First, back to basics: a verb is a word that expresses an action (such as to eat), process (such as to develop) or a state (such as to be). In Russian.

In this post, we’ll assume you’re already familiar with the Russian verb tense system: how verbs change to show the past (я говорил, я сказал) and how they conjugate to show the present (always imperfective aspect: я говорю) or the future (always perfective aspect: я скажу). You’ll also have learned how to form the imperfective future with быть  imperfective infinitive, e.g. я буду говорить).

“Verbal aspect” is different from tense, as we’ll see in this post.

We won’t focus here on how to form the imperfective and perfective aspects of the Russian verb.  If you just know one verb of an aspect pair, there are unfortunately no hard and fast rules to discover the other. There are common patterns of pairs, but that’s a topic for another day.

The focus today is on using Russian verb aspects correctly.

Ask this question to get the Russian verb aspect right

So, to business: 

To get increase your chances of getting the Russian verb aspect right, first ask this simple question:

Is the focus on the completion (result) of an action?  On its one, single end? 

If the answer is yes – if the message is that an action is completed already or will be done and dusted in the future – the verb will be perfective. 

If the focus isn’t on the result, the verb will be imperfective (the aspect for an ongoing state, regular, or repeat actions or just for naming a state or action in general. Nothing is said about the end. It could have one single ends – repeated or habitual actions – or no end at all – incomplete action or action in progress). 

That’s it!  

Thanks for reading. 

Do visit the site again sometime….

Erm, hold on a moment. Not so fast! 

While that rule of thumb will answer the question most of the time, you need some context to get the hang of how to apply it. 

So, let’s look in a bit more detail! 

When to use the perfective aspect in Russia

There’s no present tense form for perfective verbs. Results either have happened or will happen. If they are happening at the moment, they haven’t fully happened yet and Russians use the imperfective as the action is continuing at the current point in time. 

1. To talk about a completed action or result (past or future)

The perfective aspect puts the focus on the result: a change of state or a completed action. 

Она умерла – She died

Я прочитал книгу – I read (and finished) the book yesterday evening. 

Sometimes, a the perfective will “happen” while another action is going on in the imperfective (“in the background” as it were):

Когда она прощалась с ним, она уронила ключи  – When she was saying goodbye to him, she dropped the keys.   

In the future, perfective verbs indicate an express or implied intention to complete an action at some point in the future.

Я отдохну – I’ll relax (an intention to complete/result). 

В следующий четверг мы отдохнём на пляже – Next Thursday we’ll relax on the beach 

Я пойду на экскурсию – I’ll go on an excursion

90% of the time the perfective is used to express the future. The imperfective is only used if the action will be unfinished, ongoing or if repetition is involved:

Я буду отдыхать – I’ll be relaxing (Emphasis on duration, process).

Во время каникул, каждый день мы будем отдыхать на пляже  – During the holidays, we’ll relax on the beach every day 

Во время каникул, каждый день я буду ходить на экскурсии – During the holidays, every day I’ll go on excursions every  

2. To show a sequence of finished events

The perfective is the aspect for moving a story forward. Each action is finished before the next takes place. LIfe, as is sometimes said, is “one damn thing after another”   

You could have an imperfective followed by a perfective, with the imperfective showing attempts or a process and the perfective showing that the result is finally achieved:

Она сдавала и сдала экзамен – She sat and passed the exam.

3. To indicate the beginning of an action

Perfectives with the prefix за- (and a handful beginning по-) often indicate the beginning of an action: 

Она заболела – She fell ill

Он запоёт – He will start singing 

Other examples of verbs with the “inceptive” meaning are заплакать – to start crying, закурить – to light up a cigarette, замолчать – to fall silent. 

The emphasis here isn’t on the duration of the action. The action is the starting up, a one-off change, itself a kind of result: wasn’t crying, burst out crying so now I am. Cigarette wasn’t lit, I lit up, now it is….. 

4. To express an instantaneous action

Many perfective verbs with the suffix вз/вс-  раз/рас- у- -ну- indicate an instantaneous action.  It’s over before you know it (result again!). 

Вдруг я увидел лису – I suddenly saw a fox 

Ночью вспыхнули сразу три автомобиля – In the night three cars suddenly burst into flames

Крупные пожары вспыхнули сразу в трех регионах страны – Large fires suddenly broke out in three regions of the country.  

Мгновенно раздался взрыв – An explosion rang out instantly

Сзади раздался шорох. Я мгновенно обернулся – There was a rustle from behind. I instantly swung round. 

5. To show that an action went on for a short time

Perfectives with the prefix по- often suggest that something is done for a short while (usually with verbs with no imperfect equivalent): 

Он поспал – He had a nap  

Я покурил пять минут – I had a quick smoke for five minutes 

Она хотела поговорить с другом – She wanted to have a word with her friend (Compare with сказать, the normal perfective of говорить).

Again, the emphasis is on the limits of the action. It’s completed, not on-going (even though it may not be instantaneous, unlike the perfective verbs we saw above that express the beginning of an action).  

“По-  perfectives” can be reinforced by a word like “немного” (a little).  

It’s worth mentioning the prefix про- here as well e.g. прожили (they lived for a period) – here the duration may be very long but the emphasis is still on completion (of a chunk of time). 

6. When an action is repeated in rapid succession

Russians usually use the imperfective aspect for repeated actions because the imperfective indicates continuity, duration, habit.  That said, if the emphasis is on completion of a whole action in rapid succession in rapid succession, they use the perfective:

Таксист просигналил дважды – The taxi driver honked the horn twice

Птица вылетел, чирикнула четыре раза и улетела  – The bird flew out, chirped four times and flew off.  

The actions are seen as multiple parts of one complete action. 

