7.5 – Process vs. Completed Act Key Words, part 1
So which verb form do you use? Imperfective or perfective? While it ultimately comes down to whether the action is completed or not (and whether you’re trying to convey that it is completed), there are some words that may help indicate that:
Words Indicating Process
pořád – ‘constantly, still’
Milena pořád něco četla.
Milena was constantly reading something.
ještě – ‘still’
Words Indicating Completion
konečně – ‘finally’
Tomáš konečně koupil nový počítač.
Tomáš finally bought a new computer.
celý ‘whole’ or všechen (m.) / všechna (f.) / všechno (n.) | všechny (pl.) ‘all’
Snědla jsem celou pizzu.
I ate the whole pizza.
Udělali jsme všechny domácí úkoly.
We did all the homework assignments.
Words Used with Both
už – already is common with both Imperfective and Perfective Verbs – however a few notes are in order:
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už with imperfective |
už with perfective |
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with the imperfective, you usually need some sort of additional context:
Už jsem vařil večeři, když Milena zatelefonovala. I was already cooking dinner when Milena called. |
on the other hand, with the perfective it’s frequently used to express the completion of an action:
Už jsem ty věci koupil. I already bought those things. |