Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Progressive Aspect

Definition: 

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

Examples: 

(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."