Aspect perfectif

French Perfective Aspect

The perfective aspect indicates an action, event or state that was, is, or will be complete ("perfect"), in the past, present or future. It describes a situation that takes place within a single undivided moment. The duration of that moment and its internal temporal structure are irrelevant.

When you say J'ai lu ce livre (= I've read that book), you're simply expressing that the reading occurred without saying anything about that process or how long it took.

For example

Nous avons mangé ensemble. We've eaten together.

 

Mon frère a visité Madrid deux fois. = My brother has visited Madrid twice.

 

Elles ne m'ont pas dit qui avait mangé la glace. They didn't tell me who had eaten the ice cream.

 
Introduction to aspect

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