Definition
Perfective aspect is an aspect that expresses a temporal view of an event or state as a simple whole, apart from the consideration of the internal structure of the time in which it occurs.
Examples
(English)
He walked there.
This type of construction expresses a temporal view of walk distinct from those expressed in the following constructions:
- He was walking there.
- He used to walk there.
Sources 8
- Comrie 1976a, 12, 18–19
- Ducrot and Todorov 1979, 307
- Pei and Gaynor 1954, 164
- Hartmann and Stork 1972, 20
- Bybee 1985, 142
- Elson and Pickett 1988, 28
- Crystal 1985, 224
- Mish 1991, 872