EXPLANATION
Introduction
In Slovak, every action verb belongs to one of two aspects: Imperfective or Perfective. This tells the listener whether the action is a process/habit or a completed single event.
Imperfective verbs
It focuses on the process, the duration, a habit, or an action happening repeatedly without focusing on its end. In English it often corresponds to continuous tenses (I am reading,I usually read, …)
čítať (to read, to be reading)
písať (to write, to be writing)
robiť (to do, to make)
Včera večer som čítal knihu (I was reading a book yesterday)
Perfective verbs
It focuses on the result, completion, or a single bounded event. The action has a clear beginning and and. In English it often corresponds to simple past tenses (I read, I wrote, …)
prečítať (to read through, to finish reading)
napísať (to write down, to write a complete sentence)
urobiť (to complete, to finish doing)
Včera večer som prečítal knihu (I finished reading a book yesterday)
How are aspect pairs formed in Slovak?
1, Adding a prefix to create a perfective verb
You take a basic imperfective verb and add a prefix to it. This limits the action and turns it into a completed, single event with a clear result.
robiť (imperfective) -> urobiť (to finish doing)
písať (imperfective) -> napísať (to write down)
2, Changing suffixes within pairs
Some verbs shift their aspect by altering their internal suffix or root vowel.
kupovať (imperfective) -> kúpiť (perfective)
3, Completely different words
Some of the most frequently used verbs do not use prefixes or suffixes and instead they use entirely different words for their aspect pairs.
vidieť (imperfective) -> uvidieť (perfective)
hovoriť (imperfective) -> povedať (perfective)
DIALOGUE
Ahoj Tomáš, čo robíš? (imperfective, action happening right now)
Práve robím večeru. (imperfective, action happening right now)
Rád ti pomôžem. Už som uvaril čaj a aj nakúpil. (perfective, action is completed)
Super, ďakujem. Zatiaľ čo ty budeš krájať paradajky, ja nakrájam tieto uhorky. (krájať = imperfective, action in progress, nakrájam = perfective,finished action)
Dobre. Mimochodom, čítala si ten článok o varení, čo som ti posielal? (čítala = imperfective, action in progress)
Ešte nie. Celý deň som pracovala, prečítam si ho zajtra. (pracovala = imperfective, action in progress, prečítam = perfective, action completed)
GAP FILL
1. Complete the sentences
SPEAKING
1. Answer the questions
2. Practice the vocabulary
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