perfect tense

[Sentinel76 Astrakhan]

It doesn't quite work like that.  Basically the sentence sounds incomplete.  You have to explain WHY you became tired:
Я вчера засиделся на работе и немного устал.
Also, for some reason, I don't remember ever hearing the word "устал" by itself.  It usually comes with an adverb:  "сильно", "немного", etc. or as part of a complex clause:
Караул устал и ушел с поста.
If used by itself, it's in the present tense:
Я устал!
Something like that.
Vadim
> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:31:15 -0400
> From: paulbg at PBG-TRANSLATIONS.COM
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] perfect tense
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> 
> Sentinel76 Astrakhan wrote:
> 
> > To me "вчера вечером я устал" sounds completely unnatural. The
> > proper way is "Вчера вечером я был усталым" or, colloquially, "вчера
> > вечером я был усталый".
> 
> I took the past perfective to denote a change in state (from fresh to 
> tired): "I became tired." This transition was complete at the stated 
> time. No?
> 
> The options you offer clearly denote an ongoing (imperfective) state of 
> affairs, not the same thing.
> 
> -- 
> War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
> --
> Paul B. Gallagher
> pbg translations, inc.
> "Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
> http://pbg-translations.com
> 
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