Hello all,
I read the following three sentences from one of the Russian beginner lessons:
что ты собираешься делать?
В субботу мы идём в театр.
А в воскресене, я собираюсь пойти в зоопарк.
My two questions now are:
I presume that the use of present tense in the second sentence is just because one can express things like “I will go to the swimming pool tomorrow” as “I go to the swimming pool tomorrow” in order to be more convenient in oral language, right? At least we have this in German so it might be possible in Russian as well? Or is there a different reason for that?
And then the question arises, which aspect to use with собира́ться, imperfective or perfective? делать is one, пойти the other. And I don’t see why “I plan to go to the zoo” should be a completed action. Or is the use of the perfective aspect here due to something else?
I think it’s better to wait for native speakers to explain these particular examples. There are a few who are very active on LIngq.
In the meantime, since you’re asking for it. I’ll give you my two cents. Partly as a way to keep this thread alive and attract native speakers’ attention.
The way I see it:
a) Yes, sometimes I’ve heard present tense being used with a future meaning as it happens in many other languages at times (German, English, Spanish, …). It doesn’t seem anywhere as common in Russian, though. In particular, German “Umgangssprache” replaces virtually every occurrence of the future tense with the present one; you don’t get that in Russian. My own understanding is that this only happens in Russian when you are very certain about a future event. As a foreign learner, I’d avoid using this particular turn of phrase, but I’d expect to hear it occasionally from native speakers. It is for a knowledgeable Russian teacher or native speaker to say how “standard” or “correct” this usage is considered to be.
b) Я собираюсь пойти в зоопарк. The speaker is thinking about actually getting to the zoo, not about the path to it. In his/her mind s/he’s getting ready to leave home and get there, not considering what may happen along the way. In contrast “Я собираюсь идти в зоопарк” would mean something like “I’m getting ready to start moving in the direction to the zoopark, to set out for the park”. I think this choice of aspect would make more sense when discussing something that may be done/happen along the way or even before actually leaving the house.
Hope this helps but, again, I expect better explanations from native speakers.
Like in English, you can use the present tense for something scheduled, planned or arranged:
Самолет прилетает завтра – the plane arrives tomorrow.
В субботу мы идём в театр – we are going to the theater on Saturday
The verb собираться can be used with both perfective and imperfective aspect depending on what kind of action (completed or ongoing) you are planning to perform. In your context you can say ‘я собираюсь пойти в зоопарк’ or ‘я собираюсь идти в зоопарк’ interchangeably.
‘Пойти’ means not just ‘to go’, but something like ‘to depart for some place, to leave for some place’. Eg.: ‘I will leave for home in five minutes – Я пойду домой через пять минут’. Basically, leaving (one place) for (another place) means a completed action.
Я собраюсь завтра пойти в зоопарк = У меня есть планы завтра пойти в зоопарк = Я завтра иду в зоопарк.
Das letzte Beispiel ist kürzer und ist öfter in Umgangssprache verwendet.
Я собираюсь идти в зоопарк = I’m going to go to the zoo (perhaps I will never reach the zoo but my plan is to go, go and go to the zoo :))
Я собираюсь прийти в зоопарк = I’m going to reach the zoo.
Я собираюсь пойти в зоопак = I’m going to visit the zoo = Я собираюсь сходить в зоопарк.
It’s no difference here etween пойти and сходить. Пойти в гости = Сходить в гости.
Глагола “придти” в современном русском языке нет. Он был раньше, теперь литературная норма - ПРИЙТИ
Обычно глагол “прийти” используется с указанием времени:
Когда ты придёшь? - Я приду в пять часов.
“Я собираюсь прийти в зоопарк” звучит не очень правильно, но можно сказать: Я собираюсь прийти в зоопарк завтра в 2 часа.
Я понимал - означает, что понимал когда-то в прошлом, но сейчас уже не понимаю.
Я понял - означает, что с какого-то момента в прошлом начал понимать, теперь тоже понимаю.
Я понимаю - в настоящем времени.
Я буду понимать - в будущем.
В данном случае лучше было бы сказать: “Я понял. Спасибо!”