It follows that if the repeat actions are spaced out, we’re back to the imperfective:

Она несколько раз перечитывал “Войну и мир”  – She read “War and Peace” several times

7. As a negative to show the failure of an expected action to take place 

If something was expected to happen but didn’t use the perfective. You evoke a complete, finished action, and negate it:

Вера не позвонила – Vera didn’t phone  

The sense is that Vera was expected to telephone but that expected result failed to materialise.  

We can contrast this with:

Вера не звонила – Vera didn’t phone

This is a neutral statement of fact usage of the imperfective (discussed further below). There is no sense of an expected result that didn’t happen.  

This is a subtle contrast and we’ll look again in the section on the imperfective.  

Speaking of which…..  

When to use the imperfective aspect in Russian

Russian imperfective verbs basically “name the action” (or a state).  It’s for expressing continuity, duration or habit in the past, present or future.  

Verbs in the imperfective aspect do not imply the idea of completion or result that are so central to the perfective aspect.  

So, use the imperfective for everything other than to focus on the result (and the other subsidiary uses of the perfective that we saw above). 

1. To express a state rather than an action

Usually, an enduring state will be in the imperfective aspect.

Они жили в Самаре – They lived in Samara

В Вологде вы будете жить у моего деда (In Vologda you’ll live/you’ll stay with my grandfather). 

Через месяц я буду в Сочи – In a month I’ll be in Sochi  

2. To state a fact, with no emphasis on completion

If completion is irrelevant, use the imperfective. The used this way, the imperfective makes a bald statement of fact, with no more detailed context and no focus on whether there was a result. 

Мы уже встречались – We have already met

Она писала ему – She wrote to him 

There’s a bald fact here, in a contextual vacuum. 

If you fill in more detail, the perfective would be used:

Мы встретились в прошлом году в Москве – We met last year in Moscow

Она написала ему письмо – She wrote him a letter 

Here are some vague factual questions: 

Вы звонили ему? Да, звонил – Have you phoned him? Yes, I’ve phoned.

Вы читали “Войну и мир”? Да, читал –  Have you (ever) read “War and Peace”? Yes, I have.

Вы встречали Анну? Думаю, что встречал   Have you met Anna? I think so. 

These questions are general in the sense of “Have you ever….?”. If you’d instructed somebody to read “War and Peace” or they’d told you that they were going to meet Anna last night, you’d check up on the result with a question using the perfective. 

3. To talk about an action in progress

If the action is in progress, with no focus on completion or result, you’ll use the imperfective: 

Мы читаем книгу – We are reading/read a book

Он спит – He is sleeping/sleeps

The action in progress could be in the imperfective in the past, present or the future tense.. 

Strictly speaking, all actions in the present are ongoing, so they are all in the imperfective and the conjugated “present” perfective forms of Russian verbs talk about the future.  

90% of the time, we use the perfective to talk about the future. That’s because we’re usually contemplating concrete, complete future actions or results (things that “will happen”). 

It’s only if there is no focus on completion or result in the future that you’ll use the compound быть + imperfective instead of the perfective:

Завтра он будет работать – He’ll be working tomorrow

4. To talk about an action that is repeated an unspecified number of times  

Here the emphasis isn’t on the result, it’s on the repetition of the action (including habitual actions):  

Она несколько раз перечитывал “Войну и мир”  – She read “War and Peace” several times.

 Я буду звонить часто – I’ll phone often  

As in the example above, adverbs of time can be used to reinforce the sense of a habit: часто (often), обычно (usually), всегда (always), иногда (sometimes), раз в месяц (once a month) and so on.

As we saw in the section on when to use the perfective aspect, if the repetition is in rapid succession such that the actions can be seen as multiple parts of one complete action, rather than spaced-out, separate actions, we use the perfective: 

Таксист просигналил дважды – The taxi driver honked the horn twice

Птица вылетел, чирикнула четыре раза и улетела  – The bird flew out, chirped four times and flew off

5. For an action in the past that was completed but is then undone  

The imperfective indicates an action done but then reversed.  

Он надевал костюм – He put on a suit (implied: was later taken off)

Кто-то включал свет – Somebody switched on the light (implied: was later switched off)

Почему в комнате холодно? Я открывал окно – Why is the room cold? I opened the window)(implied: window closed again)

Compare this last example with:

Почему ты открыл окно? – Why did you open the window? 

In the second case, the window is still open. 

Сосед брал у меня эту книга – A neighbour borrowed this book from me (and has returned it)

Сосед взял у меня эту книга – A neighbour borrowed that book from me (and still has it)

These are quite subtle differences you probably won’t want to worry about until your Russian is moving into upper intermediate.  

However, don’t wait to get used to this common use of the imperative to convey the idea of a “round trip” in the past:

Позавчера приходил мой сотрудник – The day before yesterday my colleague came (implied: and has now left/round trip)

Они уезжали на прошлой неделе – They went away last week (implied: and have now returned)

Verb + infinitive: imperfective or perfective aspect?

The infinitive of the verb is the basic, unconjugated form (that you’ll find as the main entry in a dictionary, for example.  In English, it’s the form we can put “to” in front of: to eat, to think and so on.  

If a Russian verb is followed by another verb in its infinitive, what about the aspect of that second verb?

Sometimes, a verb in the infinitive could be in either aspect, depending on meaning: 

Решать/решить (to decide): 

Он решил читать книгу – He decided to read the book (spend some time reading it – not implied that he’ll finish it)  

Он решил прочитать книгу – He decided to read the book (whole book, to the end)  

With (За-)хотеть (to want), ask yourself whether the  “want” is general (imperfective) or a specific result/for a little while (perfect):

Мы хотим работать – We want to work (i.e. we want a job) 

Мы хотим поработать – We want to do a bit of work/work a while  

Я хочу говорить по-русски – I want to speak Russian (general desire) 

Infinitives following verbs of starting, continuing, finishing will ALWAYS be in the imperfective infinitive:

Начинать/начать (to begin):  

Он начал искать работу 3 месяца назад  – He started looking for work (continuing) three months ago 

Продолжать/продолжить (to continue): 

Она продолжала петь песню – She continued to sing the song 

Заканчивать/закончить  (to finish):  

Когда вы закончите думать об этом? – When will you stop thinking about that.

