# как поживаешь?



## PorFavorDama

_*Hi everyone, *_

I am studying "_Future tense_" in Russian and I have a few questions about this.
I have learnt two types of making Future Tense in Russian.

1- With the verb "быть". ( _буду, будешь . . ._)
2- And with the prefixes like "_по, про, с, на_" which precede the verbs. (_прочитать, прийти, позвонить_)

Here are the questions,

1- While making future tense forms with the verb быть, do I always have to use the imperfective forms of the verbs?
2- While making future tense forms with the prefixes I showed above, do I have to use the perfective forms of the verbs?

I am just wondering whether there is a rule like this or not. Could you please explain me?

About "_как поживаешь_", I couldn't find such a verb like this in this conjugator but when I translated it by using Google Translate, it turns out like "_How are you?_" But I know that the literal translation is not "_How are you?_". So is this verb referring to the future with the prefix "_по_" and is it used as a perfective verb in this sentence to refer to the future like I mentinoned above or something idiomatic? And lastly, how would you translate this into English?


_*
Thanks in advance!*_


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## Maroseika

Поживать means "to live", so как вы поживаете literally means "how are you living" = "how do you do/how are you tc".
Поживать is Present Imperfective verb. It has Future form like all Imperfective verbs - будешь (буду...) поживать (сложная форма будущего времени).
Just for comparison: Perfective verb пожить has Future form - поживешь (поживу...) (простая форма будущего времени).

Complex Future Tense is always formed from the personal form of быть and Imperfective Infinitive.
Simple Future Tense is formed by the Perfective verb, most of them are prefixed.


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi PFD, you're asking the wrong question. You can't choose a future tense form, then decide whether you want to use the imperfective or perfective verb.  Most of the time, the context will determine whether you need an imperfective or perfective verb, and you then use the appropriate construction (the appropriate form of быть for an imperfective verb, and the future perfective form of whatever perfective verb you're using).

The fact that you might see по or another prefix at the start of the verb doesn't necessarily mean that the verb is perfective. Various prefixes can impart different meanings to verbs, even imperfective ones.

There's no point in trying to look for a literal meaning of поживать, which is imperfective. Как поживаешь? means "how are you?", "how's things with you?", "how are you getting on?", "how's life treating you?", "how's it going?", "how's tricks?" etc.

I'd advise you to follow your grammar book or course, which will introduce different constructions to you gradually in a structured way which will be easier to understand. Don't try and invent your own grammar rules.

[Ed: subsequently deleted incorrect comment about почитать  - thank you, Maroseika, for pointing it out. ]


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## PorFavorDama

Maroseika said:


> Поживать means "to live", so как вы поживаете literally means "how are you living" = "how do you do/how are you tc".
> Поживать is Present Imperfective verb. It has Future form like all Imperfective verbs - будешь (буду...) поживать (сложная форма будущего времени).
> Just for comparison: Perfective verb пожить has Future form - поживешь (поживу...) (простая форма будущего времени).
> 
> Complex Future Tense is always formed from the personal form of быть and Imperfective Infinitive.
> Simple Future Tense is formed by the Perfective verb, most of them are prefixed.



So we can't say that every verb that has one of these prefixes (like "про по or etc.") is a perfective verb right?
Thank you.



Enquiring Mind said:


> Hi PFD, you're asking the wrong question. You can't choose a future tense form, then decide whether you want to use the imperfective or perfective verb.  Most of the time, the context will determine whether you need an imperfective or perfective verb, and you then use the appropriate construction (the appropriate form of быть for an imperfective verb, and the future perfective form of whatever perfective verb you're using).
> 
> The fact that you might see по or another prefix at the start of the verb doesn't necessarily mean that the verb is perfective. Various prefixes can impart different meanings to verbs, even imperfective ones.
> 
> There's no point in trying to look for a literal meaning of поживать, which is imperfective. Как поживаешь? means "how are you?", "how's things with you?", "how are you getting on?", "how's life treating you?", "how's it going?", "how's tricks?" etc.
> 
> I'd advise you to follow your grammar book or course, which will introduce different constructions to you gradually in a structured way which will be easier to understand. Don't try and invent your own grammar rules.
> 
> [Ed: subsequently deleted incorrect comment about почитать  - thank you, Maroseika, for pointing it out. ]



I am already following a Russian grammer book. But it was not enough about this situation because it is not that detailed and for sure I will buy another one after finishing this book. I am just asking to figure it out. Because if you didn't know Russian, I think you would think like I do. Because it seems like that. I mean, most of the verbs which have prefixes like I mentioned above, when I looked them up in a conjugator or in a dictionary, they were mostly perfective and that is the reason. Sometimes, books don't explain everything. 

