Aspect

Aspect is a property of a Greek verb which conveys information about the kind of action it is about. Many grammars describe aspect as the main property of Greek verbs, that they are more about telling you what kind of action it is rather than when the action took place.

Some have described aspect as what the action looks like from the point of view of the writer/speaker. Mounce quotes Campbell's analogy, for example, of either viewing a parade from a helicopter (seeing it as a whole event - or perhaps looking at the parade from a still photograph), or landing the helicopter and joining the parade (viewing the parade as an ongoing process).

While not so familiar in English, the concept of aspect is actually present in many European languages. Czech verbs have aspect inherent in them. The verbs typically exist as aspectual pairs and differentiate them by using the terms "process" or "event". One of the pair views the action as an ongoing process (imperfective) and the other views the action as an event. In Spanish, there are the preterite and imperfect tenses.

In English, aspect is not inherent in the verb itself and extra words are used to convey information about the kind of action. Hence, for example:
 * I was studying - conveys the idea that there was an ongoing process of studying going on
 * I studied - conveys the idea that there was an event of studying some time ago.

In Greek, three aspects have been recognised:
 * Imperfective - this views the action as an process. Other associated terms are "progressive", "linear" and "internal" (being inside the parade?)
 * Perfective - views the action as a complete (not necessarily completed) event. Other associated terms are "external", "summary", "event" (all such views would require a helicopter, one supposes)
 * Combinative - a more recent term used e.g. by Mounce and others, to refer to an event which is completed but has ongoing consequences. It has therefore features of the perfective and the imperfective. Other grammars use the terms "stative" or "perfect" for the third aspect.

Among the complexities is that the perfective tense in Greek does not actually carry perfective aspect. It is more combinative. For details see the article on the perfective tense.