The action that is starting, continuing or finishing is seen as ongoing.  

With verbs like учиться/научиться (to learn to), привыкать/привыкнуть (to get used to) любить/полюбть (to love) отвыкнуть (to get out of the habit of) the main verb will also be in the imperfective as we’re talking about an activity not a one off event:

Они научатся петь – They are learning to sing

Ты привыкнешь танцевать You’ll get used to dancing

Она любила работать – She loved to work/working

It’s the same with уставать/устать   надоедать/надоесть  запрещаться

Игорь устал говорить  – Igor got tired of speaking

Я надоедаю говорить – I am getting board of speaking

Запрещаться курить – Smoking forbidden/No smoking   

The perfective infinitive is common after verbs of intention, advice:

Я советую тебе прочитать эту статью – I advise you to read this article 

Я собираюсь написать ему письмо – I intend to write him a letter 

The logic is clear: the focus is on the result. Remember, we’ve been talking about the second verb (the aspect of the first verb will be decided on the usual principles – are we talking about a one off action or a process?).  Notice too that the English translation doesn’t always use the “to” infinitive.  We can say “I like to eat” or “I like eating”, we have to use the -ing form after “to get bored of”. 

The aspect of the verb after Russian modals (necessity, obligation, possibility)

Modals express the attitude or standpoint of the speaker towards a state or action, often connected to desire, possibility, likelihood, ability, permission or obligation.

They are used in relation to verbs which express the state or action itself. 

The perfective infinitive is found particularly often with the modals надо, нужно должен/должна/должно/должны, хочеть, мочь when talking about a single action which is not viewed as repetitive:  

Мне надо сказать… – I have to say…. 

Он должен сделать это – He should do that 

Она должна встретить его – She ought to meet him 

Я хочу понять – I want to understand 

Ты можешь взять ключи – You may take the keys  

Можно войти? – May I come in 

But use the imperfective with modals надо, можно if “it’s time to” (пора) is implied:

Восемь часов! Надо (implied пора) вставать – It’s 8 o’clock, you must/should get up  

Сейчас можно (implied пора) начинать – You may start now

The imperfective is also used with не нужно (there’s no need to); не надо (you mustn’t/shouldn’t):

Не нужно вызывать врача – There is no need to call out the doctor 

With нельзя use the imperfective if something is forbidden (think: that’s just the way it is – continuing state of affairs): 

Нельзя входить – You can’t go in (not allowed) 

Отсюда нельзя звонить – You’re not allowed to phone from here. 

По этой дороге нельзя проезжать – It is not permitted to drive along this road

Use the perfective with нельзя if something is impossible (you can’t get a result):

Нельзя войти – You can’t get in (think: we’ve lost the key/this result is not therefore possible). 

Отсюда нельзя позвонить – It’s not possible to phone from here 

По этой дороге нельзя проехать – It’s not possible to drive along this road, e.g. because a fallen tree has blocked it/the result isn’t possible, это сделать не получится).

With мочь in the negative the imperfective expresses “need not” (doesn’t have to) and the perfective expresses “might not” (it might not happen).   

Он может не уехать – He might not leave

Он может не уходить – He doesn’t need to leave/He doesn’t have to leave.  

The negative не должен/должна/должно/должны followed by the imperfective suggests “is not obliged to”.   

Она не должна делать покупки – She doesn’t have to do the shopping

If the perfective follows, the sense is “is unlikely to”:

Она не должна забыть – She shouldn’t forget (I only told her this morning). 

Imperative and verb aspect – positive commands

1. Command to perform a single action – perfective

Use the perfective for commands to perform single action (we’re ordering a result): 

Сделай это! – Do it!

Закройте дверь! – Shut the door!

2. Polite invitation to perform a single action – imperfective

Unless it’s an invitation, then use the imperfective: 

Заходите, раздевайтесь, садитесь! Кушайте! – Come in, take your coat off, have a seat! Have some food!

Here the imperfective politely softens the impact. It’s as if we’re emphasising the process by which the person we’re speaking to gets comfortable, not ordering a result.

3. Commands to perform a repeated action – imperfective

Commands to do repeated action are imperfective too: 

Пейте молоко каждый день! – Drink milk every day! 

Три раза в день принимайте лекарство! – Take the medicine three times a day! 

4. Commands to repeat an action in rapid succession- perfective

But repetition of an action in rapid succession would be perfective (because the focus isn’t on repetition or continuity but on a rapid succession of results): 

Повтори эту фразу несколько раз! – Repeat this phrase several times! 

5. A request to continue an action – imperfective

 A request to continue an action will, logically enough, be imperfective: 

Продолжайте! Я вас слушаю – Carry on! I’m listening

Imperative and verb aspect – negative commands

1. A simple negative command – imperfective

Use the imperfective aspect if a negative command is a prohibition: “Don’t!” 

Не закрывайте дверь! – Don’t shut the door!

Не разговаривайте! – Don’t talk/chat! (E.g. teacher addressing class).

2. A negative command as a warning – perfective

But if the negative command is a warning of the consequences (Mind you don’t!) use the perfective. You’ll typically hear this with verbs like забыть (to forget), опоздать (be late)  упасть (to fall):

Не забудь это сделать! – Don’t forget to do that! 

Смотри, не упади! – Mind you don’t fall! 

The focus is on an undesirable result,  “Or else!”.

