Tense, Aspect and Situation Type

1 Definitions
Tense: the grammatical system which ‘locates’ a situation in time
(past/present/future).
Aspect: a grammatical system which gives information about the
temporal structure of a situation or the speaker’s view of this:
(1) He was drowing (but somebody saved him). [tense: past; aspect:
progressive]
(2) He drowned (*but somebody saved him). [tense: past; aspect: non-
progressive]
Situation type (otherwise known as Aktionsart[ak′tzionza:t] or lexical
aspect) is similar to aspect, in the sense defined above, except that
situation type describes the inherent internal temporal structure of a
situation which arises from its meaning. Speakers can choose a
particular aspect, but cannot choose a situation type because the verb
and its arguments determine this:
(3) I hit the sofa [instantaneous] vs. I beat the sofa [lasts longer, because
several hits are involved]

2 Situation types
2.1 Two criteria for classifying situation types
2.1.1 Telicity
A situation is telic if it has a natural completion or endpoint arising from
the meaning of the VP. If not, it is atelic.
(4) The plane flew to London. [Telic: the event stops when the plane
reaches London]
(5) The plane flew. [Atelic: no goal mentioned, so no obvious endpoint]
(6) She ate a bag of chips. [Telic: eating stops when bag is empty]
(7) She ate (chips/plates of chips). [Atelic, since there is no specific
amount of chips, the consumption of which would mean the end of the
eating event.]
The tense/aspect marking is disregarded when deciding whether a
situation is telic or not. (7) is atelic although the eating has finished.
Test for telicity: The time taken by telic situations can be measured by
PPs of the type in ten minutes. The time taken by atelic situations is
measured by PPs of the type for ten minutes.
(8) He painted a picture {in/*for} three hours vs. He painted {for/*in}
three hours.
(9) He ran to the bus stop {in/*for} three minutes vs. He ran {for/*in}
three minutes.

2.1.2 Durativity vs. Punctuality

A VP is durative if it is perceived as lasting for a period of time,
therefore having an internal temporal structure; it is punctual if
perceived as instantaneous, not having any internal temporal structure.
(10) Punctual: explode, flash, hit the wall, win the game, reach the
summit, discover the answer, recognize someone, etc.
(11) Durative: paint (a picture), swim, work, read a book, travel, etc.
Language is sensitive to perception rather than physical reality.
Explosions, coughs take a certain amount of time, but we don’t perceive
them as doing so. Hence they are punctual.
Observation
The tests using in X time and for X time are only valid when the period
named in the PP measures the duration of the event named by the verb.
Sometimes the sentences can be acceptable for reasons irrelevant to
telicity, e.g. because for X time measures the duration of a situation after
the event (cf. (i) below) or because in X time measures the time between
some contextually determined time point and the start of the situation
named by the verb (cf. (ii)).
(i) a. I opened the window for 10 minutes. [window stays open for 10
mins after opening event]
b. Basil went to Paris for 10 days. [Basil stays in Paris for 10 days after
going there]
(ii) a. The can exploded in 2 minutes. [explosion happens two mins after
I put it in the fire]
b. ?I worked in 3 days. [working starts 3 days e.g. after an accident]

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c. ?The cheese stank in 3 day. [stinking begins 3 days after I took it out
of the fridge]

Test for durativity: PPs of the types for ten minutes are compatible
with durative VPs (provided they are atelic, see above). By contrast,
these PPs turn punctual VPs into durative ones, forcing them to have an
iterative/repetitive interpretation.
(12) the light flashed [punctual, a single flash]
(13) the light flashed until dawn [durative, many flashes/iterative]
(14) he banged his fist on the table [punctual]
(15) he banged his fist on the table for 20 seconds [durative, a repeated
action/ iterative]

2.2 Four situation types

There is an important fourfold classification of situation types (often
called the Vendler classes or the Vendler/Dowty classes, cf. Vendler
1964, Dowty 1979).

2.2.1 States
States are situations which are static (unchanging) throughout their
duration.
(16) he hates beer, she knows the answer, she owns/has a car, the cheese
stinks, the dog belongs to me, he believes it, she is intelligent, Martians
exist, marriage involves commitment, etc.
Since states don't involve change, state sentences are true of any
minimal point in time during the duration of a state. By contrast, a
sentence like he walked is not a state, since at a single point in time
during the period where a person is walking, the person will be in a
particular position which is only part of what is involved in walking.

