Learn about the difference between perfective and imperfective verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Yuriy: Hello and welcome back to RussianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate, Season 2, lesson 20 - Do you want to work in Russia? I’m Yuriy. |
| Elena: С вами Елена. Всем привет. |
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the differences in formation between perfective and imperfective verbs. |
| Elena: The conversation takes place at the office. |
| Yuriy: The speakers are in a business relationship, so they’ll be using formal Russian. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
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| Иван Петрович: Здравствуйте, проходите, пожалуйста, садитесь. |
| Анна: Добрый день. Спасибо. |
| Иван Петрович: Вы прислали нам резюме на должность главного юрисконсульта нашего юридического отдела. |
| Анна: Да. Я очень хочу у вас работать. |
| Иван Петрович: Посмотрим...Так.. Я смотрю, вы окончили Университет им. Ломоносова. |
| Анна: Да, юридический факультет. |
| Иван Петрович: Однако у вас небольшой опыт работы в сфере международного права, а мы в основном работаем с международными контрактами и иностранными компаниями. |
| Анна: Я знаю. Но у меня хороший английский и я быстро учусь. Плюс я не боюсь трудностей и готова много работать. |
| Иван Петрович: Хорошо, тогда давайте начнём с теста. |
| Анна: Давайте. |
| Yuriy: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Иван Петрович: Здравствуйте, проходите, пожалуйста, садитесь. |
| Yuriy: Hello, come in, please, sit down. |
| Анна: Добрый день. Спасибо. |
| Yuriy: Good day, thank you. |
| Иван Петрович: Вы прислали нам резюме на должность главного юрисконсульта нашего юридического отдела. |
| Yuriy: You sent us your resume for the position of legal adviser of our legal department. |
| Анна: Да. Я очень хочу у вас работать. |
| Yuriy: Yes. I really want to work for you. |
| Иван Петрович: Посмотрим...Так.. Я смотрю, вы окончили Университет им. Ломоносова. |
| Yuriy: So .. Let's see ... As I see you graduated from Lomonosov University. |
| Анна: Да, юридический факультет. |
| Yuriy: Yes, law faculty. |
| Иван Петрович: Однако у вас небольшой опыт работы в сфере международного права, а мы в основном работаем с международными контрактами и иностранными компаниями. |
| Yuriy: However, you have little experience in the field of international law, and we are mainly working with international contracts and foreign companies. |
| Анна: Я знаю. Но у меня хороший английский и я быстро учусь. Плюс я не боюсь трудностей и готова много работать. |
| Yuriy: I know. But I have good English and I'm a fast learner. Plus I’m not afraid of difficulties and ready to work hard. |
| Иван Петрович: Хорошо, тогда давайте начнём с теста. |
| Yuriy: Ok, then let’s start with the test. |
| Анна: Давайте. |
| Yuriy: Ok. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Yuriy : Elena, I’ve heard that these days, it’s not so easy to find a job in Russia, especially for young specialists. |
| Elena : Well, ten years ago if you graduated from prestigious universities like Lomonosov Moscow State University or Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics, you had a really good chance of getting a job in a good company. |
| Yuriy: But nowadays this isn’t enough. You should also be fluent in at least one foreign language. So what kinds of qualities do Russian companies want to see in future employees? |
| Elena : Well, first of all the candidate should be responsible and self-motivated. Russians appreciate creativity and the desire to grow professionally. |
| Yuriy : I see, so you should always do your best to keep your qualifications at a high level. Okay, now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Yuriy: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Elena: Опыт [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: experience |
| Elena: Опыт [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: Опыт [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: должность [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: post, position |
| Elena: должность [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: должность [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: юрисконсульт [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: legal adviser, counsel |
| Elena: юрисконсульт [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: юрисконсульт [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: тест [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: test |
| Elena: тест [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: тест [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: компания [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: company |
| Elena: компания [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: компания [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: трудность [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: difficulty |
| Elena: трудность [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: трудность [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: быть готовым [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to be ready |