Russian verbal aspects and English continuous/non-continuous tenses compared

English like Russian has verbal aspect. In English, we distinguish between actions in progress (continuous verb form -”ing”) on the one hand and an enduring state or a habitual or one-off action on the other (non-continuous verb form): I am living, I live.   

As a result, you can be confident as a good rule of thumb is that If you would use a continuous tense in English (verb + ing), then you’ll use the imperfective in Russian (past, present or future tense), because both put the focus on an action in progress : 

We were watching television > Mы смотрели телевизор 

They are going home > Они идут домой 

He’ll be working tomorrow > Завтра он будет работать

However, as we’ve seen, the Russian imperfective it encompasses not only actions in progress (like the English continuous) but also states and habit, both of which are expressed with non-continuous verb forms in English: 

Они жили в Самаре – They lived in Samara (state) 

Она всегда надевает юбку – She always puts on a skirt (habit) 

Mы долго смотрели телевизор – We watched the television for a long time (duration) 

Они разговаривали всю ночь – They talked all night (duration)  

Russian thinks “there’s no completion/result here”, and defaults to the imperfective.  

In contrast, English defaults to the non-continuous aspect and would only be shaken out of the default to stress that a state or act was in progress, for example for a particular period or as it was interrupted: 

They were living in Samara, when he died – Они жили в Самаре, когда он умер

She is putting on a skirt now – Сейчас она надевает юбку 

We were watching television when he telephoned – Мы смотрели телевизор когда он звонил 

They were talking when I called by –  Они разговаривали когда я зашёл 

Compare both sets of sentences and notice how the underlined imperfective verbs in Russian have stayed in the imperfective in the Russian in the second set of examples, despite the change of aspect in English.

Russian perfective or imperfective? Summary and tips to go

• The imperfective has past, present and future tense forms. The perfective just has past and future forms and the perfective future is  much more common when talking about the future than the imperfective future. 
• Remember the fundamental idea behind Russian verb aspect is that the perfective aspect expresses a single, completed action, often with the focus on the result. It moves the action forward. This happened, then that happened, then the other happened. 
• The imperfective denotes an on-going state, an action that is continuing or in progress or is repeated (often as a habit).  

Nine times out of ten, this basic analysis will get you to the right aspect. 

That’s the case not just with simple examples but also, you’ll have seen above, when a verb is used as an infinitive after another verb, is used with a “modal” or used in its “imperative” (command, request) form.   

That said, don’t forget the secondary functions of the perfective aspect: some verbs in the perfective express the beginning of an action or that it is instantaneous (though this is really just a type of result). Others (mainly with the prefix по-) show that an action only happens for a short period of time.  

As you listen to Russian and read in Russian, pay attention to the verb aspect chosen. If you can’t understand the choice of aspect by asking “is the focus on a completed action or result or not”, look again at the discussion in this post to find the explanation. 

As you speak Russian, don’t stress it! 

You’ll get better at applying the rules with practice and the more fluent you get, the more your natural “feel” for what’s right will develop. 

Master Russian verbal aspects with Dr P’s revision course

If you’re an upper beginner/lower intermediate Russian learner take a look at Dr P’s Focus in Five Russian grammar revision course.

It’s a series of engaging five video tutorials, delivered weekly with full notes and self-correct exercises.

Just the thing to help you get on top of Russian verb aspects and a whole lot more of the grammar you need as an upper beginner or lower intermediate learner!

Check out the details on the course information and enrolment page.

Related posts

Why learn Russian?

How I learned Russian

Russian language exams: a guide

Learn the Russian alphabet in an afternoon: three tricks

The post Get Russian verb aspects right every time appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

Rapid Russian: a reality check

To learn Russian more quickly, take responsibility for your own progress.

No teacher can beam the language into your head.

“School style” group Russian classes very inefficient if you rely on them on their own, though group language classes can give your learning a welcome social dimension and help with motivation.

One-to-one classes or language exchanges can be an invaluable tool but full time one-to-one learning is expensive.

If you’re an adult learner, make the two real engines for rapid progress in Russia effective self-study and lots of practice in your own time.  

And let’s be clear from the get go: nobody ever got fluent in Russian just by using an app. Some apps are better than others, many are “gamified” to, erm, keep you on the app. What are they good for? As a supplement or for some extra down-time engagement (if you don’t feel like doing something more effective instead).

1. Learn with your specific Russian goals in mind

Follow the advice in this post and you can get yourself ready to use your Russian in the sorts of basic everyday contexts that we all need or in highly specialised contexts that are personal to you.

This post is addressed to you if you’re a beginner, a false beginner or rusty.

That said, much of what you’ll read will also help intermediate learners who are ready to move swiftly to the next level.

You might want to be able to connect with in-laws or grandchildren or use the language to get things done and make wonderful memories when you’re travelling. You might already be into aspects of Russian culture and want to experience it from within.  You may want to forge new business contacts by giving a presentation in the language or bond less formally with potential customers afterwards.  

You’re clear on what you want your Russian for?

You’re sure you REALLY want it?

And you want it, like, yesterday?  

Ok, let’s look at what you need to do to learn Russian fast.  

2. Master pronunciation fundamentals

Time may be short, but don’t be tempted to neglect the key elements of the Russian soundscape. If you haven’t tuned your ear in properly, your listening skills will suffer even if you know the words or grammar “on paper”. 

You’ll sound dire, too.  

Focus on sounds that are different from English. Understand that getting the rhythm and intonation of phrases right can be even more important than the pronunciation of individual sounds and words. 

You don’t need to polish so much that you could pass for a native. but if you pay attention to the right things and you can “sound” better than you are. 

That matters because you need to win the confidence of the fluent Russian speaker you want to talk to. 

If you fail at key aspects of accent, talking with you can be a real strain for them.

There’s a risk they’ll just switch to English…or avoid you altogether. 

