# Возвращайся лучше



## j-Adore

*Возвращайся лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.


Hi. I'm not sure of the meaning of "imperfective imperative + лучше": "You'd better do ..."?

How does this differ in meaning from using "perfective imperative + лучше" instead?


*Возвратись лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.

*Вернись лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi j-Adore, as russianlearn.com ('Usage of the Imperative') says: 





> The choice of the proper aspect to use is sometimes a delicate matter.


 Out of context, I would understand the use of the imperfective aspect here to sound more insistent, and this idea tends to be reinforced by пока не поздно - _before it's too late_.


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## Vadim K

As a native speaker in this case I can't feel even a subtle difference between all three options.


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## Maroseika

For me too, Perfective вернись seems more insistent than возвращайся.
Возвратись sounds more bookish (less colloquial).


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## j-Adore

Hi. So does "imperative + *лучше*", whichever the aspect, make the ordering tone of an imperative less strong? Like "You'd better do ..."?


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## Vadim K

Yes, it makes it less strong. It sounds like an advice rather than an order.


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## Ben Jamin

My knowledge of the Russian language is limited, but I see a possible analogy to the usage of perfective and imperfective aspect in my mother tongue. 
In Polish the use of the imperfective in imperative clauses is:
1. More colloquial than the perfective aspect.
2. More insisting "do it now!".
3. Refers to immediate future.
4. More rude.

The use of the perfective aspect is:
1. More bookish.
2. Less insisting.
3. Can refer to distant future.
4. More polite.

All this doesn't preclude that many people can use the aspects indiscriminately.


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## Rosett

j-Adore said:


> *Возвратись лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
> 
> *Вернись лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.



*Возвратись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
Or,
*Вернись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.

Not bookish, but precise albeit suggestive and much softer. Colloquial, but not rude.


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## Sobakus

I think Ben Jamin's description captures the difference very well. The main distinction to my mind is the immediate (impf.) vs. more distant (pf.) future reference. The other connotations follow from this: c.f. English "you should be going" vs. "you should go". Note however that the impf. is still referring to the future, not to the present as the English progressive: the underlying semantic difference is requesting to perform an action (do what I say!) vs. requesting a result while still acting on your own volition. That said, "лучше" turns the impf. into more of an "if I were you" type of suggestion (including the threatening type), while the pf. variant remains  a more definite, well-considered piece of advice - however, I still wouldn't call it more insisting.


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## Awwal12

Rosett said:


> *Возвратись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
> Or,
> *Вернись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
> 
> Not bookish


"Возвратиться" is bookish/poetic/formal (and certainly not colloquial) in any form and context. It's a Church Slavonic verb after all, with the native analogue "вернуться" in active use (in the imperfective aspect, though, the Church Slavonic loanword "возвращаться" is the only option, so it works for colloquial register as well).


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## viezis

Rosett said:


> *Возвратись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
> Or,
> *Вернись-ка (ты) лучше *к своим книгам, пока не поздно.
> 
> Not bookish, but precise albeit suggestive and much softer. Colloquial, but not rude.



What tone would "воротись-ка лучше к своим книгам, пока не поздно." give?

So using воротиться.


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## Okkervil

viezis said:


> What tone would "воротись-ка лучше к своим книгам, пока не поздно." give?



"воротиться" (Russian vernacular) = "вернуться"
as in
"Воротился старик ко старухе". А.С.Пушкин


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## viezis

Okkervil said:


> "воротиться" (Russian vernacular) = "вернуться"
> as in
> "Воротился старик ко старухе". А.С.Пушкин



What would be a common example heard in spoken speech? In what contexts is it most often heard? Thanks for he response


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## Vovan

viezis said:


> What would be a common example heard in spoken speech? In what contexts is it most often heard? Thanks for he response


When telling a fairytale to a kid.
The word has an archaic feel and is associated with "olden times".


> *Воротиться* — сов. неперех. разг. *сниж*. 1. Вернуться обратно; возвратиться. 2. Появиться вновь. Толковый словарь Ефремовой. Т. Ф. Ефремова. 2000


("Сниженное" means "substandard".)


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## Awwal12

Vovan said:


> When telling a fairytale to a kid.


Yes, pretty much that. And I disagree with Yefremova about marking it as "colloquial" (lexicographers sometimes can be pretty negligent). In fact, it's long gone into the list of folklore words and expressions. I cannot remember actually hearing it or reading it for a long time.


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## Rosett

Vovan said:


> When telling a fairytale to a kid.
> The word has an archaic feel and is associated with "olden times".
> 
> ("Сниженное" means "substandard".)


Why «Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке» only?

«Воротиться» isn’t yet that obsolete, since it still survives in modern urban culture (hence, substandard, true), as if in:

Исполнитель: Г. Лепс и А. Розенбаум Песня: Четвертиночка (ах, воротись, вернись ко мне, девчоночка! Я стогом сена был, ты в нём иголочка!) ) [03:38]


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## Awwal12

1. It's chancon, not exactly urban culture;
2. Rosenbaum is old and his lyrics hardly could properly reflect "the modern urbal culture" at all;
3. It might have been used by the author as one of those "folkish" elements for purely stylistic reasons.

The results in Google for "воротись" are a very telling set, if you would bother to search.


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## Okkervil

Rosett said:


> Исполнитель: Г. Лепс и А. Розенбаум Песня: Четвертиночка (ах, воротись, вернись ко мне, девчоночка! Я стогом сена был, ты в нём иголочка!) ) [03:38]


 Можно добавить еще Роберта Рождественского, "Баллада о красках". Уж назвать это "fairytale for kids" или назвать там этот глагол "obsolete" у нормального человека язык не повернется.


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## Awwal12

Okkervil said:


> Можно добавить еще Роберта Рождественского, "Баллада о красках". Уж назвать это "fairytale for kids" или назвать там этот глагол "obsolete" у нормального человека язык не повернется.


I am sorry, but Rozhdestvenskiy is long dead himself. And you're apparently missing the point. The question was "What would be a common example heard in spoken speech?". I may be wrong, yet I doubt that poetry can count as "spoken speech".


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## Awwal12

P.S.: And yes, the phrase "воротилися в село" (Rozhdestvenskiy) is very obviously intended to leave folkish, rural impression. Note that the plural form is unapocopated, which is generally stigmatized in the standard spoken city coine, but really common throughout various rural dialects. I hope you won't pretend that is a usual element of the spoken language too.


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## Rosett

Okkervil said:


> Можно добавить еще Роберта Рождественского, "Баллада о красках".


Есть ещё у Булата Окуджавы в «Пиратской лирической»:

«Когда воротимся мы в Портленд,
Ей богу, я во всем покаюсь,
Да только в Портленд воротиться
Нам не придется никогда.»


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