Thread: verb tense

I started learning Russian (along with Brazilian Portuguese) about 2 months ago. One resource I have been using is Russian movies. I have noticed a verb use that has me a little confused:

When a (male) person seems to be saying what in English would mean "I am going now", that person says "я пошёл"

When a person says to a group what in English would mean "Let's go!", the person says "пошли!"

I assume that the verb I am hearing is the past tense of the perfective verb "пойти"

Are the above examples cases of using past tense of a perfective verb to describe present tense action or is this possibly "mistaken identity" and actually some other verb?

спасибо!

У тебя всё правильно.
Глагол - пойти. Я пошёл/пошла, он пошёл, она пошла, мы, вы, они пошли. Это всё в прошедшем времени.
Для настоящего времени используется другой глагол: идти. Я иду, он/она идёт, мы идём, вы идёте, они идут.

Originally Posted by hudozhnik

I started learning Russian (along with Brazilian Portuguese) about 2 months ago. One resource I have been using is Russian movies. I have noticed a verb use that has me a little confused:

When a (male) person seems to be saying what in English would mean "I am going now", that person says "я пошёл"

When a person says to a group what in English would mean "Let's go!", the person says "пошли!"

I assume that the verb I am hearing is the past tense of the perfective verb "пойти"

Are the above examples cases of using past tense of a perfective verb to describe present tense action or is this possibly "mistaken identity" and actually some other verb?

спасибо!

You are right, "Let's go" = Пошли.
I'm going / I'm off = Пошёл / Пошла.

It is past tense in form, but expressing the present/future.

Благодарю всех за эти быстрые ответы

I look forward to learning from the posts on this forum.

Спасибо ещё раз

It's just like
I'm gone!
We're outta here!
Let's went! (this shows my age)

Originally Posted by TATY

You are right, "Let's go" = Пошли.
I'm going / I'm off = Пошёл / Пошла.

It is past tense in form, but expressing the present/future.

Да, правильно. Нам пора, мы уходим. или Мы пошли, всего хорошего. Так могут прощаться гости, которые собрались уходить, уже, может быть, стоят в дверях.