The Simple Past Tense (Aorist and Imperfect)
Old 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: пасти́ (to fall) -> Sg: Азъ па́схъ, Тꙑ па́се, Онъ па́се. Du: Вѣ па́совѣ, Въі па́ста, Онѣ па́стѣ. Pl: Мꙑ па́сомъ, Вꙑ па́сте, Они́ па́сѫ.
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: Азъ несѣахъ, Тꙑ несѣаше, Онъ несѣаше. Du: Вѣ несѣаховѣ, Въі несѣашета, Онѣ несѣашетѣ. Pl: Мꙑ несѣахомъ, Вꙑ несѣашете, Они́ несѣахѫ.
Examples (Aorist): Вчера́ па́се сьнѣгъ (Yesterday snow fell). Мꙑ видѣхомъ фильмъ (We saw a film).
Examples (Imperfect): Вчера́ рабо́таахъ (masc.) (Yesterday I was working). Вчера́ она́ рабо́тааше (fem.) (Yesterday she was working).