A situation that is not a state is called an event.

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2.2.2 Activities (sometimes called ‘processes’)
Activities are durative and atelic. They typically involve an agent.
Unlike states, they are dynamic, i.e. some sort of change is involved.
(17) work, eat icecream, play the piano, grow, push a cart, etc.
2.2.3 Achievements
Achievements are punctual and telic.
(18) explode, flash, spot a tiger, hit the wall, win the game, reach the
goal, discover the answer, find the key, etc.
2.2.4 Accomplishments
Accomplishments are durative and telic. They consist of an activity with
an achievement at the end of it.
(19) burn down, hammer the metal flat, paint a picture, deliver a
sermon, recover from a sickness, etc.

2.3 Some tests used in distinguishing situation types

Here are some tests (from Dowty 1979:55) which distinguish between
the above classes.
1. Mostly, states are incompatible with the progressive aspect and
require the simple present.
(20) he stinks vs. *he is stinking; *she is knowing it, *it is being hot,
*the box is containing newspapers, *he is owning a car
The simple present is used with events indicates habituality.
2. Accomplishments modified by almost show an ambiguity: we do not
know if almost refers to the whole event or just completion of the event.
This is because accomplishments consist of two parts, an activity and an
achievement; almost can refer to either either part.
(21) He almost went to London (an accomplishment) has the following
two readings:
(a) He almost started a journey to London.
(b) He started a journey to London and almost arrived.
(22) He almost arrived/worked/knew the answer [no ambiguity]
3. Activities with the progressive aspect entail that the activity has
already been performed. This does not apply to achievements and
accomplishments.
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(23) Ethel is singing [activity] entails that Ethel has sung.
(24) John is reaching the summit [achievement] doesn’t entail that John
has reached the summit.
(25) Jane is reading a book [accomplishment] doesn’t entail that Jane
has read a book.
4. Achievements and accomplishments, being telic, allow time PP's with
in which indicate when the event ends. Being atelic, states and activities
are compatible with time PP's with for.
(26) I wrote the letter in/*for 2 hours [accomplishment]
(27) The bomb exploded in/*for 2 minutes [achievement; for is bad if
bomb explodes only once]
(28) The cheese stank for/?in 3 days [state]
(29) I worked for/??in 10 minutes [activity]
5. Dowty (1979:55) gives a series of tests distinguishing states from
activities and accomplishments which are grouped together here for
reasons given below.
a. States can’t be complements of force or persuade activities, whereas
accomplishments can:
(30) *I forced him to know the answer vs. I forced him to work
b. States can’t form an imperative:
(31) *Know the answer! vs. Work!
c. States can’t occur with adverbs like deliberately, carefully:
(32) *I knew the answer carefully. vs. I worked carefully.
d. States disallow the pseudocleft construction (what I did was (to)…):
(33) *What I did was (to) know the answer. vs. What I did was (to) work.
Comment: these don’t directly test the temporal properties of situations,
but volitionality (i.e. whether the situation requires a decision by a
thinking being).
2.4 The influence of verbal arguments and modifiers on telicity
Situation type is a property of verb phrases (or sentences) rather than
just verbs. There are various ways that items other than verbs can
influence telicity:
NP's can be cumulative (unbounded) or quantised (bounded). NP's
with no article (indefinite mass nouns, indefinite plurals: water, apples)
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are cumulative in that part of what can be called apples is apples. This is
not true of bounded expressions like the water, an apple, seven apples.
This distinction can affect telicity (mostly relevant is a patient/theme
argument, a direct object or subject which undergoes change of state):
34) I ate the apples {in/*for} an hour vs. I ate apples {for/*in} an hour
(35) I read a book in/?for a day vs. I read literature for/*in a day
(36) The fruit ripened in/*for 3 days vs. Fruit ripened for/*in 3 days
Telicity with path expressions requires a path which states that a goal is
reached, or an indication of the distance travelled:
(37) I ran in/*for an hour
(38) I ran to the station in/*for an hour
(39) I ran towards the station for/*in an hour
(40) I ran two miles in an hour