In Pashto we also use these aspects not just for the past tense, but in all kinds of other ways as well. In English we often use these two different aspects with the past tense:įor an excellent explanation of these aspects from a different perspective, see this video on how aspects are used in Maya. With the perfective aspect, we only see that an action happens. With the imperfective aspect, we can see that an action progresses over time, or is repeated. You just know that it happened, that’s all. When you see a photo, you see the action from the outside, as a whole. You can see the inner workings of an action as it’s ongoing or repeated. When you see a video, you can see the action happening over time. It might help to think of these two aspects as videos and photos of some event. Do we see the action as a whole snapshot, completed and done? That’s the perfective aspect. Do we see the action from inside, as something ongoing or recurring? That’s the imperfective aspect. We can think of the aspect as our angle or perspective on the action. In Pashto, all verbs are divided up into two different aspects: imperfective and perfective. The first thing to realize in that in Pashto, every verb has two main roots, based on two different aspects.