| Elena: быть готовым [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: быть готовым [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: начать / начаться [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: to start, to begin |
| Elena: начать / начаться [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: начать / начаться [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Elena: международное право [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: international law |
| Elena: международное право [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: международное право [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Elena: иностранный [natural native speed] |
| Yuriy: foreign |
| Elena: иностранный [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Elena: иностранный [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Yuriy: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first? |
| Elena : The first word for this lesson is the feminine noun “должность” which is translated as “position” and is most often used in the context of a professional field. |
| Yuriy : Here are some frequently used phrases with this word. |
| Elena : назначить на должность |
| Yuriy : “to appoint to the position” |
| Elena : получить должность |
| Yuriy : “to get a position” |
| Elena : выборная должность |
| Yuriy : “elective position” |
| Elena : занимать должность |
| Yuriy : “to take up a post”. How about some sample sentences, Elena? |
| Elena : Sure thing! Он занимает должность финансового директора с 2001 года. |
| Yuriy : “He has been in the post of financial director since 2001.” |
| Elena : Ему предложили должность руководителя отдела. |
| Yuriy : “He was offered the position of Head of Department.” Ok, I think that’s clear. What’s the next word? |
| Elena : The next word for this lesson is the masculine noun “опыт,” which is translated as “experience.” |
| Yuriy : This noun is often used in expressions like... |
| Elena : приобретать опыт |
| Yuriy : “to gain experience” |
| Elena : передавать опыт |
| Yuriy : “ to transfer experience” and |
| Elena : делиться опытом |
| Yuriy : “to share experience.” For example... |
| Elena : У тебя есть опыт работы с договорами? |
| Yuriy : “Do you have any experience working with contracts?” |
| Elena : Компания ищет сотрудников с опытом работы. |
| Yuriy : “The company is looking for employees with working experience.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Yuriy: In this lesson, you’ll learn about the differences in formation between perfective and imperfective verbs. As you already know, perfective and imperfective verbs form pairs, where imperfective verbs show that an action is in progress whereas perfective verbs point out the result of such action, or its ending. So Elena, we know that you can find verb forms in dictionaries, but what should you do if you don’t have a dictionary handy? |
| Elena : Let’s talk about some rules that can help you determine whether a verb is perfective or not. The first rule is called the “prefix rule.” |
| Yuriy: You can judge whether the verb is perfective or not by the presence or absence of a prefix. As a rule, imperfective verbs don't have any prefixes, whereas perfective verbs do. For example... |
| Elena : писать |
| Yuriy: “to write” |
| Elena : and написать |
| Yuriy: as you can guess, the word “писать” is imperfective and “написать” is perfective. Here’s one more example... |
| Elena : читать |
| Yuriy: “to read” |
| Elena : and прочитать |
| Yuriy: The second rule is the “suffix rule.” Imperfective verbs have either of the suffixes [-ыва] or [-ива]. Though some verbs may also have a prefix, only the suffixes [-ыва] or [-ива] point out that the verb is imperfective. For example... |
| Elena : подписать |
| Yuriy: “to sign” |
| Elena : and подписывать |
| Yuriy: as you can guess the word “подписывать” is imperfective and “подписать” is perfective. And here’s one more example... |
| Elena : переписать, which is a perfective verb. |
| Yuriy: Which means “to rewrite.” |
| Elena : and переписывать, which is an imperfective verb. |
| Yuriy: Some verbs differ only by their suffixes [ -а], [-я] and [-и]. Listeners, please remember that the verbs with the suffix [-и] are perfective, whereas the verbs with the suffix [-а] or [-я] are imperfective. For example… |
| Elena : решать, which is an imperfective verb |
| Yuriy: meaning “to decide” |
| Elena : and решить, which is a perfective verb. |
| Yuriy: So, the difference is only in one letter… |
| Elena : Right. решать and решить. And here is another example. Объяснять - объяснить, meaning “to explain.” Yuriy, which one is perfective? |
| Yuriy: I guess “объяснить,” because it has the suffix [и]. |
| Elena : That’s right! |
| Yuriy: Great! Well, there are more important rules about this in the lesson notes, so listeners, be sure to check them out! |
Outro |
| Yuriy: And that brings us to the end of this lesson! |
| Elena: Спасибо, что были с нами. |
| Yuriy: See you in our next lesson. Bye everyone! |
| Elena: До скорой встречи! |
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