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Questions & Answers about Новая грамматическая тема: будущее время двух видов — форму несовершенного вида с «буду + инфинитив» и форму совершенного вида простым глаголом.
What does вид refer to in this context?
Here вид means grammatical “aspect.” Russian verbs come in two aspects: imperfective (ongoing or habitual actions) and perfective (completed actions).
Why is the future imperfective formed with буду + infinitive?
Imperfective verbs in Russian have no single-word future form. Instead, you form a compound future by conjugating the auxiliary быть in the future (e.g., буду, будешь) and adding the infinitive of the imperfective verb to show an ongoing or repeated future action.
How is быть conjugated in the compound future?
In the future tense, быть goes:
• я буду
• ты будешь
• он/она/оно будет
• мы будем
• вы будете
• они будут
Why is the future perfective expressed by a simple verb?
Perfective verbs already signal a completed action, so their present-tense form shifts to a future meaning. You don’t need an auxiliary—just use the present-tense form of a perfective verb as your simple future.
Can you give examples of both future constructions?
Yes.
• Imperfective (compound): Я буду читать книгу завтра.
• Perfective (simple): Я прочитаю книгу завтра.
When should I use the imperfective vs the perfective future?
Use the imperfective future to emphasize:
- ongoing or continuous actions
- habitual or repeated actions
Use the perfective future to emphasize: - the completion or one-time result of an action
Are there exceptions to these aspect-based future formations?
The main exception is быть, which has its own irregular future forms (буду, будешь, etc.). Apart from that, virtually every Russian verb follows the pattern: imperfective → compound future; perfective → simple future.
What does простым глаголом mean here?
Literally “with a simple verb.” It highlights that the perfective future uses a single verb form (the present-tense form of a perfective verb) rather than a two-word construction.
Why does the sentence use a colon and a dash (: and —)?
The colon introduces the new grammar topic being defined. The dash then separates and elaborates on its two parts (the imperfective form with буду + infinitive and the perfective form with a simple verb), a common punctuation structure in Russian for clarity.