Question 1

Why do we use посмотрели and выпили here instead of смотрели and пили?

Accepted Answer

Both of these verbs are in the Perfective aspect. We use perfective verbs in the past tense for completed actions that have a clear result. By using two perfective verbs connected by и (and), it shows that these actions were totally finished, rather than ongoing. It also often implies a sequence of events: first we finished the movie, and then we finished the wine.

Question 2

How can I tell that посмотрели and выпили are Perfective verbs?

Accepted Answer

A very common way to create a Perfective verb in Russian is by adding a prefix (a short tag) to the beginning of a base Imperfective verb. Here, the prefix по- is added to смотрели (were watching), and the prefix вы- is added to пили (were drinking). You will often learn these verbs together as pairs!

Question 3

Does выпили вино mean we drank all the wine, or just that we were drinking wine?

Accepted Answer

Because выпили is a perfective verb, it emphasizes a finished result. It usually implies that you drank a specific, completed amount, like finishing the bottle or emptying your glasses. If you wanted to focus on the ongoing process of casually sipping wine over the evening, you would use the imperfective verb пили instead.

Question 4

Why don't the words фильм and вино change their endings if they are the direct objects we watched and drank?

Accepted Answer

Because they are the direct objects of the action, they are in the Accusative case. However, фильм is a masculine inanimate noun (it is an object, not a living being) and вино is a neuter noun. For masculine inanimate and all neuter nouns, the Accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary form.

Мы посмотрели фильм и выпили вино.

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