Perfective aspect: Difference between revisions

The '''perfective aspect''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''pfv'''}}), sometimes called the ''” '[[aorist]]ic aspect''',<ref>Bernard Comrie, 1976, ''Aspect'', p 12.</ref> is a [[grammatical aspect]] that describes an action viewed as a simple whole—awhole, i.e., a unit without interior composition. The perfective aspect is distinguished from the [[imperfective aspect]], which presents an event as having internal structure (such as ongoing, continuous, or habitual actions). The term ''perfective'' should be distinguished from ''perfect'' (see [[perfective aspect#Perfective vs. perfect|below]]).

The distinction between perfective and imperfective is more important in some languages than others. In [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] languages, it is central to the verb system. In other languages such as [[German language|German]], the same form such as ''{{lang|de|ich ging''}} ("I went", "I was going") can be used perfectively or imperfectively without grammatical distinction.<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976), p. 8</ref> In other languages such as [[Latin language|Latin]], the distinction between perfective and imperfective is made only in the past tense (e.g., Latin ''{{lang|la|veni''}} "I came" vs. ''{{lang|la|veniebam''}} "I was coming", "I used to come").<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976), p. 71.</ref> However, perfective should not be confused with [[grammatical tense|tense]]—perfective aspect can apply to events in the past, present, or future.

The perfective is often thought of as for events of short duration (e.g., "John killed the wasp"). However, this is not necessarily true—a perfective verb is equally right for a long-lasting event, provided that it is a complete whole,; e.g., ''{{lang|la|Tarquinius Superbus regnavit annos quinque et viginti''}} (Livy) "Tarquin the Proud reigned for 25 years."<ref>Comrie "Aspect" (1976), pp. 16ff.</ref> It simply "presents an occurrence in summary, viewed as a whole from the outside, without regard for the internal make-up of the occurrence."<ref>Fanning,B.M. ''Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek'' at 97. Oxford:Clarendon, 1990.</ref>

The perfective is also sometimes described as referring to a "completed" action, but it would be more accurate to say that it refers to an action or situation that is seen as a complete whole,; e.g., the [[Russian language|Russian]] perfective future ''{{lang|ru|я убью тебя''}} "I shall kill you" refers to an event that has not yet been completed.<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976) p. 18.</ref>

When translating into English from a language that has these aspects, the translator sometimes uses separate English verbs. For example, in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], the imperfective ''{{lang|es|sabía''}} can be translated "I knew" vs. the perfective ''{{lang|es|supe''}} "I found out", ''{{lang|es|podía''}} "I was able to" vs. ''{{lang|es|pude''}} "I succeeded", ''{{lang|es|quería''}} "I wanted to" vs. ''{{lang|es|quise''}} "I tried to", ''{{lang|es|no quería''}} "I did not want to" vs. ''{{lang|es|no quise''}} "I refused". The Polish perfective aspect is translated into English as a simple tense and the imperfective as a continuous; for example the imperfective {{lang|pl|oglądałem}} is translated into "I was watching", while the perfective {{lang|pl|obejrzałem}} is translated into "I watched". Such distinctions are often language-specific.

== Marking ==

* Older [[Germanic languages]]: the aspect prefixes {{lang|ang|ge-}} (in [[Old English]]), {{lang|osx|gi-}} (in [[Old Saxon]] and [[Old High German]]), and {{lang|got|ga-}} (in [[Gothic language|Gothic]]) indicate perfective aspects of verbs.<ref>Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum, "Gothic Online, Lesson 8."</ref>

* [[Thai language|Thai]]: the aspect marker <span {{lang='|th'>|ขึ้น</span>}} {{IPA|/kʰɯ̂n/}}, [[grammaticalization|grammaticalized]] from the word for "ascend," indicates a certain type of underconstrained perfective aspect when it follows a main verb<ref>Koenig, J.-P., & Muansuwan, N. (2000). How to End Without Ever Finishing: Thai Semi-Perfectivity. JOURNAL OF SEMANTICS. 17, 147-184.</ref>

There are some languages, however, such as Modern Greek, wherein which the perfect tense is always perfective.<ref>Comrie, ''Aspect'' (1976), pp. 61ff</ref>