So, knowing the fact that поживать is a perfective verb made everything clear now I can figure it out more. I mean the meaning makes more sense for me now. 
*The last question*, so we can't use the verb "поживать" alone to form a sentence in future tense right?

Thank you so much both Maroseika and Enquiring Mind for your very informative answers.


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## Maroseika

PorFavorDama said:


> So we can't say that every verb that has one of these prefixes (like "про по or etc.") is a perfective verb right?


Surely not. No way to recognize the Aspect basing on the prefix.



> So, knowing the fact that поживать is a perfective verb made everything clear now I can figure it out more. I mean the meaning makes more sense for me now.
> *The last question*, so we can't use the verb "поживать" alone to form a sentence in future tense right?



Поживать is an Imperfective verb, so its Future form may be only complex: будешь поживать.
Cf.: пожить - поживешь (Perfective).


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## PorFavorDama

Maroseika said:


> Surely not. No way to recognize the Aspect basing on the prefix.
> 
> Поживать is an Imperfective verb, so its Future form may be only complex: будешь поживать.
> Cf.: пожить - поживешь (Perfective).



So sorry, actually I meant to say "perfective" but now it is too complex for me to remind whether perfective or imperfective. 
The idea was that I think we can't form a sentence in a future tense by solely using an imperfective verb, is that right? I mean we should form it by using "быть".


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## Rosett

PorFavorDama said:


> The idea was that I think we can't form a sentence in a future tense by solely using an imperfective verb, is that right? I mean we should form it using by "быть".


You may use it as a rule of thumb.


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## Maroseika

PorFavorDama said:


> The idea was that I think we can't form a sentence in a future tense by solely using an imperfective verb, is that right? I mean we should form it using by "быть".


Yes, you are right. There is only one exception - the verb быть itself: Завтра я буду в Москве (Imperfective).


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## Q-cumber

PorFavorDama said:


> So sorry, actually I meant to say "perfective" but now it is too complex for me to remind whether perfective or imperfective.
> The idea was that I think we can't form a sentence in a future tense by solely using an imperfective verb, is that right? I mean we should form it using by "быть".


There are two forms of the future tense in Russian: Future Simple and Future Complex. The latter is quite similar to English Future Continued and formed by using a future form of the modal verb "быть" + an imperfective verb in the infinitive form. Ты будешь смотреть в окно.
   The former is applicable to perfective verbs only, as they have natural future tense forms.
  Please note that you can use an imperfective infinitive as an answer to a question about the future:
- Что вы будете делать вечером?
- Смотреть фильм.


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## Awwal12

PorFavorDama said:


> The idea was that I think we can't form a sentence in a future tense by solely using an imperfective verb, is that right?


Sure, just because from morphological point of view future forms of perfective verbs directly correspond to present forms of imperfective verbs - cf. fut. побью (perf.) vs. pres. бью (imp.). Perfective verbs, in turn, naturally have no present tense, and around the XVII century we finally created the current convenient system (allowing us to form future tense of imperfective verbs properly) - from the older aspect-tense mess we've got from Old Russian. Still defining the very aspect may be a tricky part, but at least it's plain word-formation, not grammar. The sad part for foreign learners is that thay usually have to learn a whole bunch (seldom 1, usually 2 or more) of related verbs that correspond to one verb ib their own languages. To me it's an adequate price for having just 3 tenses and the possibility to describe complex actions briefly, though.


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## Sobakus

Prefixed imperfective are in their overwhelming majority formed from perfective verbs using the highly productive suffix *ыва/ива* in order to express the meaning of this prefix while keeping the verb imperfective. If you see this suffix with a prefix, you know you're looking at an imperfective verb. Verbs of movement have their own suffixes (mostly *-а-*) or separate forms, however.


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## PorFavorDama

Rosett said:


> You may use it as a rule of thumb.



Thank you!



Maroseika said:


> Yes, you are right. There is only one exception - the verb быть itself: Завтра я буду в Москве (Imperfective).



Thank you too Maroseika. 



Q-cumber said:


> There are two forms of the future tense in Russian: Future Simple and Future Complex. The latter is quite similar to English Future Continued and formed by using a future form of the modal verb "быть" + an imperfective verb in the infinitive form. Ты будешь смотреть в окно.
> The former is applicable to perfective verbs only, as they have natural future tense forms.
> Please note that you can use an imperfective infinitive as an answer to a question about the future:
> - Что вы будете делать вечером?
> - Смотреть фильм.



Thank you so much, that is what I was looking for! You've made everything clear for me with examples. 



