imperatives ad naseum

[david-us.livejournal.com]

I still have a question about Russian imperatives. I don't seem to detect any pattern in selecting the imperfective or the perfective form of the verb when using an imperative.

It seems to me that Russians prefer the imperfective form when issuing a negative command and tend to use the perfective when issuing a positive command.

Which is more correct?

Открой дверь!  или   Открывай дверь!

Would it be correct to say "Не открой дверь!", or, must you say, "Не открывай дверь!" ?

David Emerling
Memphis, TN

Comments

[cherity.livejournal.com]

"Открой дверь!" and "Открывай дверь!" are both correct. The second more suitable when you rekuire to open a door, when people don't want to do it or you want them to do it faster.


"Не открывай дверь!" is correct.

[kunaifusu.livejournal.com]

Открой дверь! and Открывай дверь! both are correct, they have a slight difference in tone. For example if you are inside the house and want to tell somebody to open the door (like "Get the door!") "открывай" will sound awkward. If you are outside demanding to be let in both are fine.

Negative though only "Не открывай" is correct when used as imperative, because "не открой дверь" has completely different meaning - for example "Попробуй только не открой дверь (и тебе не поздоровится)!" basically it's used in constructions meaning "just dare not to do something!" and there you cannot use "не открывай".

[icamel.livejournal.com]

or "не открой я тогда ему дверь, ничего бы не было"

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

But that's not an imperative. That's a conditional equivalent to "если бы я не открыл тогда ему дверь, ничего бы не было".

[devitor.livejournal.com]

So, in this case construction 'не открой дверь' is wrong.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

It's not wrong, it just doesn't represent any command, only a condition.

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

There's another aspect of the use of "(не) открывай(те) дверь!"

Consider a possible situation in the future and giving an advise for it: "Open the windows and doors when doing chemical experiments!" In that case you should use the imperfective: "Открывай(те) окна и двери, когда проводите химические эксперименты!"
A similar case with negative: "Не открывай(те) дверь незнакомым людям/когда стучат чужие!"

In these cases the condition is an indefinite action, indefinite in that it's not a particular action (exactly planned on some particular day), but a habitual/reoccurring one, or every one and the advise is general.

Now, if the condition is a particular action (implied from the context or explicitly stated) and it's expressed in the perfective, then the affirmative command should be in the perfective too: "Открой дверь отцу, когда он придёт с работы (implied he'll come tonight (or at some previously mentioned time))". However, the negative is still in the imperfective: "Не открывай дверь отцу, если он придёт пьяный/когда он приходит пьяный."

[ru-entranslator.livejournal.com]

http://www.ecml.at/html/russian/html/12_grammar_exercises.htm

It seems to me that Russians prefer the imperfective form when issuing a negative command and tend to use the perfective when issuing a positive command. - It's pretty much the rule, but there are exceptions

[david-us.livejournal.com]

Yet, it seems that hear "Подожди!" more often than "Жди!"

[hellga.livejournal.com]

Yes, when used alone. However, with modifiers, such as adverbs of place, e.g. "Ты меня здесь жди!" is at least as common as "Ты меня здесь подожди!" If anything, to me подожди implies that the action will happen in the near future (and/or wait time will be shorter) vs. жди (further out into the future or longer wait time).