The Simple Past Tense (Aorist and Imperfect)
Church Slavonic has several past tenses, including the Aorist and the Imperfect. These describe completed actions (Aorist) or ongoing/repeated actions (Imperfect) in the past.
Aorist: Formed by adding specific endings directly to the verb stem. Endings vary based on verb class and person/number (singular, dual, plural).
- Example: па́сти (to fall) -> Sg: А́зъ па́схъ, Тꙑ̀ па́се, То́й па́се. Du: Вѣ̀ па́совѣ, Въі па́ста, О́нѣ па́стѣ. Pl: Мꙑ̀ па́сомъ, Вꙑ̀ па́сте, О́ни па́сꙋ.
Imperfect: Formed by adding specific endings to the verb stem, often including -ѣа- or -аа-. Endings vary based on verb class and person/number.
- Example: несѣахъ (I was carrying) -> Sg: А́зъ несѣахъ, Тꙑ̀ несѣаше, То́й несѣаше. Du: Вѣ̀ несѣаховѣ, Въі несѣашета, О́нѣ несѣашетѣ. Pl: Мꙑ̀ несѣахомъ, Вꙑ̀ несѣашете, О́ни несѣахꙋ.
Examples (Aorist): Вчера́ па́се снѣ́гъ (Yesterday snow fell). Мꙑ̀ ви́дѣхомъ фі́льмъ (We saw a film).
Examples (Imperfect): Вчера́ я҆̀ рабо́таахъ (masc.) (Yesterday I was working). Вчера́ та̀ рабо́тааше (fem.) (Yesterday she was working).