1. Lesson #6: Aspect

2. What is aspect? Aspect is another type of inflection that adds some extra meaning to the verb phrase. English has four aspects: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. We will now examine how each works.

3. The simple The simple aspect is unmarked. That means that no auxilaries or word endings (suffixes) are needed to express this aspect. Present tense simple aspect: My family eats a lot of lentils. The idea conveyed is that this is a usual or habitual activity. Past tense simple aspect: My Labrador retriever chased a rabbit yesterday. The idea conveyed is the idea that this chasing happened and is now over and done with.

4. The progressive (sometimes called “the continuous” by British people). The progressive is formed with a form of the verb “be” used as an auxiliary and the lexical verb in the form of the -ing participle. Present tense progressive aspect: My family is eating some lentils. The idea conveyed is that this action is happening right now. Past tense progressive aspect: My Labrador retriever was chasing a rabbit yesterday when he ran into the train. The idea conveyed is that the chasing was ongoing when some other activity (the running into the train) interrupted this chasing.

5. The perfect The perfect is formed with a form of the verb “have” used as an auxiliary and the use of the past participle for the lexical verb. Present tense perfect aspect: My family has eaten a lot of lentils since we became vegans. The idea conveyed is that this is an activity that started in the past (at the point we became vegans) and continues as a habitual activity. Past tense perfect aspect : My Labrador retriever had chased a rabbit down a hole before I could stop him. The idea conveyed is that this chasing happened before some other thing in the past (the attempt at stopping him) happened.

6. The perfect progressive The perfect progressive is formed with a form of the verb “have” used as an auxiliary, followed by the past participle of “be” -- been -- (that’s the perfect part), followed by the lexical verb in the -ing participle form (that’s the progressive part). Present tense perfect progressive aspect. Waiter! My family has been eating lentils for the last twenty minutes and we’re ready for the second course now please! The idea conveyed is that the activity started in the past and continues through the present -- right now. Past tense perfect progressive aspect. My Labrador retriever had been chasing a rabbit when suddenly he ran into a porcupine. The idea conveyed is that the activity of chasing started before the second activity running into the porcupine and was interrupted by the second activity.

7. Some Cautionary Notes Remember there are only two tenses in English. Often, however, you will hear English teachers say, “Present Perfect Progressive Tense.” This is wrong. The tense is the present, but the aspect is the progressive. Get in the habit of saying, “Present Tense Perfect Progressive Aspect.”

8. Exercise Watch this video to see how the present tense/progressive (continuous) aspect is often taught. What should the viewer/learner understand about the present tense/progressive aspect from this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdPOnvRwS Zw

9. Exercise This is an online grammar tutorial for ESL/EFL learners of English. The purpose is to contrast the present tense/simple aspect with the present tense/progressive aspect. There are some tricky questions! http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs2.h tm