Categories related to the verb:
aspects and aspectual verb types
1 Aspect
The category of aspect has to be grouped together with those linguistic means
indicating the focus of the speaker’s interest in the sentence. There may be cases in
communication where the process/state described in the sentence is of special interest of the
speaker. He may want to draw attention to it, bringing into prominence its actual
progress/continuation in time, its temporariness or its incompletion. There will be other cases
in communication where it is sufficient to present the process/state as a mere occurrence or
fact. This is the case if the process/state is not in the focus of the speaker’s attention, his
interest Cambridgentring on other parts of the sentence. (Giering et al. 1984:165-6)
A basic aspectual distinction is that of perfectivity vs imperfectivitiy:
(1) Perfective: the situation/event is presented as a complete whole, as if viewed
externally/objectively, with sharp boundaries. (Note that perfectivity is not the
perfect aspect.)
(2) Imperfective: the situation/event is presented as an internal stage, without
boundaries and is conceptualised as ongoing and incomplete; the beginning
and end are not included in this viewpoint – we see only the internal part.
(Downing and Locke 2006:370)
Aspect is a grammatical category representing distinctions in the temporal structure
of an event. Quite independently of its location in time, an event may be viewed as having any
of a number of different temporal organisations: it may be seen as having internal structure or
as consisting of an unanalysable, unitary whole; it may be seen as extending over a period of
time or as (if) occurring in a single moment; it may be seen as a single occurrence or as a
series of repeated occurrences; it may be seen as beginning, continuing or ending. All these
and others are types of aspect (Trask 1999a:23). Aspect may be lexicalised or
grammaticalised.
English has two sets of grammatical aspectual contrasts: non-perfect/perfect and nonprogressive/progressive (non-continuous/continuous).
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Table 1
Grammaticalised aspects in English
common/non-progressive
aspect
progressive/continuous
aspect
common/non-perfect
aspect
simple
tenses
continuous
tenses
perfect
aspect
perfect
tenses
perfect
continuous
tenses
Table 2
Tenses and aspects
A s p e c t s
T e n s e s
Simple
(− continuous)
(− perfect)
Continuous Perfect
(− perfect)
(− continuous)
Perfect
Continuous
Past
Present
Future
Futurein-thePast
Although both aspect and tense are concerned with time, they are concerned with time
in very different ways. Tense is a deictic category, i.e. locates situations in time usually with
reference to the present moment (primary reference point) though also with reference to other
situations. Aspect is concerned with either the internal temporal constituency of the one
situation or a secondary reference point. (Comrie 1993:5)
Compared to many other languages, English has a rather modest aspectual system but
aspect is still important in English.
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2 Aspect and aspectual verb types (lexicalised aspects)
2.1 The sentences She smoked and She smokes illustrate perfective aspect (the event
is viewed as an unanalysable whole) (Trask 1999a:23). Perfective is an aspectual
category involving a lack of explicit reference to the internal temporal consisitency of
a situation and contrasting principally with the imperfective (Trask 1999b:204
2.1.1 Some languages display further aspectual forms, such as the punctual
aspect (the event is viewed as occurring in a single moment). English has no
special form for this but compare Basque, which distinguishes Agertu zen ‘She
appeared’ (for a moment) from Agertzen zen ‘She appeared’ (over a period of
time) (Trask 1999a:24). In Hungarian there are several derivative suffixes
which serve to mark verbs of punctual aspect such as zörren ‘make/give a short
clattering sound’ (cf. zörög ‘rattle, rustle’, iterative or durative aspect) (Comrie
1993:43). The punctual aspect is a subdivision of the perfective. (Trask
1999b:224)
Verbs expressing the punctual aspect so the plain form is appropriate
are as follows: cough, reach, stand up (Comrie 1993:42-3) hit, jump,
eat, kick, stab, strike, throw etc.
(The continuous aspect is employed only when point-events are
repeated, The child was throwing its toys on the floor and then picking
them up again.)
2.2 Imperfective aspect (the action is viewed as having some kind of internal
structure). (Trask 1999a:23)
2.2.1 She was smoking shows continuous (or progressive) aspect (the event is
viewed as extending over time) (Trask 1999a:23). The progressive aspect is
expressed by the temporal auxiliary be i. e. by continuous tenses (Trask
1999b:21).
●These flats are being built so fast that they are changing the profile of the
district almost hourly. (progress)
●At present I am earning ₤4 a week. (temporariness)
●When I saw him, he was running away. (incompletion) (Giering et al.
1984:166) Cf. I saw him run/running away. I saw him cross/crossing the road.
Certain semantic groups of verbs usually take the plain form (V, V-s, V-ed)
because they almost always denote inherent or permanent proterties of, or
relations between, individuals (Giering et al. 1984:169). These are
− verbs of relation: apply to, belong to, concern, consist of, contain, cost,
depend on, deserve, equal, fit, have, include, involve, lack, matter, need,
owe, own, possess, require, seem, suffice etc.,
− verbs of mental perception: hear, see, smell, taste, feel etc.,
− verbs of mental states and emotional attitudes: adore, astonish, believe,
desire, dislike, doubt, forgive, guess, hate, intend, know, like, love,
mean, mind, please, prefer, realise, recognise, regard, remember,
suppose, think, understand, want, wish etc.
