The question of aspect

[Anna Razumnaya]

Dear Frank,

This is an interesting pair, and I think that the way to approach this
question is to notice that the prefix "до-" functions differently in the
two examples. In the first instance the perfective form of the past tense
is derived from the imperfective by adding the prefix "до-", and in the
other, the prefix is simply retained from the verb's indefinite form:

решать (inf.) -- решал (imp.) -- дорешал (p.)

додавать (inf.) -- додавала (imp.) -- додала (p.)

"Дорешал": the perfective here is a bit of a colloquialism or a regional
variant of what in literary Russian would have been simply "решил."
"Дорешал" is formed by analogy with "делал" -- "доделал."

It helps to notice that to attach the same prefix to the perfective "решил"
("дорешил") would be redundant, and this form is in fact ungrammatical.

Best wishes,

Anna R

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