Grammatical and Lexical Aspects

Grammatical and Lexical Aspects

Larissa Acosta, Concepción Martínez, Joanna Ángeles

Accomplishment

Lexical Aspect

EN: She said the Northwest flight was arriving from Detroit about 2 p.m. SP: Dijo que le vuelo de Northwest llegaría de Detroit alrededor de las 2:00 pm.

• A situation that has an endpoint defined and involves a process
• Dynamic
• Non-durative
• Telic

Thornbury

Connecting Grammatical and lexical aspects with their importance for translation (Lexical aspect, 2024)

Perfect

Gramatical Aspect

EN: Wolves have returned to Yellowstone National Park. Once the park had many wolves. But only one wolf was left by 1926. SP: Los lobos han vuelto al Parque Nacional Yellowstone. En un momento, el parque tenía muchos lobos. Pero sólo quedaba uno en 1926.

• Action still relevant now.
• Focuses on the result, not the process.
• Uses 'have/has' + past participle.

Wolves, NATGEOKIDS

Simple

Gramatical Aspect

EN: The report, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, found that for people who were suffering farol a chronic illness, doing a hobby helped them manage their symptoms and even slowed the progession of their illness. SP: El informe, publicado en la revista Lancet Psychiatry, reveló que, en el caso de quienes padecían una enfermedad crónica, tener un pasatiempo les ayudaba a controlar los síntomas e incluso ralentizaba el progreso de su condición.

• The simple aspect is used to describe facts and habits.
• No emphasis on the timing or conclusion of an action.

Reader's Diagest

Perfect Progressive

Gramatical Aspect

EN: I could smell the gravy of muskox blood they’d been rolling in. SP: Podía oler la sangre de buey almizclero en la que se habían revolcando.

• Emphasizes the duration or the process of an action.
• Action started and is still happening.
• Uses 'have/has been' + verb-ing.

Artic Wolves, NATGEO

Activity

Lexical Aspect

EN: Alpha wolves guide the pack. They decide when to stop hunting and where to sleep at night. Alpha wolves also eat first at every meal. SP: Los lobos alfa guían a la manada. Ellos deciden cuándo dejar de cazar y dónde dormir por la noche. Los lobos alfa también comen primero en cada comida.

• Ongoing or repeated actions without a clear endpoint (atelic)
• Durative
• No specific goal or completion (open-ended)
• Common with present simple or present continuous verbs

Wolves, NATGEOKIDS

Achievement

Lexical Aspect

EN: My therapist convinced me it was safe, everyone does. ESP: Mi terapeuta me convenció de que era seguro, todos lo hacen.

• Achievement: It's an action with an instantaneous endpoint
• Dynamic
• Durative
• Telic

Beyond Dimensions

Progressive

Gramatical Aspect

EN: This is when we’re using our brains to solve problems and focus on tasks, which requires is to stay in an alert active state. SP: Es cuando lo utilizamos para resolver problemas y concentrarnos en tareas, lo que requiere que permanezcamos en un estado alerta y activo.

• The progressive aspect describes ongoing actions that began.
• Emphasize the continuous aspect of an action.
• It expresses how the action of a verb extends over time and states whether it is ongoing, repeated, or completed.

Reader's Diagest

References

Hilton, C. (2024). How Hobbies Help Us. Reader's Diagest, 204 (1200), 52-63. Society. Thornbury, S. (2017, September 13). About Language activity #2: Lexical aspect | Cambridge English. World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2017/09/13/about-language-activity-2-lexical-aspect/ Beyond Dimensions. (2023 November). Beyond Dimensions. https://beyonddimensionsrevista.com/ Gómez, J. (2024). Lexical Aspect: Aktionsart [PowerPoint slide].

Stative

Lexical Aspect

EN: I feel very strongly about the importance of having hobbies.SP: Creo en la importancia de los pasatiempos.

• State without change
• No clear endpoint (atelic)
• Non-dynamic (no effort or change required)
• Durative (the state occurs over a duration of time)

Reader's Digest