Aorist and Imperfect in a Story

Level 4Sounds Like aorist i imperfekt vo raskažuvan̂e

The imperfect sets the scene and the aorist moves the story: Врнеше и беше студено кога излеговме. (It was raining and cold when we went out.)

How It Works

Macedonian has two simple past tenses, and a story needs both (see аорист: купив; прочитав; дојдов and имперфект: читав; одев; носев).

Imperfect — the background:

  • the scene and the weather: Беше доцна. Врнеше. (It was late. It was raining.)
  • an action in progress: Седев во кафулето... (I was sitting in the café...)
  • a habit: Секоја сабота баба ни правеше пита. (Every Saturday grandma made us pie.)

Aorist — the events: each aorist is a completed step, and several in a row happen one after another: Станав, се облеков и излегов. (I got up, got dressed and went out.)

Together: an event often breaks into a background action:

  • Седев во кафулето кога влезе Марко. — I was sitting in the café when Marko came in.
  • Додека читав, некој тропна на вратата. — While I was reading, someone knocked on the door.

See кога за време and додека for the linking words.

Aspect helps: events are usually told with perfective verbs in the aorist (влезе, тропна), and background with imperfective verbs in the imperfect (седев, читав). A perfective verb cannot stand in the imperfect in an ordinary main clause, so читаше describes someone in the middle of reading, not прочиташе (see глаголски вид: свршен и несвршен).

Changing one changes the story: Кога излеговме, врнеше. means it was already raining as we went out. Кога излеговме, заврна. means it started raining once we were out.

Storytellers sometimes switch to the present to make events vivid (see историско сегашно време), and ќе with the imperfect can describe repeated past habits (see ќе + имперфект за навика во минатото).

Examples (6)

  1. Врнеше и беше студено кога излеговме.

    It was raining and cold when we went out.

    Word by Word: It-was-raining and was cold when we-went-out.

    Врнеше and беше set the scene; излеговме is the event.

  2. Седев во кафулето кога влезе Марко.

    I was sitting in the café when Marko came in.

    Word by Word: I-was-sitting in café-the when came-in Marko.

  3. Додека читав, некој тропна на вратата.

    While I was reading, someone knocked on the door.

    Word by Word: While I-was-reading, someone knocked on door-the.

  4. Станав, се облеков и излегов.

    I got up, got dressed and went out.

    Word by Word: I-got-up, self I-dressed and I-went-out.

    Three aorists in a row: each event follows the one before.

  5. Секоја сабота баба ни правеше пита.

    Every Saturday grandma made us pie.

    Word by Word: Every Saturday grandma to-us was-making pie.

    The imperfect describes a repeated habit.

  6. Беше доцна и улиците беа празни. Одеднаш некој викна.

    It was late and the streets were empty. Suddenly someone shouted.

    Word by Word: Was late and streets-the were empty. Suddenly someone shouted.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting a perfective verb in the imperfect for an action in progress.

    Таа прочиташе книга кога влегов.
    Таа читаше книга кога влегов.

    An action in progress in the background needs an imperfective verb: читаше. Прочиташе cannot stand alone in a main clause like this.

  • Using the aorist when you mean an action that was already going on.

    Седнав во кафулето кога влезе Марко.
    Седев во кафулето кога влезе Марко.

    Седнав is an event: I sat down at that moment. To say you were already sitting there when Marko came in, use the imperfect седев.

  • Using the imperfect for a single step in a sequence.

    Станав, се облекував и излегов.
    Станав, се облеков и излегов.

    Each step happened once and was completed before the next one, so it needs the aorist of the perfective verb: се облеков.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Aorist and Imperfect in a StoryLevel 4

Learn This First

Aorist and imperfect in a story combine story order and background.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.