This document discusses the four aspects of verbs in English: simple, progressive, perfect, and perfect progressive. It explains how each aspect is formed and provides examples of verbs used in sentences with each aspect in both the present and past tense. The key aspects are the simple (unmarked), progressive (formed with a form of "to be" and the -ing participle), perfect (formed with a form of "have" and the past participle), and perfect progressive (formed with "have", the past participle of "be", and the -ing participle).

1. Verbs 9: Aspect: An
Important Inflection on Verbs
Materials by Liz Siler

2. Definition
• Aspect is another type of inflection
(change) that adds some extra meaning
to the verb phrase.

3. More on Aspect
• English has four aspects:
– simple,
– progressive,
– perfect, and
– perfect progressive.
• We will now examine how each works.

4. 1: The simple
• The simple aspect is unmarked.
• That means that no primary auxiliaries
are needed to express this aspect.

5. Look for
• The simple aspect is expressed in verb
phrases that include:
– Only a base/simple form: I smoke weed.
– Only an –s form: She smokes weed.
– Only a past tense form: She smoked
weed.
– Only a modal auxiliary and a base/simple
form: In Washington, a person can smoke
weed legally.

6. Present tense simple aspect:
• My family eats a lot of lentils.
• We support the legalization of marijuana.
• The birds in my backyard are grateful for
extra food in the winter season.
• Labradors can make excellent search and
rescue dogs.

7. Past tense simple aspect:
• My Labrador retriever chased a rabbit
yesterday.
• I signed a petition in support of the
legalization of marijuana.
• The birds in my backyard were particularly
noisy this morning.
• Fishermen in Newfoundland would breed
Labradors as assistants for cold-water fishing
vessels.

8. 2. The
progressive/continuous
• The progressive is formed with a form
of the verb TO BE used as an auxiliary
and the lexical verb in the form of the
-ing participle

9. Look for
• The progressive aspect is expressed in
verb phrases that include:
– A present tense form of “be” and an –ing
lexical verb: She is smoking weed.
– A past tense form of “be” and an –ing
lexical verb: He was smoking weed.
– A modal followed by a simple form of “be”
and an –ing lexical verb: They will be
smoking weed.

10. Present tense progressive
aspect:
• My family is eating some lentils.
• Legislators are debating a possible
legalization of marijuana in other states.
• Those birds are chirping loudly!
• My Labrador must be splashing water
everywhere.

11. Past tense progressive
aspect:
• My Labrador retriever was chasing a rabbit
yesterday.
• He was smoking weed at the time of the bust.
• The birds were scattering seed everywhere.
• The dog could be barking at something in the
back yard.

12. 3: 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.

13. Look for
• The perfect aspect is expressed in verb phrases that
include:
• A present tense form of “have” and a lexical verb in
the past participle form: He has smoked weed for
two years.
• A past tense form of “have” and a lexical verb in the
past participle form: He had smoked weed for years
at the time of his imprisonment.
• A modal followed by “have” followed by a lexical verb
in the past participle form. She may have smoked
some weed.

14. Present tense perfect aspect:
• My family has eaten a lot of lentils in the last
few years.
• My husband and I have signed a lot of promarijuana petitions.
• The birds may have flown south for the
winter.
• The Labrador has flunked out of puppy
school.

15. Past tense perfect aspect:
• My Labrador retriever had chased a rabbit
down a hole.
• The police had arrived before his arrest.
• The birds might have gone south for the
winter.
• The dog had gone to puppy school with
several other dogs.

16. 4: 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).

17. Look for
•
•
•
•
The perfect progressive aspect is expressed in verb phrases
that include:
A present tense form of “have” followed by the past participle of
“be” (been) followed by a lexical verb in the –ing form: She has
been smoking weed.
A past tense form of “have” (had) followed by the past participle
of “be” (been) followed by a lexical verb in the –ing form: She
had been smoking weed.
A modal followed by the simple form of “have” (have) followed
by the past participle of “be” (been) followed by a lexical verb in
the –ing form: She should have been smoking weed.

18. Present tense perfect progressive
aspect
• My family has been eating lentils for the last
several nights.
• I have been thinking about what to say for ten
minutes.
• The birds may have been picking at the corn
cob.
• The dog has been sniffing suspiciously at the
front door.

19. Past tense perfect progressive
aspect
• My Labrador retriever had been chasing a
rabbit for two hours.
• She had been trying to quit the stuff.
• The birds might have been playing in the
water.
• The dog had been learning a new command.

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