Equivalents in English
English has neither a simple perfective nor imperfective aspect; see imperfective and perfective for some basic English equivalents of this distinction.
When translating from a language which has these aspects, they will sometimes be given separate verbs in English. For example, in Ancient Greek the imperfective sometimes adds the notion of "try to do something" (the so-called conative imperfect); hence the same verb root, in the imperfective (present or imperfect) and aorist, respectively, is translated as look and see, search and find, listen and hear (ἠκούομεν ēkoúomen "we listened" vs. ἠκούσαμεν ēkoúsamen "we heard").
Spanish is similar, with imperfect and preterite sabía "I knew" vs. supe "I found out", podía "I was able to" vs. pude "I succeeded", quería "I wanted to" vs. quise "I tried to", no quería "I did not want to" vs. no quise "I refused". Such distinctions are often highly language-specific.
Read more about this topic: Perfective Aspect
Famous quotes containing the word english:
“We admire Chaucer for his sturdy English wit.... But though it is full of good sense and humanity, it is not transcendent poetry. For picturesque description of persons it is, perhaps, without a parallel in English poetry; yet it is essentially humorous, as the loftiest genius never is.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)