Awwal12 said:


> Sure, just because from morphological point of view future forms of perfective verbs directly correspond to present forms of imperfective verbs - cf. fut. побью (perf.) vs. pres. бью (imp.). Perfective verbs, in turn, naturally have no present tense, and around the XVII century we finally created the current convenient system (allowing us to form future tense of imperfective verbs properly) - from the older aspect-tense mess we've got from Old Russian. Still defining the very aspect may be a tricky part, but at least it's plain word-formation, not grammar. The sad part for foreign learners is that thay usually have to learn a whole bunch (seldom 1, usually 2 or more) of related verbs that correspond to one verb ib their own languages. To me it's an adequate price for having just 3 tenses and the possibility to describe complex actions briefly, though.



Oh yes, I have seen that kind of verbs. One of them may be the verb "to go", like "ехать" and "идти" if I am not mistaken ? 
Thank you!



Sobakus said:


> Prefixed imperfective are in their overwhelming majority formed from perfective verbs using the highly productive suffix *ыва/ива* in order to express the meaning of this prefix while keeping the verb imperfective. If you see this suffix with a prefix, you know you're looking at an imperfective verb. Verbs of movement have their own suffixes (mostly *-а-*) or separate forms, however.



Hi Sobakus,
Could you please give me a few examples to let me understand better?  
Thank you.

Edit : 

Oooh I think I have found one while studying Russian 

*записываться - imperfective - to sign up
записаться - perfective - to sign up *


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## Sobakus

PorFavorDama said:


> Hi Sobakus,
> Could you please give me a few examples to let me understand better?
> Thank you.
> 
> Edit :
> 
> Oooh I think I have found one while studying Russian
> 
> *записываться - imperfective - to sign up
> записаться - perfective - to sign up *


That's right, and the topic word as well:
*жить* (impf.)–> *пожи́ть *(pf.) -> *пожива́ть* (impf.) "to live for some time", "to fare" for the impf. one
Contrary to what I said earlier, however, it seems that the same prefix works with some verbs of motion:
*ходи́ть* (impf.)-> *походи́ть* (pf.)-> *поха́живать* (pf.) "to walk around for some time"
but
*бежа́ть *(impf.)-> *убежа́ть *(pf.) -> *убега́ть *(impf.) "to run away", though technically formed from the multidirectional *бе́гать* (impf.)

Basically, the suffix comes in various forms but (nearly?) always contains an *-a-. *Note the gradation of the root vowel: some common roots exhibit this.

Here's a long and tedious but quite thorough explanation of aspectual pairs, including the patterns of forming imperfective verbs from perfective ones: Grammar CutUp


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## PorFavorDama

Sobakus said:


> That's right, and the topic word as well:
> *жить* (impf.)–> *пожи́ть *(pf.) -> *пожива́ть* (impf.) "to live for some time", "to fare" for the impf. one
> Contrary to what I said earlier, however, it seems that the same prefix works with some verbs of motion:
> *ходи́ть* (impf.)-> *походи́ть* (pf.)-> *поха́живать* (pf.) "to walk around for some time"
> but
> *бежа́ть *(impf.)-> *убежа́ть *(pf.) -> *убега́ть *(impf.) "to run away", though technically formed from the multidirectional *бе́гать* (impf.)
> 
> Basically, the suffix comes in various forms but (nearly?) always contains an *-a-. *Note the gradation of the root vowel: some common roots exhibit this.
> 
> Here's a long and tedious but quite thorough explanation of aspectual pairs, including the patterns of forming imperfective verbs from perfective ones: Grammar CutUp



Firstly, thank you so much.
So is that why I can't find "_поживать_" in dictionaries? Even though I find, it still turns out like "to live" not a detailed explanation.
Is there any other good dictionaries that could help me while learning Russian? Because it is really hard to find sources on the internet especially for Russian.

Another thing is, when I look up for the verbs "_походить and пойти_" on this site , I see that both of their imperfective forms are ходить. So does it mean that ходить means both in Russian (to walk around some time and to go) as an imperfective verb but it is seperated in meaning in perfective forms?


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## Maroseika

PorFavorDama said:


> Another thing is, when I look up for the verbs "_походить and пойти_" on this site , I see that both of their imperfective forms are ходить.


I would not recommend you using this resource, it's full of strange simplifications, false analogies with English language and even mistakes. Better use Russian explanatory dictionary, like Gramota.ru, for example.
Imperfective form of пойти is идти (пойти = начать идти).



> So does it mean that ходить means both in Russian (to walk around some time and to go) as an imperfective verb but it is seperated in meaning in perfective forms?


