#perfective

[languagestudymaterials]

～ている vs. ～る — what changes in reported speech

～ていた vs. plain past — why the same quotation can carry completely different weight depending on which form you use.

Two sentences, same content, different feel:

先生は「あいうえお」と言った 先生は「あいうえお」と言っていた

The difference here is less about grammar and more about how the speaker is framing the information — and what reaction they expect from the listener.

と言った — the words, nothing more

と言った puts the focus on the act of saying and the exact content of what was said. This is a neutral report — here are the words, this is what happened, moving on. You'd use it if someone asked you to quote the teacher precisely, like citing a source. No emotional weight, no implication that it matters beyond the fact itself.

と言っていた — the information is still live

と言っていた shifts the focus. The speaker isn't just reporting a past event — they're presenting the content of what was said as something that still matters now, something the listener should register and respond to. If someone said this to you out of the blue, you'd probably want more context: the teacher said that? Why? What does that mean for us?

This is the broader logic of ている at work. ている describes a state that holds — an action or event whose relevance hasn't ended. When applied to reported speech, it signals that the information being quoted is still active, still in play. The teacher said it, and that fact is carrying weight into this conversation.

The same logic, different verbs

This isn't specific to 言う. The same contrast appears with other verbs in reported or observed contexts:

彼は笑った → he laughed (neutral report of a moment) 彼は笑っていた → he was laughing / he had been laughing (the state of laughing was ongoing and relevant)

窓が開いた → the window opened (the event) 窓が開いていた → the window was open (the resulting state)

In each case, the plain past describes the event as a completed point in time. ていた describes either an ongoing state at a past moment, or a resultative state that was already in place. The distinction is about what the speaker wants to foreground — the event itself, or the state that surrounds it.

More on ている: theory · examples

[haxyr3]

Some "rules" you may find in your textbooks are simply a result of misunderstanding and authors not knowing the subject well enough.

Всегда may easily go with perfective verbs:

Возьми деньги, не стесняйся, деньги тебе всегда пригодятся. - Take the money, don't be shy, you can always make use of it. Пригодятся - perfective.

В классе всегда найдётся такой ребёнок, который молчит и ничего не спрашивает. There's always a kid in class who doesn't talk and doesn't ask anything. Найдётся - perfective.

Скучный факт всегда проиграет мифу. Boring fact will always lose to myth. Проиграет - perfective.

Don't waste your time memorizing made-up rules. Embrace actual, real language instead, read and listen in your target language.

[shogikappa]

I noticed how the Japanese ...てある and ...ている forms can be compared to the constructions of have/be + verb in English, even if their usages don’t overlap always.

You see ...ている showing continuous action (similar to the English counterpart) and ...てある showing a perfective aspect of whether you have the experience of doing something (also similar to English sentences “I have swum [before]”) and Sinitic constructions like “我有游過水“ mentioned in this post.

[myadventuresinrussian]

To Bring

So, instead of working on actual projects, I’m procrastinating by typing verbs. If it’s imperfective, it’s in the present tense and if it’s perfective, then it’s in the future tense.

They go with что (acc), откуда (gen with из or с), куда (acc with в or на), and кому (dat).

Приносить to bring on foot, imperf Я приношу Ты приносишь Он приносит Мы приносим Вы приносите Они приносят

Принести to bring on foot, perf Я принесу Ты принесёшь Он принесёт Мы принесём Вы принесёте Они принесут

Привозить to bring by vehicle, imperf Я привожу Ты привозишь Он привозит Мы привозим Вы привозите Они привозят

Привести to bring by vehicle, perf Я привезу Ты привезёшь Он привезёт Мы привезём Вы привезёте Они привезут

[dzrjesus]

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:9) www.idesirejesus.com

[sanatkafi]

San Francisco Buildings perfective

[haxyr3]

As a native speaker, I never think twice about what verb to use - perfective or imperfective. "Perfective verbs are for actions that have been completed, and imperfective verbs are for lasting actions, what could be easier?", I thought. Like most native speakers, I didn't even question the classic explanation of the verbal aspect.

When I started teaching Russian to speakers of other languages, I realized how inconsistent and unformalizable the Russian verbal aspect is. I was about to panic! How on Earth my students could understand that grammar topic if I myself couldn't understand why I picked perfective or imperfective verbs?

Then I found this book. It is small, but it offers a very accurate and thorough explanation of the Russian verbal aspect. Yukihide Hashimoto describes the difference between perfective and imperfective verbs so simply that, after reading this book, you'll be wondering why that topic seemed so difficult. The practical Magical Solution will help you to never make mistakes again when choosing between perfective and imperfective forms of verbs.

This book is available on Amazon Japan and in my store, free shipping worldwide. I have only a few copies left, so hurry up - oder now