Thread: Valda - разные вопросы по глаголам

The word подойти is future. "I will approach/he will approach/they will approach/.... etc etc

Now, we also got "подходить" - which means the same thing, but in present form!

Both of those verbs have past forms. What's the difference between the past form of подойти and the past form of подходить then?

The words with prefix plus идти are perfective, while the verbs with ходить are imperfective with the same basic meaning. This is true for all verbs of motion. I suppose that you know that a set of basic verbs of motion are special in that they are either directional (идти, ехать) or not (ходить, ездить). But the moment a prefix gets attached to them they lose that special status and become normal perfective / imperfective verb pairs, with the directional verb being the basis for the perfective verb and the non-directional one for the imperfective one.

There is an odd man out, съездить, which is perfective (there may be more, but that's the one I can think of right now). Furthermore, the perfective verbs using *-ехать have imperfective counterparts using *-езжать and not, as one might think, *-ездить.

Originally Posted by Valda

The word подойти is future. "I will approach/he will approach/they will approach/.... etc etc

Now, we also got "подходить" - which means the same thing, but in present form!

Both of those verbs have past forms. What's the difference between the past form of подойти and the past form of подходить then?

Подойти is not future, it is an infinitive. The future form will be подойду (я подойду, он подойдет...). It means I will approach (or maybe come to your place, come to see you) and I am certain about it. Я подойду завтра - you promise to come. While the future form of подходить is буду подходить, it means the process. It can be used, for example "Когда я буду подходить к дому, я позвоню" - "When approaching the house, I will call you"

In present it is "подхожу" - I am approaching, I am coming
Past form will be "подошёл" (have come) or " подходил" (when we came the train was approaching the station - когда мы пришли, поезд уже подходил (it hasn't stopped yet)

Originally Posted by Valda

The word подойти is future.

No, it is not. It is the infinitive form, and the infinitive form does not have any grammar tense.
But it has the aspect: "подойти" is a perfective verb (as bitpicker noticed).

Perfective verbs are never used in present tense, they only have two tenses: past (e.g. он подошёл) and future (e.g. он подойдёт).

Originally Posted by Valda

"I will approach/he will approach/they will approach/.... etc etc

I will approach - Я подойду (perf.) and Я буду подходить (imperf.)
He will approach - Он подойдёт (perf.) and Он будет подходить (imperf.)
They will approach - Они подойдут (perf.) and Они будут подходить (imperf.)
etc.etc.

Originally Posted by Valda

"Now, we also got "подходить" - which means the same thing, but in present form!.

No.
1. It does not mean the same thing: "подойти" is perfective (a single completed action as a whole), but "подходить" is imperfective (it can be habitual, repeated action, or a single action in its process).
2. "Подходить" is not the present form! It is the infinitive form.The infinitive cannot have any grammar tense.

The imperfective verbs (unlike perfective ones) can form all 3 tenses: present (e.g. он подходит), past (e.g. он подходил) and future (он будет подходить).

Originally Posted by Valda

"Both of those verbs have past forms.

Yes. And both of them also have future tense forms.

Подходить:
present: он подходит, past: он подходил, future: он будет подходить
Подойти:
present: none, past: он подошёл, future: он подойдёт

Originally Posted by Valda

What's the difference between the past form of подойти and the past form of подходить then?

The difference is the perfective/imperfective aspect.
Valda, are you familiar with the concept of Russian aspect?

You mean a finish action and an unfinished action?

Ahh but I think I understand. подойти is more like "to be approaching"

подходить is more like "to approach"

In this case things are quite cleared up thanks

That's the other way around:

подходить (imperfective) is more like "to be approaching"
подойти (perfective) is more like "to have approached"

But they are not exact definitions, just approximations. That's why I asked if you are familiar with the concept of Russian aspect. Do you know that nearly all Russian verbs have perfective-imperfective aspect pairs?