perfective vs. imperfective

[milos-dimitrov.livejournal.com]

i'm trying to better understand verb forms and i was wondering if anyone could help me understand the different implications of these questions:

Ты посмотрел/смотрел этот фильм?
Ты позвонил/звонил домой сегодня?
Ты прочитал/читал эту книгу?
На прошлой неделе он заболел/болел?

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

In all of your examples these verb forms are practically synonyms. The questions like "ты читал...?", "ты смотрел...?" usually imply asking whether you have read the entire book or viewed the entire film. However, if you want to be really hairsplitting, "ты смотрел этот фильм" does not necessarily mean that the person viewed the entire film through to the end. E.g. "Я звонил домой, но не дозвонился", "Я читал эту книгу в течение получаса и решил, что не буду ее дочитывать" etc., so the action was not really completed.

However, in other contexts the implications might be quite different. The classical example is when a student says during an oral exam: "Я учил..." which literally means that he studied the subject for a while, but not necessarily that he has really mastered it ("учил, но не выучил").

[trilbyhat.livejournal.com]

The only example where I see some real difference is 4. If he is still unwell by now, I would say заболел. If he was ill and got better later, I would say болел.

Also, посмотрел фильм does not necessarily mean a completed action: Я посмотрел фильм минут десять и ушел. Я ПОчитал эту книгу и бросил. (But: ПРОчитал means that I have read the entire book)