Прошедшее время (Past Simple)
The Прошедшее время (Past Simple) tense in Russian is used to describe actions that took place in the past. In Russian, the past tense is formed for both the imperfective and perfective aspects, and the meaning changes depending on the aspect.
Aspects:
- Imperfective Aspect: Describes ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past, as well as actions that were in progress at a specific time.
- Example: Я читал книгу. (I was reading a book.)
- Perfective Aspect: Describes actions that were completed in the past.
- Example: Я прочитал книгу. (I read the book / I have finished reading the book.)
Formation:
The past tense in Russian is formed by adding -л (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), or -ли (plural) to the verb stem.
Active Voice Conjugation:
| Person | Imperfective (читать – to read) | Perfective (прочитать – to read) |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | читал | прочитал |
| Feminine | читала | прочитала |
| Neuter | читало | прочитало |
| Plural | читали | прочитали |
Examples of Aspect Usage:
- Imperfective: Он читал книгу весь вечер. (He was reading a book all evening.)
- Perfective: Он прочитал книгу вчера. (He finished reading the book yesterday.)
Common Time Expressions:
- Вчера (Yesterday)
- В прошлом году (Last year)
- На прошлой неделе (Last week)
Examples:
- Imperfective Positive: Они писали письмо. (They were writing a letter.)
- Imperfective Negative: Она не говорила. (She wasn’t speaking.)
- Perfective Positive: Он написал письмо. (He wrote the letter.)
- Perfective Negative: Он не сделал работу. (He didn’t complete the work.)
