preterit
/ˈprɛtərɪt/
noun
- A verb tense used to describe actions that were completed in the past; the simple past tense.
- In English, the preterit of 'walk' is 'walked'.
- The teacher explained that the preterit is used for finished actions, like 'I ate breakfast'.
- Many irregular verbs have unique forms in the preterit, such as 'sang' from 'sing'.
adjective
- Relating to or denoting the simple past tense.
- In the sentence 'He ran home,' 'ran' is a preterit verb.
- The preterit form of 'go' is 'went'.
- She studied the preterit endings for regular verbs in Spanish.
Synonyms