Verbs of initial and final limit

Verbs of initial and final limit

As in Russian, among the perfective verbs we can distinguish verbs of the initial limit and verbs of the final limit of action. The initial limit of action shows that the action did not happen before it, and it arose after it. The final limit of action shows that the action happened before it, and it no longer happened after it. The imperfective verb pjetj (to sing) corresponds to the verb of the initial limit zapjetj (to start singing) and the verb of the final limit spjetj (to finish singing). Examples of verbs of the initial limit: zapjetj (to start singing), zakričatj (to start shoutig), zagovoritj (to start talking), poljubitj (to fall in love), ponravitjsja (to start liking) Most often, such verbs have the prefixes „za-„ or „po-„ The initial limit of action can also be expressed by the verbs načinatj, načatj (to start) plus the infinitive of the imperfective verb – načatj pjetj (to start singing). Examples of verbs of the final limit: spjetj (to finish singing), napisatj (to finish writing), sdjelatj (to finish doing), vǐkupatjsja (to finish bathing). Most often, such verbs have various prefixes. The final limit of an action can also be expressed by the verbs končatj, končitj (to finish), pjerjestatj (to stop) plus the infinitive of an imperfective verb – končitj pjetj (to finish singing)

Initial and final verbs are examples of supplementary vocabulary. They can always be replaced with phrases from words of the basic vocabulary without losing meaning.