# рекомендовать vs порекомендовать



## JeanA4

Hi everyone,

Russian is so good for my little brain , it helps keep it young and healthy !

I have come across two daily situations in which the verb TO RECOMMEND is used once in the perfective, once in the imperfective when the two conversations are nearly the same. I am nonplussed, I have to say. Will someone explain and tell me whether there is any difference in meaning, and which form I should really use in this kind of situation.

From the book Teach Yourself Russian by DM West, in a clothes shop ( page 192 ):

я вам *рекомендую* сорок второй

From the book Just listen and learn Russian ( Passport Books page 50 ), in a restaurant

что вы *порекомендуете?*

я вы вам *порекомендовала* сочный суп

Many thanks in anticipation

Jean
*
*


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## Vovan

JeanA4 said:


> что вы *порекомендуете?*


"Порекомендуете" is used as the future form of "рекомендуете".
_Что вы рекомендуете? _(в принципе, обычно, всё время, в данный период времени и т.д.) ​_Что вы порекомендуете? (Скажите, пожалуйста!) _(в данной конкретной ситуации, конкретно сейчас и т.д.)​_Я рекомендую взять рыбу в тесте.***_ (сейчас)​_Я порекомендую взять рыбу в тесте, если они еще раз придут._ (потом, в будущем, т.е. когда эти посетители ещё раз придут)​​________
*** The verb "рекомендовать" is strictly a performative verb in this sentence (which is idiomatic, by the way). So please treat it in the same way as you do "declare", for example: there _is _a difference between "I declare/swear..." and "I will declare/swear...").
Performative verb - Wikipedia​Performative - Glottopedia​


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## JeanA4

Well, I got Vadim's crystal clear answer on my telephone before it disappeared. Why on earth was it deleted? It was very helpful to me. I thank him.

Now, I just want to remind you that my Russian is not good enough yet to read explanations in Russian. Thank you Vovan, anyway, for your help.

Jean


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## alex_s

JeanA4 said:


> Well, I got Vadim's crystal clear answer on my telephone before it disappeared. Why on earth was it deleted? It was very helpful to me. I thank him.
> 
> Now, I just want to remind you that my Russian is not good enough yet to read explanations in Russian. Thank you Vovan, anyway, for your help.
> 
> Jean



What Vovan says is that 

   "Порекомендуете" - future tense  - You will recommend/advise me. - What will you recommend/advise me?
   "Rекомендуете" - present tense - You recommend/advise me.  - What do you recommend/advise me?


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## JeanA4

Thanks a lot, Alex.

_*<...> 
Mod.: off-topic part of th post deleted*_


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## Awwal12

The system of "conversations" is essentially the same as PMs.


JeanA4 said:


> I have come across two daily situations in which the verb TO RECOMMEND is used once in the perfective, once in the imperfective when the two conversations are nearly the same.


Present tense imperfective vs. future tense perfective, yes (future tense imperfective is not an option here, while perfective verbs just naturally lack present tense forms).
Basically the future tense of "порекомендовать" is more common in polite questions (~ cf. Eng. "what do you recommend" vs. "what would you recommend"), as long as we speak about the indicative mood (since the conjunctive is also an option, as it is shown in your very example; btw. it's "я *б*ы вам порекомендовала...").


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## Oleg68

Jean, рекомендуете and порекомендуете is the same. There is no difference AT ALL.
Порекомендуете is NOT future tense.
Что вы рекомендуете or порекомендуете = what do you recommend?


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## Awwal12

Oleg68 said:


> Порекомендуете is NOT future tense.


It is. The tense is a morphosyntactical, not a semantic cathegory. Cf. "завтра мы идём в школу", where "идём" is in the present tense and not in the future (even though it describes future events).

Perfective verbs simply lack present tense forms.


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## Oleg68

Awwal12 said:


> It is. The tense is a morphosyntactical, not a semantic cathegory. Cf. "завтра мы идём в школу", where "идём" is in the present tense and not in the future (even though it describes future events).
> 
> Perfective verbs simply lack present tense forms.



I agree. I was wrong. Порекомендуете is future tense .


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## JeanA4

Well, dear friends, this all goes to show that Russian grammar is complex, and I feel reassured to see that even Russian speaking people find it hard to explain. It gives me such a pleasant bit of fresh air in my studies !

I understand that   *По*рекомендуете has a future sense but a present form. After all even in English and in French you say " I'm going home tomorrow/ Je rentre chez moi demain ". Russian is also an Indo-European language, so that is hardly surprising.

I feel that more is coming on that account .... keep bickering but don't kill each other, I like a healthy debate.
Jean


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## Maroseika

JeanA4 said:


> I understand that   *По*рекомендуете has a future sense but a present form.


No, it's a mere future form. In Russian, perfective verbs do not have Present form at all.


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## Awwal12

JeanA4 said:


> I understand that   *По*рекомендуете has a future sense but a present form.


Actually it's the other way around (which is quite easy to point out): "рекомендуете" here is grammatically in the present tense but sematically it's directed to the future (since, obviously, by the moment of your question your companion isn't recommending you anything, and the question is exactly about "what would you recommend to me", not "what do you usually recommend to everybody").
English also uses the present tense for future events a lot, mostly in the same contexts as Russian does, so I doubt it needs elaborate comments here.


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## JeanA4

I have a question then:  

How would you express in Russian the difference between

1. What do you recommend from this menu? ( now, and because I'm hungry )
2. What do you ( usually ) recommend ( for instance, when tourists want to try a local speciality) ?

Jean


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## Oleg68

Я уже сам запутался.

Вы порекомендовали - прошедшее время.
Вы порекомендуете - будущее время.

-- Что вы порекомендуете мне купить?

То есть, "порекомендуете купить сейчас". Ну не в будущем же? По-моему, в этом случае рекомендовать и порекомендовать - это как пить и попить.

"Вы порекомендуете меня тому человеку". Вот это точно будущее время.


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## Maroseika

JeanA4 said:


> How would you express in Russian the difference between
> 
> 1. What do you recommend from this menu? ( now, and because I'm hungry )
> 2. What do you ( usually ) recommend ( for instance, when tourists want to try a local speciality) ?


You can use _рекомендуете _in both cases. _Порекомендуете _can be used in the first case only. The latter seems to me a bit more polite.


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## Maroseika

Oleg68 said:


> Я уже сам запутался.
> 
> Вы порекомендовали - прошедшее время.
> Вы порекомендуете - будущее время.
> 
> -- Что вы порекомендуете мне купить?
> 
> То есть, "порекомендуете купить сейчас". Ну не в будущем же?


"Порекомендуете" означает действие в будущем относительно момента говорения.


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## Awwal12

JeanA4 said:


> I have a question then:
> 
> How would you express in Russian the difference between
> 
> 1. What do you recommend from this menu? ( now, and because I'm hungry )
> 2. What do you ( usually ) recommend ( for instance, when tourists want to try a local speciality) ?
> 
> Jean


1. All the arsenal can be used ("что вы порекомендуете/рекомендуете/порекомендовали бы/рекомендовали бы?"; the difference between the last two is close to non-existent);
2. Only "что вы рекомендуете" is applicable.
The only means to deduce what exactly you mean by "что вы рекомендуете" are a) the context and b) possible specifying words.


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