a few questions

[chirashi-don.livejournal.com]

1. what is the difference between: стирать/постирать/выстирать?

2. in a sentence like "вечер" (it's evening), is вечер a subject or a predicate? my teacher/textbook identifies it as a subject, but it seems like it should be a predicate, as the "it (subject) is" is omitted. this isn't really an important question, but I'm just curious as to how others would categorize it.

3. what is the difference (in meaning) between the imperfective future and perfective future?
Я уберу квартиру.
vs.
Я буду убирать квартиру.

thank you very much!

Comments

[longdrink.livejournal.com]

стирать/постирать/выстирать is not diffference, you can use:
Я буду стирать.
Я постираю.
Я выстираю.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Do not misguide people, there is certain semantical difference between those three.

[la-dy-ashley.livejournal.com]

1) Стирать is imperfect, постирать is its perfect pair (most verbs in Russian are "paired" like that).
Выстирать means to wash something very well so its completely clean. If you just стираешь, that doesn't actually mean that the thing is clean%)

Я вчера решила постирать свою футболку. Стирала весь вечер, но она была такая грязная, что я ее так и не выстирала.

2) The Subject is not omitted. Sentences where one member is omitted are ellyptical, this one is not. It's a special type - It's a one-member sentence. Вечер is neither Subject nor Predicate. We talk of a "main member".

3) Я уберу квартиру - it means that you'll tidy it up. It will be clean.
If the future is imperfective, Я буду убирать, it just means that you're gonna do it, no matter for how long, but doesn't mean that you'll get the result: the clean flat.
for example:

1)- Что делаешь завтра? Пойдем гулять?
- Не могу. Я буду убирать квартиру!

2) - Посмотри, как грязно в квартире! Ужас!
- Мама, не волнуйся, я завтра все уберу.

That's it. Hope it helps!:)

[http://users.livejournal.com/jimi_/]

я уберу квартиру - I have a taget to make my flat clean. "Mummy, don't worry, I'll tidy up my room"

я буду убирать квартиру - I'm going to be in process of tidying up, and it's not a fact that I'll finish it. "Dear, I can't take for a walk, I'll be tidying up my room."

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

3 is the usual difference between perfective and imperfective forms. The 1st example means that you are going to do it and finish it (perfective verb,) the 2nd, that you are going to do it, do it and do it, but you do not know whether you finish the process or not.

[impeller.livejournal.com]

About «Вечер.» and similar sentences: http://www.hi-edu.ru/x-books/xbook089/01/index.html?part-022.htm (in Russian).

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

Я уберу квартиру. - I shall clean the apartment. (Focus is on the result, i.e. a clean apartment.)

Я буду убирать квартиру. - I shall be cleaning the apartment. Focus is on the action, i.e. cleaning the apartment.)

Not exact translation, i.e. you can't take it for granted that the English continuous form always corresponds to the Russian imperfective form. But sometimes it's a helpful crutch.

[freiburg234.livejournal.com]

Let me try to refine the above example.

1. I shall clean the house today. Why don't you come by?

2. I shall be cleaning the house today. Why don't you come by?

In the first case, the implication of "coming by" is that one shall find a clean house and is invited to enjoy "the cleaned house" with the host.

In the second case, one implication of "coming by" is that the prospective guest could be of some assistance in "cleaning the house".

Not 100% certain. But I think Russian perfective and imperfective future can be used to express similar nuances.

[yurka-spb.livejournal.com]

1. I would not say that постирать is a perfect pair for стирать. Even in the example you give it does not look like perfect. To my mind, постирать is just a bit more stressing the process, not activity. However in past tense it can be perfect, like in
Я стирал, стирал, и наконец постирал.
However I would find more natural to say выстирать as a perfect pair for стирать:
Я стирал рубашку и выстирал ее.

Similar pairs are гулять - погулять, читать - почитать. However in these cases выгулять or вычитать have different meaning than their analogues. The first is usually said about dog when you take it out to the nature (Я выгулял свою собаку - I have walked my dog), the second means either find out something in a book (я вычитал в этой книге, что в 1490 году европейцы не знали о существовании Америки - I have find out in this book that Europeans knew nothing about existance of America in 1490) or to read the text carefully to correct errors (корректор уже вычитал эту статью - proof-reader has already proofed this article).

2. Вечер is subject. We don't have forms similar to "it is evening" where "it" is subject. So the complete form would be "Вечер есть" or "Вечер стоит", but it is an error to say so, you should omit the predicate.

3. jimi_ and others have put it already.