3. Learn the Russian alphabet

Russian is written in a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet that’s also used for Ukrainian, Bulgarian and several other Slavic languages (and for some non Slavic ones).

Beginners in Russian often imagine that the alphabet is a formidable hurdle but the truth is, you can learn it in less than a week (some argue even in one afternoon). You should! Not only will you have something to impress your friends with, but you’ll feel like an insider from the word go and you’ll be able to access authentic Russian texts much more quickly (obviously!).

For more on how to do it, check out this post: Learn the Russian alphabet fast: three tricks.

4. Get the main sentence patterns 

If you want to learn Russian fast, don’t get distracted by abstract Russian grammar for its own sake.

Don’t get bogged down in tables showing Russian verb and case endings. 

Instead, think of grammar as the most important repeatable Russian sentence patterns. Focus relentlessly on these patterns. 

Grasp rules of thumb that explain what’s going on and that you can apply on the wing (like the ones for the Russian case endings). Learn the highest frequency exceptions. 

Later, when you’ve developed more of a feel for what sounds right, you can work some more on “grammar” to help you fill in the gaps, refine your expression and explain surprises. 

5. Learn the most frequent Russian vocab

Raw word power matters but did you know that just 250 words or so make up about 50% of everyday Russian? 

Build up to six or seven hundred “essential words” and you’re very much in business. 

Reach 1000 words, you can understand 80% of an everyday Russian text and say a lot of what you want, even if you have to explain things in a roundabout way.  

Your “first thousand” should include the 650 most common words (the top 50 Russian verbs are of course, important among them). And then?

6. Add three types of fluency booster vocabulary 

Add to those 650 or so most common words another three classes of words and phrases (think of them as special fluency weapons in your drive to learn Russian quickly): 

Filler and conversational connector words such as “nu” (well, so), “znachit” (I mean, kind of, like), “tak” (so), “kak by” (like, sort of). They pepper natural speech and can really help move a conversation forward. 

“Tool kit phrases” that help you keep up and learn as you go, without switching to English: “Kak skazat’ x po-russki” (How do you say x in Russian), “Pozhaluista, govorite medlennee” (Please speak more slowly)and so on. 

Your own personal “islands of fluency”, that’s to say, bespoke words and phrases that may not be so common but which relate to your personal need for Russian: talking about your profession, hobbies, goals and so on. 

7. Learn how to get Russian into your memory (and out again)

Ok, Dr P, but how do I actually remember the key grammar patterns and essential vocab well enough to use them in real life? 

Not by accident! Not in your sleep! Not with one magic method! 

First, you need to get words into your memory (“encoding”). 

To help you remember, understand how Russian words are formed: look out for similarities with English, understand how Russian makes bigger words out of smaller parts by gluing smaller words into bigger ones (compounding) or adding prefixes and suffixes.  

Use memory association techniques to remember individual words. 

Learn “chunks”, that’s short phrases for every situation that native speakers of any language deploy without thinking.  

Second, you need to make sure you don’t forget what you’ve just learned. 

It’s been shown that reviewing material as soon as the day after you first tried to learn it and then at increasing intervals is the way to make it stick. The method is called the spacing effect.      

Paper flashcards or a flashcard app with the English on one side and the Russian on the other are great for this. If flashcards aren’t your thing, you can double down on lots of reading and listening practice with your course materials and other sources that interest you.   

8. Make your learning more effortful for maximum efficiency

Work creatively with your new vocab, chunks and grammar patterns you want to focus on. 

Make up your own short dialogues with your words and phrases and practice with a conversation partner. Do the questions and other exercises that come with your course make your own. Dictation and translation back and forth can be powerful activities to get you working intensively with new examples of Russian that you’ve just come across. 

Test yourself to turn vocab and grammar review from just repetition into more effective recall.

Working with flashcards or translation from English into Russian makes for more effortful interaction, great for consolidating memories! 

Go back to your dictation, translation and or other exercises at intervals.  

In short, don’t be passive, be interactive with your Russian texts and audio.

Make your learning effortful. 

If you’re tired after focused study, that’s a good sign. No pain, less gain!

Yes! Deliberate practice like this is hard.

You may well finish a session feeling more frustrated than when you began or even that you’re going backwards. 

Get what I call the “fluency mindset“, stick at it and trust the process.  

8. Get a good beginner’s Russian course

With new sounds, grammar patterns and vocab to master, you could easily waste a lot of time gathering scattered materials for yourself. You can end up overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. 

If you want to learn Russian fast, do yourself a favour and begin with a well designed course that introduces the high-frequency Russian that ALL beginners need in a step-by-step way. 

Working through the course unit by unit, week by week is a great way to pace your learning. 

You can also refer back to your course materials if you hit questions when you’re out using your language “in the wild”. 

Make sure the course is dialogue based, has audio with transcript and parallel translations into English. 

Go for courses that have some explicit grammar explanation but made accessible and with a light touch. If you like exercises, make sure your course also supplies self-correct answers. 

You’re looking for a course that doesn’t just teach the key pronunciation, grammar and vocab that we saw are so important but one that you can use for the effortful practice that we’ve just been looking at. 

9. Get lots of enjoyable reading and listening practice

Focussed study with the aid of a good course will accelerate your progress in Russian remarkably, but it’s not enough on its own.  

If you want to learn Russian fast, you also need a lot of exposure to the language: listen, read.  

Once you’ve got some basics through your course – or earlier if you feel the urge – get started earlier with more relaxed “extensive” listening and reading. 

Here the aim is to get enough to follow main thread of conversation or a story. 

Extensive listening and reading are great helping you remember what you’ve already seen. 

Plus: if the material isn’t too difficult for you, you’ll be able to “acquire” more Russian as well in a natural context, sub- or semi-consciously, without deliberate effort.  

So, find books to read aimed at learners at your level.

