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Consider the verb to send, which my dictionary translates as *посылать (imp.), слать (imp.), послать (perf.). My question is about those cases in which there are two imperfective forms, like in this one. Is there a general rule about the difference, if there are two?

Bubaya
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    This is called "secondary imperfective". See Terrence Wade's "Comprehensive Russian Grammar" (§ 248). – NuncTorUs Apr 23 '20 at 10:03

1 Answers1

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This is quite a common case:

  • слать - посла́ть - посыла́ть
  • есть - съесть - съеда́ть
  • жечь - сжечь - сжига́ть, etc

The prefixed imperfective verb normally denotes a periodic action while the unprefixed verb describes a continuous action:

  • Он ка́ждую неде́лю посыла́ет ей пода́рок. - He sends her a gift every week.

  • Он постоя́нно шлёт ей пода́рки. - He sends her gifts all the time.

  • Он всё вре́мя ест. - He eats all the time / He can't stop eating.

  • Он съеда́ет таре́лку ка́ши ка́ждый день. - He eats one plate of porridge every day.
Sergey Slepov
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