perfectiv

Perfectiv, or perfective, is a grammatical aspect used in many languages to mark actions viewed as complete, bounded, or occurring as a single, indivisible event. It contrasts with the imperfective aspect, which marks ongoing, habitual, repeated, or unbounded actions. In a perfective statement the focus is often on the completion or the endpoint of the act rather than its internal progression.

Morphology and formation vary across languages. In many languages, perfective marking is realized through a morphological change to the verb, such as a prefix, a suffix, or a derived stem, or through a periphrastic construction with auxiliary elements. Many Slavic languages have productive perfective/imperfective pairs, for example, by deriving a perfective form from an imperfective base with a derivational affix or prefix. Other languages use aspect markers or particles to indicate perfectivity, including some East Asian languages where a particle signals completion.

Usage and interpretation: Perfective forms are typically employed for punctual, completed actions or when the endpoint of the event is foregrounded in the discourse. They interact with tense, mood, and time expressions, and are often associated with telicity, where the action has a natural endpoint. In languages such as English, there is no dedicated perfective mood; distinctions about completed actions are expressed through verb tenses and aspect combinations like the simple past, present perfect, or periphrastic constructions, rather than a single perfective form.