2.1.

1 The Definition of Aspect

Aspect is a property of a verb that expresses how the action/state/event indicated by the
verb takes place over time. In other words, aspect gives us extra information that tells us
whether the verb is ongoing, repeated, completed, or even habitual. Aspect is an inflectional
category-system of verbs that has to do with the internal temporal constituency of an event. It
is a cover term for those properties of a sentence that constitute the temporal structure of the
event denoted by the verb and its arguments. Not all verbs have the same aspectual properties
and so may belong to different aspectual classes. The aspect of a sentence is in many
languages expressed syntactically and/or morpho-phonologically. Aspect is both grammatical
and lexical; it is expressed in predicates, especially in verb inflections and collocations of
verbs. Unlike tense, which is situation-external time, aspect is situation-internal and non-
deictic, as it is not concerned with relating the time of the situation to any other time point.

2.1.2 The Term Of Aspect And Position In a Sentence

a. Terms For Various Aspects
The following aspectual terms are found in the literature. Approximate English equivalents
are:
 Perfective: 'I struck the bell' (an event viewed in its entirety, without reference to its
temporal structure during its occurrence)
 Imperfective: 'I am walking to work' (progressive) or 'I walk to work every day'
(habitual). (an action with ongoing nature: combines the meanings of both the
progressive and the habitual aspects)
 Progressive: 'I am striking the bell' ,or 'I am eating' (action is described as ongoing
and evolving; a subtype of continuous)
 Habitual: 'I used to strike the bell', 'I used to walk home from work', 'I would walk
home from work every day', 'I walk home from work every day' ( a repeated or
customary event and a subtype of imperfective)
 Inceptive: 'I started striking the bell' or 'I started to run' (the beginning of an event or
beginning of a new action: dynamic )
 Cessative: 'I stopped striking the bell' (the end of an event)
 Resultative: 'I have struck the bell' (the result or outcome of an event)
 Durative: 'I have been striking the bell' (the duration of an event)
 Semelfactive: 'I struck the bell once' (a single, punctual event)
  Iterative: 'I struck the bell again and again' (a repeated event)
 Repetitive: 'I struck the bell repeatedly' (a frequent or regular event)
 Distributive: 'I struck each bell' (an event applied to multiple entities)

b. Aspect Position In A Sentence

Aspect is a grammatical category that expresses how an action, event, or state, denoted by a
verb, extends over time. There are two main elements of aspect in the English language:
 Perfective aspect is used in referring to an event conceived as bounded and unitary,
without reference to any flow of time during, for example ("I helped him").
 Imperfective aspect is used for situations conceived as existing continuously or
repetitively as time flows ("I was helping him"; "I used to help people").
Further distinctions can be made, for example, to distinguish states and ongoing actions
(continuous and progressive aspects) from repetitive actions (habitual aspect).
Certain aspectual distinctions express a relation in time between the event and the time of
reference. This is the case with the perfect aspect, which indicates that an event occurred
prior to (but has continuing relevance at) the time of reference: "I have eaten"; "I had eaten";
"I will have eaten".

2.1.3 Kinds Of Aspect

Grammatical aspect is a linguistic category that expresses how an action, event, or state, as
denoted by a verb, extends over time. It is a formal property of a language, distinguished
through overt inflection, derivational affixes, or independent words that serve as
grammatically required markers of those aspects. Aspect is distinguished from tense, which
deals with the time of the action, event, or state .Here are some key points about grammatical
aspect:

a) Perfective aspect: This aspect is used to describe completed actions or events. In

English, the perfective aspect is often marked by the past tense or the present
perfect tense.
b) Imperfective aspect: This aspect is used to describe ongoing or incomplete
actions or events. In English, the imperfective aspect is often marked by the
present tense or the present progressive tense
 c) Progressive aspect: This aspect is used to describe ongoing or continuous actions
or events. In English, the progressive aspect is often marked by the present
participle (-ing).
d) Perfect progressive aspect: This aspect is used to describe ongoing actions or
events that started in the past and continue up to the present. In English, the
perfect progressive aspect is often marked by the present perfect progressive
tense.

Different languages have different ways of expressing aspect, and some languages do not
mark aspect morphologically or through auxiliary verbs. In such cases, aspect can be
conveyed through the use of adverbs or other syntactic construction. There are the also
different types of aspect that describe the nature of the action, event, or state, which are:

 Generic Aspect
- Generic has two types. Generic is the statements about things that we can not
change. For example:
1. Rabbits are rodents.
2. 'Fish swim and birds fly'
3. Two and two make four. (general truths statements about things that we do not
expect to change. They report unbounded situation, or states.)
- Non-Generic is statement about things or situation we can change. a non generic
sentence is one expressing an opposed of regularity. For example:
1. Stella seems happy.
2. I have a stomachache
the sentences are about temporary states, they are bounded
3. Gregory is ALREADY here.
4. The company does NOT YET manufacture silicon
Sentences 3-4 Contain the same information but the aspectual modifiers call attention
to boundaries.

 Specific Aspect
This aspect is used to describe a specific action or event. For example:
1."I swam in the pool yesterday"
2. "the sun rises in the east “
 Durative/Punctual Aspect
The durative aspect is used to describe an action that is ongoing or continuous, while
the punctual aspect is used to describe an action that is completed or instantaneous.
The durative/ punctual aspect can be found in simple form of personal modality, in
the form of présent, futur simple and imparfait. This aspect is characterized by the
absence of time limits, both in the initial and end of an action or state. Without any
indication of time, the verb which is used in the sentence indicates a durative aspect of
an action. For example:
(durative)
1. "I was running for an hour
2. 'I slept for a while'
(punctual)
1. "I ran to the store"
2. 'I slept'
 Telic/Atelic Aspect:
The telic aspect is used to describe an action that has a specific goal or endpoint,
while the atelic aspect is used to describe an action that is ongoing or without a
specific endpoint and activity predicates or does not have an end or goal. For
example:
1. "I finished my homework" (telic)
2. Sandra was writing a letter.
3. "John built a house in a month"
(is telic because it has a natural or intended endpoint, which is the completion of
building the house)
1."I was reading a book" (atelic)
2. Josh was waiting.
3. "John was building a house"
(is atelic because it does not have a specific endpoint)
 Ingressive Aspect:
The ingressive aspect is used to describe the beginning of an action or state.Ingressive
is punctual verb to express the beginning For example:
1."I started to run"
2. Yanti arrives the door ' (beginning of a new action: dynamic)
  Eggressive Aspect
The Eggressive aspect is used to describe an action that is forceful or sudden. For
example:
1. "I slammed the door shut"
2. Chita leaves from the door.
 Prospective Aspect
The prospective aspect is used to describe an action that is anticipated or expected to
happen in the future.For example:
1."I am going to study for my exam"
2. 'He is about to fall', 'I am going to cry"
(a conflation of aspect and tense brings attention to the anticipation of a future
situation)
 Retrospective Aspect
The retrospective aspect is used to describe an action that has already happened in the
past. For example:
"I studied for my exam yesterday"
 Grammatical Expression of Aspect
Aspect is a grammatical category that expresses how an action, event, or state, as denoted by
a verb, extends over time. It is a property of a verb that expresses how the action/state/event
indicated by the verb takes place over time. Aspect gives us extra information that tells us
whether the verb is ongoing, repeated, completed, or even habitual. There are two main
elements of aspect in the English language called the progressive aspect (a.k.a the continuous
aspect) and the perfective aspect. When neither aspect is present in a sentence, it is called the
simple aspect. The combine both the progressive and perfective, the form the perfective
progressive aspect. Aspects are used alongside tense to tell us when and how something is
happening. We combine the 4 aspects with the 3 tenses to create the 12 verb tenses. in
English, there are three main tenses are Past,Present, and Future. Therefore are classify
aspects into four types:
1. The simple aspect
The simple aspect simply states that an action or state of being (i.e. the verb) has
taken/is taking/will take place. It can also express a habitual action. In other words, it
states a fact. It can also express a habitual action. In other words, it states a
 fact.nWhen combine the simple aspect with tense we get the three verb tenses; the
past simple, the present simple, and the future simple. For example:
 The past simple tense e.g. 'James ate a giant peach. James was full'.
 The present simple tense e.g. 'James eats a giant peach. James is full'.
 The future simple tense e.g. 'James will eat a giant peach. James will be full'.
2. The progressive (continuous) aspect
The progressive aspect expresses that the action or state of a verb is ongoing and
uncompleted. When combine the progressive aspect with tense we get three verb
tenses; the past progressive, the present progressive, and the future progressive ( or
the past continuous, the present continuous, and the future continuous). For example:
 The past progressive tense e.g. 'I was swimming in the Great Barrier Reef'.
 The present progressive tense e.g. 'I am swimming in the Great Barrier Reef'.
 The future progressive tense e.g. 'I will be swimming in the Great Barrier Reef'
3. The perfective aspect
The perfective aspect expresses that an action is complete. The action is normally
linked to a specific point in time in the past, present, or future. When combine the
perfect aspect with tense we get the three verb tenses; the past perfect, the present
perfect, and the future perfect.
 The past perfect tense e.g. 'We had watched a whole season of Friends in 3 days'.
 The present perfect tense e.g. 'We have watched a whole season of Friends over
the past 3 days'.
 The future perfect tense e.g. 'We will have watched a season of Friends by
tomorrow'.
4. The perfect progressive (continuous) aspect
The perfect progressive aspect expresses an ongoing (progressive) action or state that
was/is/will be completed at a later point in time (perfect). When combine the perfect
progressive aspect with tense we get the three verb tenses; the past perfect
progressive, the present perfect progressive, and the future perfect progressive.
 The past perfect progressive aspect e.g. 'the dog had been eating chocolate ice
cream'
 The present perfect progressive aspect e.g. 'the dog has been eating chocolate ice
cream'
 The future perfect progressive aspect e.g. 'the dog will/would have been eating
chocolate ice cream'