Learn English: Grammatical Aspect
Aspect is often confused for tense; while tense describes the time at which an action occurred, aspect describes the way in which the action occurred despite the time of the action. In English, there are four different aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. Each of these describes the manner in which in action is taking place. As this can be hard to describe, I will demonstrate with an example of each.
In the example below, please do not be confused by the presence of words such as ‘present’, ‘past’, or ‘future’; these are tenses, not aspects, and will be covered in another article. Those tenses are merely referenced for the sake of the example. Examples:
Present Simple: I sing.
The example above uses the ‘simple’ aspect; it describes an action that is occurring presently, though it is a single action and not one that would be considered ongoing; essentially, it is more akin to describing a state of being rather than an action that is actively being taken.Present Progressive: I am singing.
This example uses the ‘progressive’ aspect; it describes an ongoing action. Instead of describing a state of being, such as above, it describes what the subject is actively doing over a period of time. If you are currently taking an action that is not yet over but has already started, this is the correct aspect to use.Present Perfect: I have sung.
This example utilizes the ‘perfect’ aspect; like the first example, this aspect tends to describe a state of being rather than an ongoing action. It is saying equally: “I have sung before”, as well as, “I have just sung.” While the latter seems to fall into the past tense, it does not. Despite the fact that the action has already taken place, it is describing a present state of being. (A past tense version would be the Past Perfect: “I had sung,” which tends to describe a state of being in past rather than present.)Present Perfect Progressive: I have been singing.
The ‘perfect progressive’ aspect describes an ongoing action that has either recently completed or is still occurring. Again, while it seemingly describes an action in the past, it actually describes a present state of being. The subject here is not commenting that he or she has sung in the past, but rather that he or she has recently been singing and so the ongoing action has occurred until recently.
Aspect can be very difficult for native English speakers to grasp because it seems to be so firmly tied to each tense. In reality, aspect affects each of the tenses we use, but it describes only the action, not the time at which it took place. In another article I will explain tense and how it works with aspect to create a full description of scene in the past, present, or future.
For further reading: Grammatical Aspect at Wikipedia.
As always, comments are welcome.
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