairs below by matching the imperfective/perfective partners with their English equivalents.

You should be able to recognize and use the imperfective and perfective forms of these verbs in the past tense.

говори́ть / сказа́ть to say, to tell
расска́зывать / рассказа́ть to narrate, to tell (at length)
пока́зывать / показа́ть to show
опа́здывать / опозда́ть to run late, to be late
забыва́ть / забы́ть to forget
начина́ть / нача́ть to begin
зака́нчивать / зако́нчить to finish
помога́ть / помо́чь to help
объясня́ть / объясни́ть to explain
покупа́ть / купи́ть to buy
приглаша́ть / пригласи́ть to invite
звони́ть / позвони́ть to call
нра́виться / понра́виться to like
сове́товать / посове́товать to advise
реша́ть / реши́ть to decide

For the following verbs, you should be able to conjugate both the imperfective in the present tense and the perfective form for the future tense. Details about conjugation patterns are given below.

чита́ть / прочита́ть де́лать / сде́лать опа́здывать / опозда́ть
писа́ть / написа́ть гото́вить / пригото́вить дари́ть / подари́ть
говори́ть / сказа́ть звони́ть / позвони́ть расска́зывать / рассказа́ть
пока́зывать / показа́ть помога́ть / помо́чь покупа́ть / купи́ть

Aspect and Verb Conjugation

The aspect of the verb does not change the basic conjugation patterns for first and second conjugation verbs that you have already learned.

Conjugating Verbs Made Perfective by Prefixes

A perfective verb that has a prefix will conjugate in exactly the same way as its unprefixed imperfective partner. Thus, the stems for the following pairs all have similar endings and conjugations

First conjugation verbs
чита́ть / прочита́ть (stems: читай- / прочитай-)
де́лать / сде́лать stems: делай- / сделай-)
писа́ть / написа́ть (stems: пиш- / напиш- )

Second Conjugation Verbs, like говори́ть
дари́ть / подари́ть (stems: дар- / подар - )
звони́ть / позвони́ть (stems: звон- / позвон- )

Perfective Forms of идти́ and е́хать

In Unit 5, you learned that Russian uses these verbs to describe a motion that is in progress or heading to a destination. The prefix по- is used with both these verbs to make a perfective verb that points to the start of going, to the point of heading out.

The perfective verb пойти́ (contracted from по+идти́) has some unpredictable forms and spellings, and these are outlined in the chart below. In contrast, the perfective verb пое́хать сonjugates just like the verb е́хать, making a regular past tense он пое́хал and a regular future tense я пое́ду.

Past Future
stem: пойд-
пойти́
(to start on one’s way,
to head out on foot) 		он пошёл я пойду́
она́ пошла́ ты пойдёшь
они́ пошли́ он/она́ пойдёт
мы пойдём
вы пойдёте
они́ пойду́т
Past Future
stem: поед-
пое́хать
(to start on one’s way,
to head out by vehicle) 		он пое́хал я пое́ду
она́ пое́хала ты пое́дешь
они́ пое́хали он/она́ пое́дет
мы пое́дем
вы пое́дете
они́ пое́дут

Упражне́ние 5

Listen to the following sentences, and decide whether they express present time with a conjugated imperfective verb or future time with a conjugated perfective verb. Then, considering the content of the sentence, decide which of the characters is most like to be the speaker.