Try podcasts for learners in the language, ideally with transcripts. 

Some successful learners love diving into authentic content (i.e. made for natives) asap too.

To make reading native-level material easier, choose short articles on factual topics, read stories that you already know in English or use a parallel text with Russian on the right and an English translation on the left

As for listening, you may find it easier to watch the Russian (original or dubbed) films or series that you already know in their English versions.

As you start watching authentic Russian films, TV shows and YouTube vides, don’t be shy of switching on the subtitles to help (but, beyond the very earliest stages, use the Russian ones). 

The golden rule for “extensive” reading and listening practice is this: find things you find interesting and would want to listen to or watch in English anyway.  That way, it’s going to be so much easier to clock up hours and hours of enjoyable practice.  

10. What about speaking? 

Whether you should speak from the very beginning depends on your personality. 

If you’re the gregarious type who loves talking, learn the absolute basics and then throw yourself into using the language. Otherwise, there’s a risk your motivation will flag and you’ll give up. 

If you’re not so social, it’s also not a problem.  For you, conscious vocabulary and pattern building, reading or listening are going to be much more efficient activities in the early stages.  When you start to speak, you’ll have a larger vocab and more experience of what sounds right and better listening skills. All these will help you activate your speaking more rapidly than somebody who focusses on speaking from the very beginning.

Most of us want to speak as well, though, and you can’t get good at speaking without speaking a lot. 

Don’t put off speaking too long, just because you don’t “feel ready”. You don’t want to pass up on opportunities to make new friends in your language.

More than that, if you want to learn Russian quickly, don’t be a perfectionist. 

Don’t fixate on mistakes. Nobody cares. Instead, focus on your message and on the other person.

Prepare and practice short, relevant “scripts” on conversation topics that you’re going to need. 

Guess intelligently, pick up non-verbal clues to meaning, use those filler and conversational connector words to sound more authentic and win some time. Ask questions for the same reason and to check you’ve understood.  

If you already know Russian speakers with whom you can practise, great.

That said, will they always have time to help you as you strive to move forward at pace? Will they have the knowledge of the language to explain why things are said a certain way?  Do they know how to give feedback constructively?

Don’t pay for a teacher to explain things you can get much more cost and time effectively from a good course.

No, where a teacher can really help is to explain things you’re stuck on and to ensure that you get consistent deliberate practice speaking. A good teacher will be able to give you reasoned feedback on your speaking and writing.  

Try out different teachers over Skype or Zoom on a platform like italki.com. When you’ve “clicked” with one or two, book a series of sessions in advance to make sure they really do happen.

The platform I use for this is italki.com. I’m such a fan, I’ve had over six hundred lessons (for several languages).

Want to learn Russian fast? Let’s recap   

• Get real! It takes hundreds of hours to get really fluent, but if you’re clear on what you need your Russian for and you use smart methods, you can make rapid progress.
• Don’t skimp on sound. Get key aspects of pronunciation right and you’ll win friends and influence people (well, they won’t run away or switch to English, at least
• You don’t need all the grammar, just the main sentence patterns.
• You must learn the highest frequency vocab. The first 650 words, plus “toolkit phrases”, conversational fillers and connectors and the bespoke vocab that matters for your, personal needs.
• Apply “brain savvy” methods to remember patterns and vocab. Effortful intensive, deliberate practice will speed things up.
• Use a course to present you with just what you need, to avoid wasting time, confusion and overwhelm.
• Read and listen for pleasure as much as you can. You don’t have to “speak from day one” but to get good at speaking, you need to start and practise, practise, practise. One-to-ones with a teacher or exchange partner are great for this.

Related posts

Why learn Russian?

How I learned Russian

Russian language exams: a guide

Learn the Russian alphabet in an afternoon: three tricks

Get Russian verb aspects right every time

The post How to learn Russian fast appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.

This is the first in a series looking at the different “staging posts” on the journey to fluent Russian. But why look at progress in Russian in this way?

Before we go any further: looking to brush up your Russian grammar skills? Check my “Focus in Five” upper beginner Russian grammar revision course (click here).

First, the “staging post” approach reminds you that it’s best to tackle learning Russian step by step, stage by stage. Learning a language is like climbing a mountain. Too many people look at the peak of Mount Russian, fancy the view from the top and then get discouraged and give up the ascent when they realise that you can’t get there in a hop, skip and a jump.

You know the score, really! You need to break the task down and set yourself interim staging posts.

If you’ve already set out with Russian and completed an introductory course (lower beginner or A1), this post’s for you because it sets out the next stage. It’ll also help you if you’ve already done a bit more Russian and are wondering whether you’re ready to move “into intermediate”.

Second, you might want to take an upper beginner/A2 Russian language exam. This could be to fulfil some external requirement (for example in education or employment) or as a way of motivating yourself. This post will make clear in general terms what you’ll be expected to do to pass an A2 Russian test. (Of course, you should always check the detailed syllabus requirements yourself before you start preparing for an exam). The next post in the series, I’ll look in detail at exam formats.

To get a handle on what upper beginners Russian – A2 Russian – might be, we’ll refer first to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL).

The Common European Framework of Reference for language is a scale that sets out the skills you should aim for in six “levels” (from A1 beginner to C2 mastery). It’s used by students, teachers, course creators and examiners across a range of European languages, not just Russian. The scale isn’t perfect but it’s nonetheless useful.

The solid base on which you’ll build A2 Russian

In the first stage of the climb, A1, you’ve already notched up a lot of wins. You should be well on top of what we might call the basic “core” of the language.

You’ll know the sound system of Russian, even though you’ll still have to keep working on key differences between the Russian and English sound systems, such as the tricky Russian “ы” or difference between hard and soft consonants.

You’ll also have learned the Russian alphabet.

You’ll also have a good stock of basic vocabulary (maybe 700 or 800 hundred words).