The problem is that it's hard to define what exactly "to go" means In Russian. It can be translated as идти or ходить or something else depending on the context. That is why better checking the meaning in the Russian explanatory dictionary. There you can find almost any word, including поживать, lacking in the Multitran.


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## Q-cumber

Please refer to this topic as well прочитать vs читать


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## PorFavorDama

Maroseika said:


> I would not recommend you using this resource, it's full of strange simplifications, false analogies with English language and even mistakes. Better use Russian explanatory dictionary, like Gramota.ru, for example.
> Imperfective form of пойти is идти (пойти = начать идти).



Actually for now I am not able to fully understand Russian language. I am still lacking, but by using other dictionaries I think I can figure out what's written in that dictionary.  Thanks for suggestions by the way, I didn't even know that web site.



> The problem is that it's hard to define what exactly "to go" means In Russian. It can be translated as идти or ходить or something else depending on the context. That is why better checking the meaning in the Russian explanatory dictionary. There you can find almost any word, including поживать, lacking in the Multitran.



Yes I think, just like the difference between "ходить" and "ехать" if I am not mistaken. 




Q-cumber said:


> Please refer to this topic as well прочитать vs читать



Oh well, another good example thank you, it was really to the point!


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## Sobakus

Sobakus said:


> *пожива́ть* (impf.) "to live for some time", "to fare" for the impf. one
> *поха́живать* (pf.) "to walk around for some time"


I have to correct myself here: the meaning of _по-_ in these verbs (and I think in all imperfective verbs) is not that of duration, but that of iterativeness, i.e. repetition, since an imperfective verb's action is marked for duration any way where context allows. So the meaning isn't quite preserved when you change the aspect.


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## PorFavorDama

Sobakus said:


> I have to correct myself here: the meaning of _по-_ in these verbs (and I think in all imperfective verbs) is not that of duration, but that of iterativeness, i.e. repetition, since an imperfective verb's action is marked for duration any way where context allows. So the meaning isn't quite preserved when you change the aspect.



Before I have written down a note from a web site (but now I don't remember which one it was, I will edit this message if I find it) about usages of these aspects.

*For imperfective verbs* says that : 

•Repeated or habitual actions (in the past, present, future)
•A single action in progress and therefore incomplete. (in the present)
•Actions which do not emphasize the result.

So I think your theory matches with the first condition.


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## lena55313

PorFavorDama said:


> Actually for now I am not able to fully understand Russian language. I am still lacking, but by using other dictionaries I think I can figure out what's written in that dictionary


ПОЖИВАТЬ - это ... значение слова ПОЖИВАТЬ
This is a good russian-russian dictionary. 
It's normally to translate the translation)) I always do this while reading english books. I find the word i don't know and then if i can't catch the explanation too, i translate the definition in google))



PorFavorDama said:


> So is this verb referring to the future with the prefix "_по_" and is it used as a perfective verb in this sentence to refer to the future like I mentinoned above or something idiomatic?


In this case prefix "_по_" is not a mark of future tense. It as it's written above the mark of duration or repetition slightly as in present perfect continious. Ex: I've been reading this book for 3 weeks. 

In this case of using the prefix "_по_" (meaning duration or repetition) i feel some hint of humor. If we speak with self-irony. 
Ex: Что ты делаешь? Да сижу тут...книжки *по*читываю. 
It means i do nothing important just have a rest reading books

The prefix "_по_"  in Как *по*живаете? have (in my view) the same slightly...not ironical but softening effect. As if we speak with somebody who used to be close to us. If we haven't seen him for ages and met  him luckily in the street. This expression is absolutely inappropriate for strangers and unknown people.


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## PorFavorDama

lena55313 said:


> ПОЖИВАТЬ - это ... значение слова ПОЖИВАТЬ
> This is a good russian-russian dictionary.
> It's normally to translate the translation)) I always do this while reading english books. I find the word i don't know and then if i can't catch the explanation too, i translate the definition in google))
> 
> 
> In this case prefix "_по_" is not a mark of future tense. It as it's written above the mark of duration or repetition slightly as in present perfect continious. Ex: I've been reading this book for 3 weeks.
> 
> In this case of using the prefix "_по_" (meaning duration or repetition) i feel some hint of humor. If we speak with self-irony.
> Ex: Что ты делаешь? Да сижу тут...книжки *по*читываю.
> It means i do nothing important just have a rest reading books
> 
> The prefix "_по_"  in Как *по*живаете? have (in my view) the same slightly...not ironical but softening effect. As if we speak with somebody who used to be close to us. If we haven't seen him for ages and met  him luckily in the street. This expression is absolutely inappropriate for strangers and unknown people.



Thank you for the dictionary suggestion and also for the informative explanation.


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