Preterite

/ˈpɹɛtəɹɪt/ · adjective

Meaning

(grammar, of a tense) Showing an action at a determined moment in the past..

Definitions by Sense

1. (grammar, of a tense) Showing an action at a determined moment in the past.
2. Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.
3. (grammar) A grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past.

Example Sentences

The Dravidian preterite tense is ordinarily formed, like the present, by annexing the pronominal signs to the preterite verbal participle.

Without leaving your elbow-chair, you shall go back with me thirty years, which will bring you among things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.

Boas, Benedict, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown, Murdock, Evans-Pritchard, Griaule, Levi-Strauss, to keep the list short, preterite, and variegated, […]

When simple verbs redouble the preterite, the compounds drop the first syllable, as: Pello, pĕpŭli, to drive away, to beat back; Repello, rĕpŭli, and not rĕpĕpŭli, to drive back, to repel.

Nevertheless, a small amount of variation still exists in one area of standard English verbal morphology: the preterite and past participle forms of certain irregular verbs.

Synonyms for preterite

Antonyms for preterite

Related Words

Word Forms

• preterit
• praeterite
• præterite
• pret.
• preterites

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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