Meanings
- uncountablegrammarA feature of a verb which denotes that its action or condition does not have a fixed temporal boundary, but is habitual, unfinished, continuous, repetitive or in progress.
2012, Zygmunt Frajzyngier, A Grammar of Wandala, Walter De Gruyter (De Gruyter Mouton), page 149, Subject pronouns precede the simple form of the verb and the reduplicated form of the verb in the imperfective aspect.
2 more examples
2007, Almut Hintze, A Zoroastrian Liturgy: The Worship in Seven Chapters (Yasna 35—41), Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 240, If the root meaning is iterative or durative, such as 'to go', the verb belongs to the imperfective aspect and forms a root present.
2012, David Holton, Peter Mackridge, Irene Philippaki-Warburton, Vassilios Spyropoulos (reviser), Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2nd Edition, page 286, The imperfective aspect in Greek presents the action or state expressed by the verb either as a single but continuous event (progressively) or as a repetitive or habitual one.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounaspect without regard to the beginning or completion of the action of the verb
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian несвъ́ршен вид
- несвъ́ршен вид (nesvắršen vid)feature of a verb
Chinese Mandarin 未完成體 /未完成体, 非完成體 /非完成体
- 未完成體 /未完成体 (wèiwánchéngtǐ)feature of a verb
- 非完成體 /非完成体feature of a verb
- 非完整体 (fēiwánchéngtǐ)feature of a verb
Czech nedokonavý vid
- nedokonavý vidfeature of a verb
Finnish imperfektiivinen aspekti
- imperfektiivinen aspektifeature of a verb
French imperfectif
- imperfectiffeature of a verb
German Imperfektum
- Imperfektumfeature of a verb
Greek μη τετελεσμένος
- μη τετελεσμένος (mi tetelesménos)feature of a verb
Hungarian folyamatos/befejezetlen szemlélet/igeszemlélet/aspektus
- folyamatos/befejezetlen szemlélet/igeszemlélet/aspektusfeature of a verb
Italian imperfetto
- imperfettofeature of a verb
Japanese 未完了相
- 未完了相 (mikanryōsō)feature of a verb
Korean 미완료상, 불완료상
- 미완료상 (miwallyosang)feature of a verb
- 불완료상 (burwallyosang)feature of a verb
- 불완료체 (burwallyoche)feature of a verb
Latin imperfectum
- imperfectumfeature of a verb
Polish aspekt niedokonany
- aspekt niedokonanyfeature of a verb
Portuguese imperfectivo
- imperfectivofeature of a verb
Romanian imperfect, aspect imperfect
- imperfectfeature of a verb
- aspect imperfectfeature of a verb
Russian несоверше́нный вид
- несоверше́нный вид (nesoveršénnyj vid)feature of a verb
Slovak nedokonavý vid
- nedokonavý vidfeature of a verb
Spanish imperfecto
- imperfectofeature of a verb
Swedish imperfekt, imperfektum
- imperfektfeature of a verb
- imperfektumfeature of a verb
Tagalog nagaganap
- nagaganapfeature of a verb
Ukrainian недоко́наний вид
- недоко́наний вид (nedokónanyj vyd)feature of a verb
Vietnamese thể chưa hoàn thành
- thể chưa hoàn thànhfeature of a verb
Cite this entry
imperfective aspect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperfective%20aspect
“imperfective aspect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperfective%20aspect. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imperfective aspect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imperfective%20aspect.
Source: imperfective aspect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.