past tense

[ past tens ]

noun

, Grammar.

1. (in English) the simple past.
2. any verb formation or construction used to express an action or state occurring in the past, such as, in English, the past progressive, present perfect, and pluperfect tenses.
3. an instance or form of a specific verb expressing a past action or state.

Word History and Origins

Origin of past tense¹

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

(b) Find sentences using ten past-tense forms of strong verbs.

From Project Gutenberg

Must is historically a past-tense form, from the obsolete verb motan, which survives in the sentence, "So mote it be."

From Project Gutenberg

Spellings such as recal and befel, and eat as a past-tense form, are unchanged.

From Project Gutenberg

Explain the difference in meaning and the force of using the two past tense verbs in this sentence.

From Project Gutenberg

Verbs in the present-tense form are changed to the past-tense form.

From Project Gutenberg