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

Having exhausted, therefore, the only means of preterit formation known to Germanic, the strong and the weak, it is not likely that either ought or must will ever develop distinct preterit forms.

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

In the Mexican there are the terminals ya or a in the imperfect, the augment o in the preterit, and others in the future.

From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Brinton, Daniel Garrison

The real preterit of the Saxon verb coman, is com.

From Notes and Queries, Number 211, November 12, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George

By a law known as Grammatical Change, final ð, s, and h of strong verbs generally become d, r, and g, respectively, in the preterit plural and past participle.

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

In the Tamanaca the present ends in a, the preterit in e, the future in c.

From The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb by Brinton, Daniel Garrison