Can you help me with aspect?
I'm having a difficult time grasping the aspect of, well, aspect in the Russian language. I know it has something to do with the completion of the action but I'm not sure about much else.

For example there are the verbs смотреть and посмотреть. Can you explain the difference in meaning and when you would use one instead of the other? What are some other examples?

Thank you in advance!

(I apologize if I posted this before. I thought I submitted it but it wasn't showing up on my feed.)**wrong section. Sorry. I posted it on the Russian forum.

Question

Can you help me with aspect?
I'm having a difficult time grasping the aspect of, well, aspect in the Russian language. I know it has something to do with the completion of the action but I'm not sure about much else.

For example there are the verbs смотреть and посмотреть. Can you explain the difference in meaning and when you would use one instead of the other? What are some other examples?

Thank you in advance!

(I apologize if I posted this before. I thought I submitted it but it wasn't showing up on my feed.)**wrong section. Sorry. I posted it on the Russian forum.

Answer

Это сложно объяснить. 
посмотреть - завершенное действие - действие ограниченно в своей длительности, имеет внутренний предел, законченность.
смотреть - действие в процессе - обозначают действие без указания на его предел, без ограничения протекания его во времени, действие длительное или повторяющееся.

Вот некоторые примеры:
Ты посмотрел фильм вчера? = Ты увидел фильм вчера? = Did you see a movie yesterday?
Ты смотрела вчера фильм? = Did you watch a movie yesterday?

Смотри в окно! = Посмотри в окно! = Look out the window! - no difference.
Я смотрю в окно сейчас или я смотрю в окно каждое утро =  I'm looking out the window or I look out the window every morning.  "смотрю"  uses in the present
Я посмотрю в окно сейчас или Я посмотрю в окно завтра. = I'm going to look out the window now or I will look out the window tomorrow. 'посмотрю' uses in future

Answer

Yeah, I accidentally clicked English because I thought it said "What language is this written in?" or something like that because I wasn't paying much attention. Now I don't know how to delete it...

Answer

Should this have been in the Russian, rather than English forum?

Answers · 3

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