{"id":375,"date":"2008-11-25T15:40:46","date_gmt":"2008-11-25T19:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=375"},"modified":"2008-11-25T15:40:46","modified_gmt":"2008-11-25T19:40:46","slug":"perfective-vs-imperfective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/perfective-vs-imperfective\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfective vs Imperfective"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of you sent me an email wanting to know more about the verbs I listed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/the-dative-part-3\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dative part 3<\/a> blog post. <em>\u201cWhat\u2019s the deal with those two forms?\u201d<\/em> was the question.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I\u2019m glad you asked. And here are the verbs in question:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/dac-dawac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">da\u0107\/dawa\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to give<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/oddac-oddawac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">odda\u0107\/oddawa\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to give back\/ to return<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/sprzedac-sprzedawac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">sprzeda\u0107\/sprzedawa\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to sell<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/kupic-kupowac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">kupi\u0107\/kupowa\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to buy<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/pomoc-pomagac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">pom\u00f3c\/pomaga\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to help<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/11\/pokazac-pokazywac.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">pokaza\u0107\/pokazywa\u0107<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 to show<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember when we were talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/verbs-of-motion-part-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">grammatical aspect and imperfective verbs<\/a>? I said back then that almost all Polish verbs have two grammatical aspects \u2013 perfective and imperfective.<\/p>\n<p>Perfective means or implies than an action is finished and completed. Imperfective \u2013 that the outcome of whatever it is you are doing is still pending, or that an action is habitual, or somesuch. And I also said that perfective verbs don\u2019t exist in the present tense.<\/p>\n<p>Are you with me? OK so far?<\/p>\n<p>Then let\u2019s take a look at our verb list above.<br \/>\n\u201c<strong>Da\u0107<\/strong>\u201d and \u201c<strong>dawa\u0107<\/strong>\u201d both mean the same in English, but in Polish the difference is quite visible. They both can be translated as \u201cto give.\u201d So, what\u2019s the deal with the difference?<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Da\u0107<\/strong>\u201d means to give once and it\u2019s done, finished. Whoever you gave it to now has it and you can go home. The action is completed. You have nothing else to do. As a perfective verb, it has no present tense. It only exists in the past and the future. For example:<br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dalam-jej-pieniadze.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">Da\u0142am jej pieni\u0105dze.<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 I (female speaker) gave her money. She has it now. I only gave it to her once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Dawa\u0107<\/strong>,\u201d on the other hand, implies a habitual action. Something you do over and over. And as an imperfective verb, it has forms in all three tenses. Here\u2019s one example:<br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dawalam-jej-pieniadze.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">Dawa\u0142am jej pieni\u0105dze.<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 I (female speaker) have\/had been giving her money. For some time in the past she (whoever she might be) had been getting cash from me. Lucky her.<\/p>\n<p>You see the difference now? What in English is accomplished by different tenses, in Polish is done by different verbs.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the forms of \u201c<strong>da\u0107<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Future tense:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dac-future-tense.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">audio<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> ja \u2013 dam<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ty \u2013 dasz<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> on\/ona\/ono \u2013 da<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> my \u2013 damy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> wy \u2013 dacie<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> oni \u2013 dadz\u0105<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Past tense:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dac-past-tense.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">audio<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ja <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 da\u0142am \/ da\u0142em<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>ty <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 da\u0142a\u015b\/ da\u0142e\u015b<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>on \u2013 da\u0142<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>ona \u2013 da\u0142a<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>ono \u2013 da\u0142o<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>my <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 da\u0142y\u015bmy \/ dali\u015bmy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>wy <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> da\u0142y\u015bcie \/ dali\u015bcie<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>oni \u2013 dali<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>one \u2013 da\u0142y<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And now for \u201c<strong>dawa\u0107<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Future tense:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dawac-future-tense.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">audio<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> ja \u2013 b\u0119d\u0119 dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119d\u0119 dawa\u0142a \/ dawa\u0142 <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<\/li>\n<li><strong> ty \u2013 b\u0119dziesz dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dziesz dawa\u0142a \/ dawa\u0142 <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<\/li>\n<li><strong> on \u2013 b\u0119dzie dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dzie dawa\u0142<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ona \u2013 b\u0119dzie dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dzie dawa\u0142a<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ono \u2013 b\u0119dzie dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dzie dawa\u0142o<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> my \u2013 b\u0119dziemy dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dziemy dawa\u0142y \/ dawali <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<\/li>\n<li><strong> wy \u2013 b\u0119dziecie dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119dziecie dawa\u0142y \/ dawali <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<\/li>\n<li><strong> oni \u2013 b\u0119d\u0105 dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119d\u0105 dawali<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> one \u2013 b\u0119d\u0105 dawa\u0107 <\/strong>or<strong> b\u0119d\u0105 dawa\u0142y<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Present tense:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dawac-present-tense.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">audio<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> ja \u2013 daj\u0119<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ty \u2013 dajesz<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> on\/ona\/ono \u2013 daje<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> my \u2013 dajemy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> wy \u2013 dajecie<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> oni \u2013 daj\u0105<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Past tense:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2008\/12\/dawac-past-tense.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">audio<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong> ja <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 dawa\u0142am \/ dawa\u0142em<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ty <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> dawa\u0142a\u015b \/ dawa\u0142e\u015b<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> on \u2013 dawa\u0142<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ona \u2013 dawa\u0142a<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> ono \u2013 dawa\u0142o<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> my <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 dawa\u0142y\u015bmy \/ dawali\u015bmy<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> wy <\/strong>(fem \/ masc)<strong> \u2013 dawa\u0142y\u015bcie \/ dawali\u015bcie<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> oni \u2013 dawali<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong> one \u2013 dawa\u0142y<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Complicated? Nah! Just a little maybe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of you sent me an email wanting to know more about the verbs I listed in the Dative part 3 blog post. \u201cWhat\u2019s the deal with those two forms?\u201d was the question. Well, I\u2019m glad you asked. And here are the verbs in question: da\u0107\/dawa\u0107 \u2013 to give odda\u0107\/oddawa\u0107 \u2013 to give back\/ to&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/perfective-vs-imperfective\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7333,306825,7442,7510,177,166],"class_list":["post-375","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-aspects","tag-grammar","tag-imperfective","tag-perfective","tag-tenses","tag-verbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}