Thread: опаздывать vs. опоздать?

Ok, I know one is perfective, and one is imperfective, but how exactly is the best way to relate the two to English? Is is -to arrive late, and to be arriving late? The perfective vs. imperfective is giving me an all around hard time, help would be much appreciated.

Я опаздываю = I am running late (but there is still a chance I won't be)
Я опоздал = I am(was) late

so would the perfective infinitive be :to be late
and the imperfective: to be running late?

I would say опаздывать is the process of being late and the result could either to be late or not but you don't what's gonna be yet. And опоздать is the result of being late which you already know, will know or knew that you are late.
I hope it makes sense to you.

Sorry, I've never studied Russian grammar in English and I don't remember much of what I studied in Russian So, I am not sure in the terms... When you say perfective I think of Perfect tenses in English where you need to have a form of "have"... Anyways, опаздывать assumes an ongoing action and опоздать assumes the action that has come to its end.

I admire you guys! I can't imagine how one could learn Russian being an adult It seems to have an infinite number of difficulties

I must say, it does have its difficulties, but thats how I came to choose Russian anyhow, the challenge.

Try the following, it will help... Simply translate the perfective verbs with Perfect Tenses in English. And translate imperfective verbs with anything but Perfect Tenses.

Example:

Я часто опаздываю на работу. - I am often late to work.
Я опоздал на работу. - I have been late to work.

Study this:
http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/aspect.html

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Try the following, it will help... Simply translate the perfective verbs with Perfect Tenses in English. And translate imperfective verbs with anything but Perfect Tenses.
Example:
Я часто опаздываю на работу. - I am often late to work.
Я опоздал на работу. - I have been late to work.

I second it.

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Try the following, it will help... Simply translate the perfective verbs with Perfect Tenses in English. And translate imperfective verbs with anything but Perfect Tenses.

Example:

Я часто опаздываю на работу. - I am often late to work.
Я опоздал на работу. - I have been late to work.

Is it a general statement for all the verbs whatsoever or only for these two ones ?

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

Try the following, it will help... Simply translate the perfective verbs with Perfect Tenses in English. And translate imperfective verbs with anything but Perfect Tenses.
Example:
Я часто опаздываю на работу. - I am often late to work.
Я опоздал на работу. - I have been late to work.

Is it a general statement for all the verbs whatsoever or only for these two ones ?

Я думаю, что это правильное заключение. У меня такие же трудности с употреблением Perfect Tenses. Например, я бы сказала "I was late to work today", a не "I have been late to work."