5.7. Да кто их просил?

In this module we move on to one more distinct communicative purpose of imperfective statements of fact. No further comment is needed at this point, so proceed immediately to exercise A.

Exercise A

Examine the dialogues, and after each dialogue choose the statement that most accurately characterizes the actions of the speaker. Then answer the question at the end of the exercise.

Now let’s move on to some contrasting perfective usage in exercise B.

Exercise B

Examine the dialogues, and after each dialogue choose the statement that most accurately characterizes the actions of the speaker. Then answer the question at the end of the exercise.

Now you should be ready to try your hand at the final exercise.

Exercise C

Choose the aspect that is most appropriate in the context. Pay attention to whether questions get real answers or not.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully after post-exercise comments for exercises A and B the mechanisms are clear. Imperfective verbs occur in кто-questions when the speaker strongly disapproves of some aspect of the outcome of an action (but its basic result is in place), and they occur in зачем-questions when the speaker is not interested in the actual aim of an action, but is expressing their disapproval, as in dialogues (7) and (9) of exercise C. In many cases the disapproval can refer to the action and the outcome itself, as with dialogue (3) in exercise C (in which the result of the building project is objectionable), but it may be disapproval of an interlocutor’s verbal conduct, as in dialogue (10) in exercise C, in which the wife is annoyed at her husband’s complaining. The pure expression of disapproval also occurs in the кто-question Кто тебя просил? in dialogue (1) of exercise C, which is a rhetorical question for which there is no real answer (except никто).

In кто-questions, a perfective verb signals a real request for information, ordinarily without expressing disapproval, as in dialogue (4) of exercise C. Any disapproval that is contextually present is secondary to the real point of the question, as in dialogue (8) of exercise C, in which the mother wants to know who opened the cage so that person can catch the parrot. In зачем-questions, the perfective likewise signals a real request for information, though disapproval may be contextually present, as in dialogue (5) of exercise C. Note that in this dialogue Dana points out the result of the action to Vitya. That is to say, Dana recognizes a single outcome of the physical act of putting the book on the kitchen table, and that is her sole focus. Similar cases can be seen in the following two dialogues:

Двое разговаривают по телефону:
– Что молчишь?
– Я не знаю, что сказать…
– А зачем позвонил тогда?

Завтра Юлия празднует свой юбилей. К ней придут гости. Она разговаривает со своей сестрой на кухне.
– Ох, тётя Клава опять будет со всеми ругаться… Не гость, а стресс…
– Ну а зачем ты её пригласила? Это же твой праздник.
– Ну а как не пригласить? Мама обидится.

In each of these dialogues the interlocutors find themselves in the ongoing result of the action: in the upper dialogue, the phone call has put the two interlocutors in speaking contact, and in the lower one Aunt Klava has accepted the invitation (see module 5.4) and that is the current state of affairs.

The communication of the speaker’s disapproval in these kinds of questions with imperfective verbs is rooted in the speaker’s inability to see a valid goal for what has been done and to call into question the outcome of the action. So the essential contrast is between a recognition of the goal and the outcome as a valid cause-and-effect, which is signaled by the perfective, whereas the imperfective signals the lack of such recognition.

With regard to communicative purposes, the mention of a past action with the purpose of expressing the speaker’s disapproval of it is one more case of an orthogonal purpose: present disapproval has nothing to do with the original goal of the action in its circumstances. That is to say, the actions were not undertaken to produce current speaker disapproval. An again, the perfective refers to the action with respect to its original goal in the original circumstances.