How is the time category expressed in Russian?
Video: Short Adjectives in Russian. Theory + Practice. Level A2 2024, July
The verb is the part of speech that denotes the action or condition of an object, face: “lie”, “look”, “feel”. The time category is used to determine the action at the time of speech. Three tenses are conventionally distinguished - past, present and future, however, the functionality of the Russian verb can be expanded through a temporary transposition.
The present
Currently, in the Russian language there are several functions. The first is to determine the permanent properties of an object or face. For example, "Water boils at a temperature of 100 degrees." Secondly, the present serves to express potential. For example, "The cheetah has a speed of more than one hundred kilometers per hour." Thirdly, fixes the action at the time of its commission. To the question: “What are you doing now?”, One can answer: “I am reading a book”, “My dishes”, etc. The fourth functional feature of the present time is the nomination of the action repeated from time to time, constantly, periodically, sometimes, etc. As an example, "I go to school, " "Auntie watches the series, " "They meet friends on Saturdays." There is another transpositional property of the verb in the present tense - the transmission of thought directed to the future by the forms of the present. This time is called the present in the future. For example, the verb "food" in the context: "On Thursday I am going to Paris."
Future
The future tense in Russian expresses the action that will take place after the moment of speech. By the method of shaping it is divided into simple and complex. Simple time is formed using affixes (suffixes and endings) according to its inflectional class. For example, I’ll read, translate, and go. Difficult time additionally uses the verb "be" to form. When conjugating a verb in the future tense, only the form of the additional verb changes - “I will dream”, “you will dream”, “he / she will dream”, “we will dream”, “you will dream” and “they will dream”.
The future tense can have various meanings and tasks. In proverbs and sayings it is used very often. For example, "As it comes around, it will respond." The future simple can function in the present: “I don’t understand what’s wrong with him”, “I won’t find the keys.” With the same success, the future is present in terms of the past tense: "It happened, sits down, takes the button accordion in your hands and drags out a sad song."
Past
Elapsed time is not exposed to such temporary transpositions. It expresses the action preceding the moment of speech. Forming depends on whether the verb is perfect or imperfect. The imperfect past expresses the action as a fact: “walked”, “dozed”, “fought”.
The perfect action, firstly, states the completeness of the process: "went", "dozed off". Secondly, it determines the order of the committed actions: "First, I woke up, washed, got dressed and went to work." The third function of the perfect past fixes the result of the past action in the present: "I watched this film and now I can talk about it." Repeatability and repeatability are characteristic of both the perfect and the imperfect past.