English
English is an example of a language with no general imperfective. The English progressive is used to describe ongoing events such as "The rain was beating down". Habitual situations do not have their own verb form, but the construction "used to" conveys past habitual action, as in "I used to ski". Unlike in languages with a general imperfective, in English the simple past tense can be used for situations presented as ongoing, such as "The rain beat down continuously through the night".
Read more about this topic: Imperfective Aspect
Famous quotes containing the word english:
“Red lips are not so red As the stained stones kissed by the English dead.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)
“I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty lovely well.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“So in Jamaica it is the aim of everybody to talk English, act English and look English. And that last specification is where the greatest difficulties arise. It is not so difficult to put a coat of European culture over African culture, but it is next to impossible to lay a European face over an African face in the same generation.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)