Breakdown of Мы будем собирать грибы, разве что начнётся дождь.
быть
to be
мы
we
дождь
the rain
начаться
to start
Questions & Answers about Мы будем собирать грибы, разве что начнётся дождь.
Why does the sentence use будем собирать instead of a single future-tense verb?
Because собирать is an imperfective verb. In Russian, the future of an imperfective verb is formed with быть in the future + infinitive:
- будем собирать = we will be picking / we will pick
This form often suggests a process, activity, or ongoing action rather than a single completed result.
Compare:
- Мы будем собирать грибы. = We’ll be mushroom-picking / we’ll pick mushrooms.
- Мы соберём грибы. = We’ll gather the mushrooms / we’ll pick them all and finish.
So будем собирать focuses on the activity itself.
What is the difference between собирать and собрать here?
These are an aspect pair:
- собирать = imperfective
- собрать = perfective
In this sentence, собирать is used because the speaker is talking about the plan or activity of mushroom-picking, not the completed result.
- будем собирать грибы = we’ll be picking mushrooms
- соберём грибы = we’ll pick/gather the mushrooms completely
A native English speaker can think of it like this:
- imperfective = emphasis on the process or event
- perfective = emphasis on completion or result
Here, going out to pick mushrooms is the main idea, so imperfective sounds natural.
Why is it грибы and not some other case?