Grammatical aspect is the grammaticalized expression of the temporal structure of an action or state. Temporal structure roughly relates to duration. Four grammatical aspects exist in the English language: simple aspect, perfect aspect, progressive aspect, and perfect-progressive aspect.
Grammatical Tense
Grammatical Aspect in English describes the four grammatical aspects of the English language.
Tense and Aspect of English Verbs explains the convergence of grammatical tense and grammatical aspect with visuals that illustrate the present and past tenses and simple, perfect, progressive, and perfect-progressive aspects of English verbs.
Grammatical Functions
The Perfect in English Grammar explains the grammatical function of perfect, which is a word that expresses the perfect aspect including the perfect-progressive aspect.
The Progressive in English Grammar explains the grammatical function of progressive, which is a word that expresses the progressive aspect including the perfect-progressive aspect.
Simple Aspect
The Simple Present of English Verbs describes the simple present in the English language, which expresses a discrete action or event in the present or near future.
Third Person Singular Simple Present Verbs explains the formation and pronunciation of the third person singular form of English nouns in the simple present.
The Simple Past of English Verbs describes the simple past tense in the English language, which expresses a discrete, completed, noncontinuous action or event in the past.
Simple Past Tense of Regular English Verbs explains the conjugations of regular verbs into the simple past.
Simple Past Tense of Irregular English Verbs explains the conjugations of irregular verbs into the simple past.
English Irregular Verbs: Simple Past and Past Participles lists the simple past and past participles of the most common irregular English verbs.
The Simple Present Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the simple present passive in the English language, which expresses discrete actions or states in the present or near future while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
The Simple Past Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the simple past passive in the English language, which expresses discrete, completed, noncontinuous actions or events in the past while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
Perfect Aspect
The Present Perfect of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the present perfect in the English language, which expresses and emphasizes a previous action or state that began in the past and continued up to the present and whose consequences have implications for the present.
The Past Perfect of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past perfect in the English language, which expresses and emphasizes a previous action or state that began in the past and continued up to another point in the past and whose consequences have implications for that second point in time.
The Present Perfect Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the present perfect passive in the English language, which expresses and emphasizes previous actions with present implications that began in the past and continued up to the present while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
The Past Perfect Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past perfect passive in the English language, which expresses previous actions or states with additional past implications that began in the past and continued up to another specific point in the past while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
Progressive Aspect
The Present Progressive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the present progressive in the English language, which expresses an incomplete or ongoing action or state that began in the past and continues in the present and into the future.
The Past Progressive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past progressive in the English language, which expresses an incomplete or ongoing action or state that began, continued, and ended in the past but over a longer period of time than the completed actions expressed by the simple past.
The Present Progressive Passive of English Verbs explain the formation and use of the present progressive passive in the English language, which expresses ongoing or incomplete actions or states in the present or near future while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
The Past Progressive Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past progressive passive in the English language, which expresses ongoing or incomplete actions or states in the past while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
Perfect-Progressive Aspect
The Present Perfect-Progressive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the present perfect-progressive in the English language, which expresses and emphasizes the consequences resulting from a previous but incomplete action or state that began in the past and continues into the present but may or may not continue into the future.
The Past Perfect-Progressive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past perfect-progressive in the English language, which expresses and emphasizes the consequences resulting from a previous incomplete or ongoing action or state that began in the past and continues up to a specific time.
The Present Perfect-Progressive Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the present perfect-progressive passive in the English language, which expresses incomplete or ongoing actions or states with present implications that began in the past and that may or may not continue into the future while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
The Past Perfect-Progressive Passive of English Verbs explains the formation and use of the past perfect-progressive passive in the English language, which expresses incomplete or ongoing actions or states that began in the past until a specific point in time while moving an object from an active sentence into the subject position.
