Imperfective Verbs in the Present Tense

Present Progressive – activities that are (or are not) going on right now:

Ahoj Martine, co děláš?

Dělám domácí úkoly.

Hey Martin, what are you doing?

I’m doing my homework.

Lucie se nedívá na ten film, protože myje nádobí v kuchyni.

Lucie is not watching that movie because she’s washing dishes in the kitchen.

General Statements of Fact – activities that you do (or don’t do) in general. Can also contain references to frequency:

Nikdy nejím maso.

I never eat meat.

Často hraju basketbal.

I often play basketball.

Simultaneous Activities – activities that overlap:

Pavel často píše něco na telefonu, když sedí v autobuse.

Pavel often often writes on his phone when he’s sitting on the bus.

Martina si často zpívá, když se sprchuje.

Martina often sings when she takes a shower.

Duration of Activity – how long an activity lasts; again, with this use, the focus is on the activity itself, not on any time of completion

Lucie se obvykle učí dvě hodiny denně.

Lucie usually studies for two hours a day.

So to sum up, the imperfective verb is viewed more like an action that does not focus on any completion, but rather the activity itself. These uses will start to make sense as we keep this activity focus of the imperfective in mind.