Perfective vs. Imperfective Verbs

01

Imperfective: the Process

Imperfective verbs look at the action from the inside, while it is going on; they say nothing about whether it ever reached a result. Use the imperfective for something happening right now, for habits and repeated actions, and for simply naming an activity that took place.

• Kupujem namirnice.

  I am buying groceries. (right now)

• Obično ne pijem puno piva.

  I usually don't drink a lot of beer. (a habit)

• Uvijek kuhaju u ovo vrijeme.

  They always cook at this time. (a repeated action)

• Što si radila jučer?

  What did you do yesterday? (naming the activity, not asking whether it finished)

02

Perfective: the Result

Perfective verbs look at the action from the outside, as one finished event with a clear endpoint or result.

• Kupila sam tucet jaja.

  I bought a dozen eggs. (a single, one-off event)

• Položio sam ispit.

  I passed the exam. (a completed action whose result now holds)

• Zatvorila je vrata nakon što sam ušao.

  She closed the door after I came in. (two events in sequence, each finished)

A command is nearly always perfective too: you are asking for the thing to be done, not to be under way.

• Pojedi nešto voća.

  Eat some fruit. (perfective: eat it and finish)

03

How the Pairs Are Built

There are three common ways the two partners relate.

1. By a prefix. Most often the perfective is the imperfective plus a prefix - much like English "eat" versus "eat up", or "write" versus "write down". Common prefixes are po-, na-, s-, iz-, za-, u-, pro- and o-.

• jesti / pojesti

  to eat / to eat up

• pisati / napisati

  to write / to finish writing

• piti / popiti

  to drink / to drink up

• prati / oprati

  to wash / to wash clean

2. By a change of suffix or stem. Here the imperfective usually carries the longer suffix.

• kupovati / kupiti

  to be buying / to buy

• davati / dati

  to be giving / to give

3. Irregular pairs. A few pairs are built on two different roots.

• dolaziti / doći

  to be coming / to come

Because a prefix can also change the meaning, it is safest to learn each pair as a unit rather than guess the partner.

04

Aspect Decides Which Tense You Can Use

Present. Only imperfective verbs have a real present tense - you can only be in the middle of an action right now.

• Čitam knjigu.

  I am reading a book.

Future. Both aspects build the future the same way, with the future auxiliary plus the infinitive; the aspect supplies the nuance.

• Čitat ću knjigu.

  I will read a book.

• Pročitat ću knjigu.

  I will read the book and finish it.

Past. Both aspects work in the past, but the meaning differs sharply - "was doing" versus "did and finished".

• Kuhala sam ručak.

  I was cooking lunch.

• Skuhala sam ručak.

  I cooked lunch, it is ready.

05

The Perfective Present

When a perfective verb takes present-tense endings it does not mean "now". It appears mainly in subordinate clauses after words like da, kad or ako, still pointing to a completed action.

• Imam novca da kupim auto.

  I have money to buy a car.

• Moram voziti dok ne nabavim auto.

  I have to drive until I get a car.

06

Aspect with Modal Verbs

After a verb like htjeti (to want) or moći (can), the aspect of the following infinitive sets the nuance: imperfective for the activity, perfective for the achievement.

• Želim jesti pizzu.

  I want to eat pizza, to spend time eating.

• Želim ispeći kolač.

  I want to bake a cake and finish it.

07

Biaspectual Verbs

A small group of verbs are both aspects at once. Where an ordinary verb needs a partner - jesti for the process and pojesti for the finished event - these have one form that does both jobs, and only the sentence around it tells you which is meant. Common ones are vidjeti (to see) and ručati (to have lunch).

• Vidim te.

  I see you. (the seeing is going on right now - the imperfective job)

• Jesi li to vidjela?

  Did you see that? (one finished event - the perfective job, from the very same verb)

08

Aspect in Negative Sentences

In negatives the imperfective is the usual choice: if something did not happen, there is no completed result to point to.

• Obično ne pijem pivo.

  I usually don't drink beer.

• Ona ne govori engleski.

  She does not speak English.

• Nisam te vidjela devet godina.

  I haven't seen you for nine years.

• vidjeti is one of the biaspectual verbs above, so the same form serves here - there is no imperfective partner to switch to