The article is devoted to the theoretical substantiation of the essence of the grammatical aspect of foreign language speech as a key component of foreign language communicative competence. The relevance of the study is determined by the need to understand the structural content of the grammatical aspect of speech in the context of the requirements of modern educational standards. The paper presents a comparative analysis of the approaches of foreign and Russian researchers to understanding the grammatical aspect of speech. D. Larsen-Freeman's three-dimensional model, which includes form, meaning, and use of grammatical phenomena, is examined and illustrated with examples. The position of S. Thornbury, who defines grammar through morphology and syntax and emphasizes its meaning-making potential realized in representational and interpersonal functions, is analyzed. Attention is paid to M. Lewis's lexical approach, which assigns a secondary role to grammar. The article presents the views of Russian methodologists (N.D. Galskova, N.I. Gez, E.N. Solovova), who consider grammar as a fundamental component of speech activity that ensures practical language proficiency for solving communicative tasks. Based on the analysis conducted, the author formulates a definition of the grammatical aspect of foreign language speech as a complex of automated actions for selecting, combining, and using grammatical structures in accordance with communicative intention and language norms. It is concluded that an insufficient level of mastery of the grammatical aspect of speech leads to difficulties in the formation of foreign language communicative competence as a whole.