This will include not just the most frequent words and expressions but also less common vocabulary that’s specifically relevant to your unique situation. I’d also encourage you to arm yourself at this stage with a stock of what I call “toolkit phrases” to help you get further in the language through the language (“How do I say x in Russian?”, “Could you please speak more slowly/repeat that/write that down”) and so on.

You’ll be familiar with a lot of the most common basic structural patterns of the language, it’s grammar.

Defining upper beginner’s Russian

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, which – encouragingly – very much puts the focus on DOING not KNOWING and on what you CAN ALREADY DO as opposed to what you CAN’T. They call the upper beginner of A2 the “elementary” or “wayfarer” level on the CERFL “global scale”.

As an A2 basic user of Russian should be able to:

• Understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment);

• Communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters; and

• Describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

These aims are echoed in the criteria of the official language standards set by the Russian government to pass the requirements to pass the official “Foundation Level” (Базавый уровень) A2 exam. This is part of the Test of Russian as a Foreign Language (ToRFL or, in Russian, TRKI) “official” Russian government Russian as a foreign language exam system, which runs from elementary (A1) to upper advanced (C2). ToRFL/TRKI is administered by several Russian universities and offered, under their auspices at various centres outside Russia.

Another body that offers Russian exams is TELC. They have published useful information about what you need to pass the TELC A2 Russian exam. The detail is of wider use for us as we seek to get a sense of what A2 Russian is all about.

The speaking skills you need for A2 Russian

The TRKI A2/foundation description says that the “foreigner” should be able to communicate essentials with a native speaker in a limited range of familiar situations connected with daily routine in social, cultural and educational life. It is emphasised that the linguistic range of the student will be pretty limited at this level.

TELC A2 Russian handbook also follows the CEFRL: “Level A2 is a transition from an exclusively functional level to the more complex….and discursive elements and the conversational situations of Level B1……at Level A2 short conversations are possible….”

To pass the ToRFL/TRKI A2 exam you’re expected to have the ability to perform basic tasks in a range of situations such dealing with officials, transactions in shops or ticket offices, at the post office or bank, in a restaurant or library, asking for directions or going on an excursion, visiting the doctor or a clinic and telephone calls.

You’re also expected to be able to talk about your own life and background, your studies or work, experience studying Russian, how you’ve spent your day, your hobbies and interests, you home town, health, the weather….

TELC sets out similar expected speaking “outcomes”. TELC mentions the ability to understand of the key points and additional information of simple announcements and the key points of a dialogue, even if you don’t understand everything.

Upper Beginner or A2 Russian listening and reading skills

Any conversation is not just about speaking. Half of it’s understanding the people you’re talking with. Then you need to understand things that are said “at” you (the dialogue of a film, the radio, announcements).

TELC helpfully describes some of the audio and written texts you’re expected to understand:

Audio: announcements over a public address system; recorded telephone messages; radio announcements (weather forecasts, traffic updates etc), communications in personal life and in meetings.

Reading: brief newspaper reports, short notices, simple (illustrated) information brochures, adverts, catalogues and posters, signs, written instructions, short letters, postcards, emails, tables of information (e.g. train timetables, shop opening times and menus).

At this level, the emphasis is getting the overall message of the “text” (audio or written) and extracting key information (even when you don’t understand everything).

Writing for upper beginner’s/A2 Russian

When it comes to writing, once again the emphasis is on producing simple texts in short sentences on the essentials of familiar topics.

This (as TELC explains) might be writing about daily life, where you live, descriptions of people, work or study. It could also be simple descriptions of events, activities or your personal experiences.

This may sound a limited goal but, in a language as grammatically complex as Russian, it’s still quite an achievement.

As to the forms of text you should be able to have a go at producing, TELC mentions filling in forms (for example a registration form), postcards or short personal letters, a short email, taking short notes or a short message.

How many words do I need to know for A2 Russian?

TRKI says that the “minimum” for A2 is an active command of a vocabulary of about 1,300 words. Of course, these will mainly be words connected with the sort of fundamental, everyday situations and topics we’ve mentioned above.

There is an official published list of the TRKI A2 “lexical minimum” (the key words you need).

If you’re up for it, you can download the list (or buy something similar) and learn the words by heart. I quite like a systematic approach to vocab, myself, though I know it’s not for everyone. Most people will meet the vocabulary bit by bit in the context of (we hope) engaging course material or informal contact with the language (the more, the better).

Things will move faster if you take a proactive approach to vocabulary acquisition. Just repeating, straining, writing out is not the most effective way to go, though.

How to learn basic Russian vocabulary

To increase your efficiency, there are several tricks that you should know.

The published word list unfortunately just contains individual words without example phrases to show ways that they can be correctly used.

It’s a good idea, though, not just to learn individual words, but also to try learning “chunks” of language.

Chunks could be “collocations”: two or more words that habitually go together in a set combination.

Beyond collocations, a chunk could even be a shortish phrase.

In effect a chunk could be any shortish combination of words that native speaker effortlessly deploy as a unit, as if one word.

Why learn chunks of Russian?

There are three reasons for giving chunking a major role in your Russian journey.

First, when you learn a word in context, you’ll find that word easier to remember.

Second, you’ll be sure you’ve chosen the right word to convey what you mean. More than that, learn a phrase rather than an individual word and you’ll be seeing the pronouns, adjectives or noun with the correct case endings and verbs will be conjugated correctly.

That feels a lot better than struggling to build phrase after phrase from the ground up. If you play that game, you run the risk of a word-for-word from English when Russian may expresses things differently. You may be understood, but you won’t sound like a native.

Third, it appears that one of the reasons we are able to speak and understand our native language so quickly is that natives process language as chunks. By focussing on chunks, you really are going with nature.

