perfective aspect
- noun
- /pərˈfɛktɪv ˈæspekt/
- Specialized
:
aspecto perfectivo
- The perfective aspect contrasts with the imperfective aspect, which describes ongoing or habitual actions.
Examples
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The perfective aspect indicates a completed action.
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Some languages use prefixes to indicate the perfective aspect in verbs.
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In Russian, the perfective aspect of a verb indicates that the action has been completed.
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In English, the perfective aspect is often marked by the past tense.
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In English, the perfective aspect emphasizes that the action has been completed, as in the sentence 'She has finished her homework.'
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The perfective aspect can be seen in the verb form 'I wrote a letter,' indicating that the writing is complete.
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In many languages, the perfective aspect is used to indicate that an event has occurred in its entirety, such as 'He traveled to Paris last summer.'
Synonyms
3
7.7
A verb tense that shows an action finished before now or before another action
A verb form that shows an action is finished
A verb form that shows an action is finished
A verb form that shows an action is finished
Antonyms
- Specialized
A verb form that shows an action is continuing, repeated, or not finished
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a grammatical aspect expressing completed actions' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'perfective' (indicating completeness) with 'aspect' (a grammatical category of temporal viewpoint). This is a transparent, cross-linguistically common construction (many languages explicitly mark perfective vs. imperfective), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Perfective aspect is like a framed photo of an action: perfective shows the action as a finished whole and aspect is the way we look at that action. That's why it is used for 'completed' or 'finished' actions rather than 'ongoing' ones.