Imperfective

Imperfective is a grammatical aspect that marks an action as ongoing, in progress, habitual, or not completed. It presents the event from a non-terminated perspective, focusing on duration, repetition, or general states rather than a single, bounded whole. It contrasts with the perfective aspect, which views an action as a completed or total event.

Expression and scope vary by language. Imperfective meaning can be encoded morphologically, with auxiliary verbs, or through periphrastic constructions. In English, the progressive tenses (am/is/are + -ing) and the past progressive (was/were + -ing) signal imperfective interpretation. The imperfect can also express habitual past actions: “I used to go” or “I would go.” In other languages, dedicated imperfective forms contrast with perfective ones: Russian distinguishes imperfective past forms like читал (chital, “was reading”) from perfective readings like прочитал (pročital, “read through”). Spanish contrasts imperfecto como “hablaba” with the preterite “habló.” French uses imparfait “lisait” versus passé composé “a lu.”

Functional roles of imperfective include marking background actions, ongoing processes, states, or repeated activities within a larger temporal frame. It is often used to set scene, describe habitual behavior, or indicate non-terminated duration, whereas perfective forms highlight a completed event or a single act. In many languages, the imperfective–perfective opposition is a central feature of the aspect system, shaping how speakers interpret time, duration, and change.