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Questions & Answers about Новая грамматическая тема: повелительное наклонение глаголов несовершенного и совершенного вида.
What does повелительное наклонение mean?
It literally means “imperative mood.” In Russian grammar, a “наклонение” is the verb mood, and повелительное specifies the imperative — the form used for commands, requests or instructions (e.g. Скажи!, Дайте!, Пиши!).
Why is глаголов in the genitive plural and not in the nominative?
Because the phrase is “the imperative mood of verbs.” In Russian, “of X” is expressed by the genitive case. Here глаголов is the genitive plural of глагол, indicating that we’re talking about the mood belonging to (or applying to) verbs.
Why are несовершенного вида and совершенного вида in the genitive singular?
They form the phrases “of imperfective aspect” and “of perfective aspect.” The head noun вид (“aspect”) is singular, so it takes genitive singular вида. Both adjectives несовершенного and совершенного agree with вида in case, number and gender (masculine, genitive, singular). Together they modify глаголов: “verbs of imperfective and perfective aspect.”
Why does Новая end in -ая instead of -ый?
Because it’s an adjective modifying тема, which is a feminine noun in the nominative singular. Adjectives must agree in gender, number and case: новая тема (feminine, singular, nominative).
What is the function of the colon after тема?
In Russian, as in English, a colon can introduce an explanation, definition or subtitle. Here Новая грамматическая тема: is a heading that announces what follows — namely, повелительное наклонение глаголов несовершенного и совершенного вида.
What does вид mean in this context?
Вид here means “aspect” — a grammatical category that distinguishes whether a verb denotes a completed action (perfective) or an ongoing/repeated action (imperfective).
How do you form the imperative for imperfective vs. perfective verbs?
• Imperfective verbs: take the 3rd-person-plural present tense stem, drop -ут/-ют (or -ат/-ят), add -и (singular) or -ите (plural/formal).
– писать → пишут → пиши / пишите
– читать → читают → читай / читайте
• Perfective verbs: use the past-tense masculine singular stem, plus -и (singular) or -ите (plural/formal); if the stem ends in a vowel, you often add -й instead of -и.
– написать → написал → напиши / напишите
– сходить → сошёл → сходи / сходите
What is the difference in usage between the imperative of imperfective and perfective verbs?
• Imperfective imperative expresses repeated or ongoing actions, polite requests or general instructions (e.g. Пиши мне каждый день. – “Write to me every day.”).
• Perfective imperative expresses a single, complete action or a one-time command (e.g. Напиши письмо к утру. – “Write the letter by morning.”).
Can I say несовершенные и совершенные глаголы instead of глаголов несовершенного и совершенного вида?
Yes, native speakers would understand несовершенные и совершенные глаголы, but in formal grammar descriptions глаголы несовершенного и совершенного вида is the standard term. The latter emphasizes the category “aspect” (вид) rather than treating verbs themselves as “imperfective” or “perfective.”