Belarusian verbs come in pairs: one describes the activity, the other its completion. Choosing between them is not a tense decision, and it is the single largest grammatical decision in the language.
I can choose between the two aspects when talking about the past and the future, and I know which one буду and a negative order require.
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Учора я чытаў кнігу ўвесь вечар.
Yesterday I read a book all evening.
Нарэшце я прачытаў гэтую кнігу.
I have finally read that book.
Я часта купляю хлеб у гэтай краме.
I often buy bread in this shop.
Заўтра буду пісаць, а ў пятніцу напішу.
Tomorrow I will be writing, and by Friday I will have finished.
Зверніть увагу на виділені частини. Що у них спільного?
Almost every Belarusian verb belongs to a pair. The imperfective describes an activity going on, repeated or unfinished; the perfective presents it as one completed whole.
| Imperfective | Perfective | How the pair is made |
|---|---|---|
| чытаць | прачытаць | prefix |
| пісаць | напісаць | prefix |
| рабіць | зрабіць | prefix |
| купляць | купіць | suffix change |
| браць | узяць | different root |
| Imperfective | Perfective |
|---|---|
| Учора я чытаў кнігу. (was reading) | Учора я прачытаў кнігу. (read it through) |
| Я купляю тут хлеб. (regularly) | Я купіў хлеб. (got it bought) |
| Ён пісаў ліст гадзіну. (spent an hour) | Ён напісаў ліст. (finished it) |
Certain adverbs almost force the choice. Заўсёды, часта, звычайна, кожны дзень, доўга pull the imperfective. Раптам, нарэшце, ужо, адразу pull the perfective.
English carries this distinction in its tenses - was reading against read, has written against was writing. Belarusian carries it in the verb itself and then has only three tenses. So the question to ask before every past or future verb is not "when" but "finished or not".
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A2
Вправи для практикиTypical errors: treating aspect as a tense and looking for a Belarusian equivalent of the perfect; and combining буду with a perfective, which produces a form that does not exist.
Combining буду with a perfective
Буду чытаць, not буду прачытаць. A perfective makes its own future.
Building the aspect pair on the Russian model
The prefix may differ, and браць/узяць and купляць/купіць have to be learned whole.
Using the perfective in a negative order
Не спяшайся, не хвалюйся - imperfective.
Treating aspect as a tense and hunting for a perfect
There are three tenses. The question is finished or not, not when.
Учора я чытаў кнігу ўвесь вечар.
Yesterday I read a book all evening.
<em>Увесь вечар</em> describes duration, so the imperfective.
Нарэшце я прачытаў гэтую кнігу.
I have finally read that book.
<em>Нарэшце</em> points to completion, so the perfective.
Я часта купляю хлеб у гэтай краме.
I often buy bread in this shop.
<em>Часта</em> means repeated, so <em>купляю</em> rather than <em>куплю</em>.
Заўтра буду пісаць, а ў пятніцу напішу.
Tomorrow I will be writing, and by Friday I will have finished.
Both futures in one sentence: <em>буду пісаць</em> with the imperfective, <em>напішу</em> from the perfective.
Не спяшайся, у нас ёсць час.
Do not hurry, we have time.
A negative order takes the imperfective: <em>не спяшайся</em>, not <em>не паспяшайся</em>.
Практикувати в курсі
Застосуйте цю граматику у вправах курсу A2