| Aspect
of Verbs: Introduction Click
here for Note to Instructors
by M. Nafpaktitis
In
Polish, as a rule, verbs have two different forms, or aspects:
imperfective (niedokonane) and perfective (dokonane).
While both “aspects” of a verb have almost the same meanings,
depending on which of the forms you use, you will be expressing
a different sense of how the action took place.
Verbal
aspect will help you determine whether the action:
| |
-
is single and complete
- is
in progress
- happens
often or habitually
- or
holds in general
|
The
difference can be illustrated by using English:
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- I
bought a new car yesterday. (single, complete
action)
- I
was buying a new car yesterday, when I tripped and
broke my leg. (action in progress)
- I
used to buy a new car every year. (action happened
often or habitually)
- He
buys and sells used cars for a living. (holds
in general)
|
Some
examples of imperfective and perfective pairs in Polish include:
Imperfective
jeść
zapraszać
iść
mówić |
Perfective
zjeść
zaprosić
pójść
powiedzieć |
Note
that perfective forms of verbs can be formed by adding a prefix
(i.e. jeść/zjeść), by changing the stem (i.e.
zapraszać/zaprosić ), or by using an entirely new stem
(i.e. mówić/ powiedzieć).
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