Thread: Chapter 16 questions

First of all, ездить doesn't mean "to go somewhere and come back from the somewhere" it means "to go somewhere by a bus, a car, a train etc. (a vehicle)"

Second of all, let's take a look at your example.

Маша недавно ездила в Москву.
--Как ей там понравилось?
--Очень.

As you can see there're two people there and none of them is the "main hero" Masha, they're only talking about her. So we can't say for sure that Masha is back. That's why basically Masha's trip is not over yet, Masha was in Moscow but it's not the only true that she came back from there, maybe she's on her way back or she's going (went) to another city. She may have retutned already though.

For instance, my friend was in Kiev recently and when he came back I asked him this:

Ну как ты съездил (not ездил) в Киев? Рассказывай. Понравилось там?

So your example can be both - Маша недавно съездила/ездила в Москву.

Third of all, let's tale closer look at Russian verbs

Мне понравилось в Москве ->> It's just a general statement you only say that you liked Moscow That's alll
Мне нравилось в Москве ->> 1) I liked Moscow (every second I was there, it's kinda emphatic sentence it's like I was liking Moscow while being in there) 2) I liked Moscow but now I do not like it

As you can see even if the verb нравиться is imperfective it still describes THE PAST and THE COMPLETED EVENT:

1) You just emphesize your statement by making the verb нравиться describe PAST CONTINUOUS action.
2) You describe the action that was true in past but it's not true in present.

I hope my thoughts can help you out

I've moved on to Chapter 17 and there is a further explanation about the use of imperfective/perfective with (по)нравнться . It says, "In the past tense the perfective is used most often, as the use of the imperfective past indicates that a person used to like something or someone, but now has changed his/her mind and no longer likes it/him/her/them." I guess that's restating what you (iCake) say under "third of all". I think I get it now.

Z

Originally Posted by iCake

For instance, my friend was in Kiev recently and when he came back I asked him this:

Ну как ты съездил (not ездил) в Киев? Рассказывай. Понравилось там?

So your example can be both - Маша недавно съездила/ездила в Москву.

I'd really like to understand what is the thought process going on when you pick съездить instead of simply ездить. Any special nuance there? To me they've always seemed to be pretty much synonyms- am I wrong? I just get the 'difference' when it's, for example, съездить за чем-то.