Learn in chunks and you’ll be able to speak not only more naturally and accurately, but also more rapidly.

Of course, in a language like Russian with its complex system of case declensions and verb conjugations, there are limits to the magic of “chunks”.

If you want to say something very close but a little different (e.g. a different number of people involved, an action repeated habitually or in the past of future), that will throw some of the “grammar” out.

Still, your “chunks” will help you develop a real feel for how the language behaves. If you also consciously practise the grammar on top, you should be able to adapt the phrase with more confidence than if you were trying to build a phrase “from the ground up”.

Used spaced recall to learn Russian vocabulary

“Spaced recall” means you’ll no longer be trying hard to commit something to memory once and hoping it sticks for ever. It means coming back to the word, phrase or point of grammar again and again at ever increasing intervals. You might learn it on day one, look again the next day, a few days down the line, one, three, six weeks and six months on, for example.

By repeating in this way, you help ensure that vocabulary ends up in your long term memory.

I’m stressing “spaced recall” not “spaced repetition”.

Don’t just come back to lists of Russian words or phrases side by side with the English translation. That’s exposure that’s too passive. Put a bit of grit in the oyster by testing yourself.

Look at the Russian and try and recall the English. Go the other way as much as you can, too (into the target language is more difficult).

One way to do spaced recall is with flashcards with the English on one side, Russian on the other. You could also have a Russian phrase on one side with a gap or two in it and the full phrase (in Russian) on the other side.

If you find flashcards boring another approach you might try is the gold list method.

Neither flashcarding nor goldlisting are for everybody and, even if you like such methods, they should take the place of lots of input in the language.

Get as much comprehensible input in Russian as you can

Listen and read….listen and read….and then…listen and read some more.

It’s not efficient to launch into native level material at this level, though.

The fact is, you won’t know enough vocab yet (you don’t have all the grammar either, but it’s vocab that’s the main problem).

Faced with material they can’t be expected to understand, most people will feel overwhelmed and discouraged (as well as quickly getting bored).

Instead, get the repetition and reinforcement by listening to and reading “graded” material. That’s audio/video and written texts aimed specially at you as an A2 Russian learner.

It’s useful to look at stuff you can easily understand – just below top A2 (to ensure more of that repetition and reenforcement (“overlearning” is the name of the game).

It’s also good to try material that stretches you a little bit – edging up into lower B1. If you understand nearly all the words and structures, you’ll have fighting chance of “acquiring” new words and patterns from the context.

Grammar for A2 Russian

Talking of patterns, what’s the range of grammar that you should know as an A2 Russian student? We can’t cover everything here, but here are some of the main things to aim for.

By the end of A2 you should have met all six Russian cases.

You aren’t expected to know all their uses but you’ll be practising the most common uses a lot.

This should include using the most common prepositions that require the various cases (for example when you’re talking about where something is – in, on, into, out of, behind….).

You’ll have learned how the cases and prepositions are used in the context of basic usage of the numbers, including telling the time and more general expressions of time such as on which day, in which month, years, dates.

You’ll know the noun declension patterns for all three genders and the plural. You’ll also be able to decline the long-form adjectives and will be able to recognise short-form adjectives. The declension of the personal pronouns (я/меня/мне/мной/мне; она/её/ей/ней etcю) should also be under your belt. You’ll also know the declension the most common questions words: “who” (кто) and “what” (что), of demonstrative pronouns “this” (этот) and “that” (тот), “determiners” such as “each” (каждый), “all” (весь). You’ll be able to decline “nobody” (никто) and “nothing” (ничего)…..

It’s an exciting milestone to have covered (still more to be able to deploy, if haltingly) all this and more.

You’ll also have learned a lot about the Russian verb system. That includes how the two “groups” conjugate in the past and present/future and how you can form the compound future with быть + imperfective. It also includes the common verb stem patterns.

Verbal “aspects” are, of course, an important feature in Russian and you’ll have learned how some of the most common “pairs” over verbs (imperfective/perfective) are formed. You’ll also have the essentials of when the imperfective or perfective are used in simple positive and negative expressions, in the “imperative” (making polite requests or giving commands).

You’ll have met the most common “paired” verbs of motion and learned how each one has two imperfectives (multi-directional and uni-directional) and how these and the perfective forms conjugate and are used. You’ll also have started to see how the use of prefixes can expand what we can do with the verbs of motion.

Grammar yes….but grammar in context

Sure, it’s useful to learn “about” the language but abstract “rules” with lists of exceptions will only take you so far. If you’re reading or writing you will have time to stop and think. If you’re listening and speaking, you won’t have time to try and recall a declension table.

For that, we’re back to mastering patterns. We’re back, really, to context and chunks and getting lots and lots of appropriate input to build up a “feel” for the language.

A2 Russian is an achievement to celebrate

I come across a lot of newbie language learners who set themselves ambitious targets in Russian. They never make them. No, you won’t be C2 by Christmas. You can, though, get off to a solid start in the basics of Russian by focussing initially on the beginner’s core that I mentioned at the start of this post. Then you can pause for breath and begin the next let to staging post A2.

Never underestimate what an achievement A2 is in Russian. Thirteen hundred words, six cases, the essentials of the verb system. If you make it to here, you’ve broken the back of the Russian language. The view from this far up is already very satisfying. Mmmm…I’m mixing my metaphors…probably time to finish for today.

I’ll be back soon, though for the next post in this series, when we’ll look at A2 Russian exams. Then I’ll continue the series with explorations of the other “levels” of Russian. If you sign up to the email list in the sign-up box below, you’ll hear when subsequent posts appear. Plus, you’ll get my free video training on “How to learn any language like a pro”, at any level. Don’t miss out!

The post A2 Russian: the upper beginner skills, vocabulary and grammar that you need appeared first on How to get fluent, with Dr Popkins.