perfect vs not perfect - aspect in english

Question

simple vs continuous is referred to as aspect, yes?

then how about perfect vs non-perfect [? is there a better name?], as in I watched vs I had watched? what is it - aspect, too? I need a class distinct from the simple/cont.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

iasadihsimple vs continuous is referred to as aspect, yes?

Yes.

iasadihhow about perfect vs non-perfect

Same. That's also aspect, but a different kind.
_______________________

English verbs can be

Active or passive (in voice)
Non-Continuous or Continuous (in aspect)
Non-Perfect or Perfect (in aspect)
Non-Past or Past (in tense)

Given these combinations, there are 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 (16) possibilities for verb phrases.

I watched is Active, Non-Continuous, Non-Perfect, and Past.
I had watched is Active, Non-continuous, Perfect, and Past.
It has been being watched is Passive, Continuous, Perfect, and Non-Past

And so on. The designator "simple" is used by some authors when referring to a one-word verb phrase: Simple present, Simple past.

CJ

Do not confuse 'perfect aspect' in English with 'perfective aspect' in Slavic languages. These are conceptually different.

Iasadih · Answer

thank you. I wonder what future tense is referred to in order to differentiate it from present (from what you are saying, both are non-past, after all), and why such distunction <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/5.gif' alt='Emotion: wink'/>

CalifJim · Answer

The tenses I wrote about earlier are all non-modal tenses.

The future tense in English is formed as a modal tense. It requires the modal verb 'will', an auxiliary verb. There is no particular form of the original verb that serves as a future tense in the same way that 'took' is the past of 'take', for example. (Some languages do have a special form for the future, but English does not.)

All modal tenses are formed the same way.

will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must + base form ("modal tenses")
will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must + have + past participle ("modal perfect tenses")

So the future is only one special case of many possibilities for modal tenses. It makes more sense to classify it with the modal tenses than with the non-modal tenses.

CJ

Iasadih · Answer

So there is no name better than non-perfect?

Just to be sure, because non-continuous has a dedicated name, after all.

Similarly, "non-modal" sounds like a daughter of modal - derivative, or something.

CalifJim · Answer

iasadihSo there is no name better than non-perfect?

Different authors give different names to the tenses. I just pulled together some names that I felt were descriptive enough for the purposes of my explanation. You might have to research this to find a name, if there is any, that most grammarians prefer when designating all tenses other than the perfect tenses. I have never heard any special term for these, which is why I just called them "non-perfect" in my posts above.

The same applies to "non-modal". This, too, is just an ad hoc description.

I don't think anyone really bothers to give names to some of these groups. We usually don't have a reason to talk about all tenses that do not have a certain property as much as about tenses that do have a certain property. It's like colors. We have no word, and we don't need one, for "all colors that are not red" or "all colors that are not blue".

CJ

Iasadih · Answer

Thank you for your help. I actually did not know that aspect could be fourfold. This meand that I probably avoiding naming those classes at all. By the way, what is Aspect? Is it correct to refer to is as a class?

Your explanation about the lack of a dedicated name being non-issue, I comprehend. However, once we give something a name, it may prove useful - that's probably the sole reason we do so. Besides, black is considered to be an absence of colour, silence - absence of sound, and nothingness - absence of anything, and they still get their own names.
finally, naming things is what likens us to ***(s)

Jokes aside, as a matter of fact, the present thread was meant to pose this question in hope of getting those dedicated name, if they exist.

If you believe there might be some better place on the net to ask this question, or a more precise way, pls let me know.

To those who have started reading from here, the question is:

what are alternative names for

non-modal (verbs)
and
non-perfect (aspect)

something like "simple" for "non-continuous"

i

Fivejedjon · Answer

iasadihJust to be sure, because non-continuous has a dedicated name, after all.

Not really. The word 'simple' should, ideally mean non-progressive/continuous -perfect [+ non-modal].

CalifJim · Answer

iasadihwhat is Aspect?

Aspect concerns anything about the conceptualization of the meaning of the verb other than the part that places it in time (which is tense). That's why you can have different verb forms all of which conceptualize an action in the past (tense), but each of which conceptualizes the action in a different way, e.g., on-going activity or finished event (was going vs went).

CJ

Grammarfreak · Answer

iasadihwhat are alternative names for
non-modal (verbs)
and
non-perfect (aspect)

Here is my two cents...
I think CJ's explanation is about as clear and simple as can be. I like his analogy about colors, which is quite true. For instance, if we have to describe certain shade of green, we can only use our imagination to come up with a name that may closely describe the color in you mind and hopefully your audiance may have the same imaginative perception. For example: I like the sofa in mango-yellow. Unfortunately, English is a little more abstract and we don't necessarily have name for every possible senario. So I would not attempt to split hair here. Non-modal verb and Non- perfect are not grammatical terms familiar to me. Actually, I don't think there is such thing.

When we started learning grammar, we were taught in grade school the basic forms of verbs and the three basic tenses ( past, present, and future) which we use to narrate or to describe events already happened (past), or something habitual ( present) and events that not yet happen but likely to beyond the present time (in the future). But these three basic tenses alone are not completely adequate in terms of creating an aspect relative to the happening (event). And so we use Perfect tenses and progressive tenses. Sometimes, we tend to complicate ourselves by making things more difficult. I hope this helps.

Tense and Aspect @ The Internet Grammar of English - UCL
www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/tense.htm?

ASPECT refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time, rather than to its actual ... We can illustrate this using the following examples: ...

Iasadih · Answer

Okay, now that we know clearly that there is no chance of our ancestors having given those things proper names and how the colour palette resembles grammar terminology, let's brainstorm

Please let me start

I wonder, what is specific of non-perfect, semantically, so to speak. Perfect means linking a particular moment with time that preceeds.

It is like driving while looking in the rear mirror.

Or the dust has not settled.

How could these ideas be blended?

PS. on this website, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/tense.htm, isn't the word perfective wrongly used? I think it is wikipedia which states that "perfective" is a different beast, taken from Slavic languages.

perfect vs not perfect - aspect in english

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions