Мама быстро дошила рукав рубашки, а потом домыла посуду.

quickly

Breakdown of Мама быстро дошила рукав рубашки, а потом домыла посуду.

• рубашка: the shirt
• мама: the mother
• а: and

Questions & Answers about Мама быстро дошила рукав рубашки, а потом домыла посуду.

Why are the verbs дошила and домыла used here instead of just шила and мыла?

The prefix до- adds the idea of finishing something or doing something to the end.

• шить = to sew
• дошить = to finish sewing
• мыть = to wash
• домыть = to finish washing

So this sentence does not just say that Mom was sewing and was washing. It says she finished sewing the shirt sleeve and then finished washing the dishes.

This often suggests that the action may already have been in progress, and now it was brought to completion.

Are дошила and домыла perfective verbs?

Yes. Both are perfective.

In Russian, perfective verbs usually express:

• a completed action
• a single whole event
• a result

Here, the actions are presented as completed:

• she finished sewing
• she finished washing

Their imperfective partners would be:

• дошивать = to be finishing sewing / to finish sewing repeatedly or in process
• домывать = to be finishing washing

The sentence uses perfective because it tells a sequence of completed events.