What is progressive aspect?

Definition
	Progressive aspect is a continuous aspect that expresses processes, not states.

Example (English)

The be + -ing construction indicates progressive aspect. Its characteristic of expressing processes rather than states can be seen in the following examples:

Fred is silly.

Fred is being silly.

The first example is stative; the second is processual and paraphrasable as "Fred is acting in a silly manner."

Source:

Comrie 1976a 36

Generic
	Progressive aspect is a kind of
	What is continuous aspect?

Sources
	Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985 231
	Chung and Timberlake 1985 215
	Comrie 1976a 12, 33–36
	Crystal 1987 428
	Mish 1991 940

Context for this page:

Concept module: progressive aspect
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): P
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004