preterit

American  

[pret-er-it] / ˈprɛt ər ɪt /

Or preterite

noun

Grammar.

1. in English, the simple past, or an instance or form of a specific verb in the simple past, such as ate or walked.

2. a verb tense, construction, or form in another language with a meaning similar to that of the simple past in English.

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adjective

1. Grammar. designating a verb tense expressing a past action or state.

2. Archaic. bygone; past.

Other Word Forms

• preteritness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of preterit

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin praeteritus “past, gone by,” past participle of praeterīre “to go by,” from praeter- preter- + īre “to go”; as tense name, from Latin (tempus) praeteritum “(time) past”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

preterit

Note 2.—Fusion with ne gives neom, neart, nis for the present; næs, nǣre, nǣron for the preterit.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith

For the preterit, Raba, Naraba, or Ni voiteua are added to the indicative preterit; e.g.,

From Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language by Richard L. Spear

For the preterit participle the Da is changed to De; e.g.,

From Diego Collado's Grammar of the Japanese Language by Richard L. Spear

The present tense of each of them is in origin a preterit, in function a present.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith

They form their preterit and frequently their past participle by changing the radical vowel of the present stem.

From Anglo-Saxon Grammar and Exercise Book with Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary by C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso) Smith