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2.2.2 The sentences She used to smoke and She smokes exhibit habitual aspect
(the event is viewed as a customary or habitual one). The semi-auxiliary verb
expressing habitual aspect is used to (Trask 1999a:23, 24).
2.2.3 She kept smoking illustrates iterative aspect (the action is viewed as a
series of repeated events) (Trask 1999a:23). Verbs expressing iterative aspect
are keep, keep on (Trask 2000:16).
The verbs that typically signify punctual concepts, describing momentary acts,
are interpreted as repeated acts, not as single acts in continuous tenses: He's
kicking the box, She's coughing.
2.2.4 The durative aspect expresses an action or state which is perceived as
lasting for a certain length of time. The durative aspect is a subdivision of
imperfective aspect, and it appears that few languages have distinct form for
representing durative aspect explicitly. In English it is most usually expressed
by the simple past or present forms as in I waited for an hour (Trask
1999b:87).
2.3 She started smoking exhibits inchoative1 aspect (the event is viewed as just
beginning) (Trask 1999a:23). Verbs expressing inchoative aspect are start, begin
(Trask 2000:16).
2.4 She quit smoking exhibits conclusive aspect (the event is viewed as drawing to
close) (Trask 1999a:23). Verbs expressing conclusive aspect are stop, quit, finish
(Trask 2000:16).
2.5 Note: English has a distinctive form, the perfect form, which has several
functions but most typically expresses a state resulting from an earlier event. For
example, the perfect form She had finished the wine most obviously means ‘There
was no wine then because she drank the last of it earlier’. (Trask 1999a:24)
Aspect must be carefully distinguished from tense, even though the formal expression
of the two categories is often deeply intertwined in languages.
1
inchoative /ɪnˈkəʊətɪv/ = inceptive = ingressive Gram. (of a derived verb, or of an aspect in verb inflection) expressing the beginning
of the action indicated by the underlying verb
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Figure 1
Main situation types (Downing and Locke 2006:371)
States Jane is their eldest daughter.
Unbounded (atelic)
(minus end-point)
(Activities)
We walked slowly along.
He swam in the pool.
Situations
(events)
Processes
(dynamic,
durative)
Bounded (telic)
(plus end-point)
(Accomplishments)
We walked home.
He swam 70 lengths in an hour.
The sun went down.
Occurrences
Punctual occurrences The cable snapped.
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Table 3
Correlation between aspects and verb forms/types (lexicalised aspects)
Perfective
Aspect
Punctual
Aspect
Grammaticalised
expression of aspect
Simple Present and
Simple Past
Simple Past Tense
Continuous (Progressive) Aspect
Imperfective Aspect
A s p e c t s
Continuous Tenses
Habitual
(Consuetudinal)
Aspect
Iterative
(Frequentative)
Aspect
Durative
Aspect
Simple Present Tense
Verbs signifying
punctual concepts are
used in continuous tenses
Simple Past and Present
Tenses
Inchoative
(Inceptive/Ingressive)
Aspect
Conclusive (Egressive)
Aspect
Perfect
Aspect
Perfect Tenses
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Lexicalised expression of
aspect
Verbs with a meaning
incorporating
punctualness: explode,
cough, reach, stand up, hit,
jump, eat, kick, sneeze,
stab, strike, throw etc.
Verbs of relation: apply to,
belong to, concern, consist
of, contain, cost, depend
on, deserve, equal, fit,
have, include, involve,
lack, matter, need, owe,
own, possess, require,
seem, suffice etc.
Verbs of mental
perception: hear, see,
smell, taste, feel etc.
Verbs of mental states and
emotional attitudes: adore,
astonish, believe, desire,
dislike, doubt, forgive,
guess, hate, intend, know,
like, love, mean, mind,
please, prefer, realise,
recognise, regard,
remember, suppose, think,
understand, want, wish etc.
Modal auxiliary used to
referring to past time
With the help of verbs
keep and keep on
Use of adverbs about and
around: walk around, play
about
Verbs expressing
inchoative aspect are start,
begin
Verbs expressing
conclusive aspect are stop,
quit, finish
Bibliography
Comrie 1993
Comrie, Bernard. Aspect : an introduction to the study of verbal aspect and related problems. Reprinted 1993, ©1976.
ix, 142 p. : ill. ; 22.7 cm (Cambridge textbooks in linguistics) ISBN 0-521-29045-7
Downing and Locke 2006
Downing, Angela and Locke, Philip. English grammar : a university course. 2nd ed. London ; New York : Routledge,
2006. 610 p. ; 24.6 cm ISBN 0-415-28787-7 ISBN 978-0-415-28787-6
Giering et al 1984
Giering, Dieter et al. English grammar : a university handbook. 4., unveränderte Auflage. VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie,
1984. 406 S. : ill. ; 24,6 cm ISBN --Trask 1999a
Trask, R. L. Key concepts in language and linguistics. Reprinted. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999. xviii, 178 p. ;
19.8 cm (Key concepts, ISSN ---) ISBN 0-415-15742-0
Trask 1999b
Trask, R. L. A dictionary of grammatical terms and linguistics. Reprinted. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999. xv,
335 p. : ill. ; 21.7 cm ISBN 0-435-08628-0
Trask 2000
Trask, R. L. The Penguin dictionary of English grammar. Harmondsworth : Penguin Books, 2000. 148, [1] p. ; 19.6 cm
ISBN 0-14-051464-3
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