Aspect Examples

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Aspect

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Aspect - Glossary of Terms

Aspect

The aspect of a verb is determined by whether the action is on-going or completed. Although all verbs in the past have already happened, aspect is used to emphasise whether the action was on-going or completed at the time. The four aspects are: simple aspect (also known as the indefinite aspect), perfect aspect (or complete aspect), progressive aspect (or continuing aspect) and perfect progressive aspect.

Examples:

He took the photos.
(simple aspect - no emphasis of completed or on-going action)

He had taken the photos by the time the owner arrived.
(perfect aspect - action completed)

He was taking the photos when the owner arrived.
(progressive aspect - action on-going)

He had been taking the photos before the owner arrived.
(perfect progressive aspect - action on-going but then finished)

These are all in the past tense, but aspect applies equally to the present and future tenses:

The Simple Aspect (Indefinite Aspect)	Example
simple past tense	I went
simple present tense	I go
simple future tense	I will go

The Perfect Aspect (Completed Aspect)	Example
past perfect tense	I had gone
present perfect tense	I have gone
future perfect tense	I will have gone

The Progressive Aspect (Continuing Aspect)	Example
past progressive tense	I was going
present progressive tense	I am going
future progressive tense	I will be going

The Perfect Progressive Aspect	Example
past perfect progressive tense	I had been going
present perfect progressive tense	I have been going
future perfect progressive tense	I will have been going

Associated pages:

Glossary of grammatical terms