delimitative aspect

The delimitative aspect is a grammatical aspect that indicates that a situation lasts only a certain amount of time.{{Cite book |last=Dickey |first=Stephen M. |title=Cognitive Paths into the Slavic Domain |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-11-019620-7 |editor-last=Divjak |editor-first=Dagmar |editor-link=Dagmar Divjak|location=Berlin |pages=329–373 |chapter=A prototype account of the development of delimitative po- in Russian |doi=10.1515/9783110198799.4.329 |editor-last2=Kochańska |editor-first2=Agata}} It is sometimes called durative aspect.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

In Polish, {{lang|pl|stałem i gadałem}} {{gloss|I stood and chatted}} contrasts with {{lang|pl|postałem i pogadałem}} {{gloss|I stood and chatted for a while}} (the prefix {{lang|pl|po-}} marking the delimitative aspect in this example).

Delimitative aspect in Chinese is often marked by reduplication of the verb. For details see Chinese grammar§Aspects.