Preterite
This article is about the grammatical term. To see the article relating to eschatology and the Book of Revelation, see Preterism.The
preterite (also
praeterite, in
American English also
preterit, or
past historic) is the
grammatical tense expressing actions which took place in the past. It is similar to the
aorist in languages such as
Greek. In
English, the term
preterite is often superseded by
simple past or
past simple, although it is still often heard in its adjectival form (for instance: "The preterite form of 'to come' is 'came'.").
* "She
went to the cinema."
German
In
German, the
Präteritum is used for past actions. In South
Germany,
Austria and
Switzerland, it is mostly used solely in writing, for example in stories. Use in speech is regarded as snobbish and thus very uncommon. South German dialects, such as the Bavarian dialect, have no preterite, but only perfect constructs.
In certain regions, a few specific verbs are used in the preterite, for instance the modal verbs and the verbs
haben (have) and
sein (be).
* Es
war einmal ein kleines Mädchen, das Rotkäppchen
hieß. (There
was once a small girl who
was called Little Red Riding Hood.)
In speech and informal writing, Perfekt is used (eg, Ich
habe dies und das
gesagt. (I said this and that)).
However, in the colloquial language of North Germany, there is still a very important difference between the preterite and the perfect, and both tenses are consequently very common. The preterite is used for past actions when the focus is on the action, whilst the perfect is used for past actions when the focus is on the result of the action. This corresponds to the English usage of the preterite and the present perfect.
* Preterite: "Heute früh
kam mein Freund." (my friend came early in the morning, but perhaps he has already gone)
* Perfect: "Heute früh
ist mein Freund
gekommen." (he is still here)
Spanish
In
Spanish, the
preterite is a
verb tense that indicates an action taken once in the past that was completed at some point in the past. This is as opposed to the
imperfect tense, which refers to any repeated, continuous, or habitual past action. Thus, "I ran five miles yesterday" would use the
first-person preterite form of ran,
corrí, whereas "I ran five miles every morning" would use the
first-person imperfect tense form,
corría. This distinction is actually one of
perfective vs. imperfective aspect.
Typical conjugation:
| -er verbs (comer) and -ir verbs (insistir) | | yo | -é (hablé) | -í (comí) (insistí) |
| tú | -aste (hablaste) | -iste (comiste) (insististe) |
| él | -ó (habló) | -ió (comió) (insistió) |
| nosotros | -amos (hablamos) | -imos (comimos) (insistimos) |
| vosotros | -asteis (hablasteis) | -isteis (comisteis) (insististeis) |
| ellos | -aron (hablaron) | -ieron (comieron) (insistieron) |
French
In
French, the
preterite is known as the
passé simple ("simple past"). As in Spanish, it is a past tense that indicates an action taken once in the past that was completed at some point in the past (translated: "verbed"). This is as opposed to the
imparfait tense, which refers to any repeated, continuous, or habitual past action (translated: "was/were verbing"). In the oral language, the passé simple is not used anymore and is replaced with the compound
passé composé. In the formal or literary form of the language, however, passé simple is still commonly used.
Typical conjugations:
| -ir verbs (finir) | -re verbs (rendre) | | je | -ai (aimai) | -is (finis) | -is (rendis) |
| tu | -as (aimas) | -is (finis) | -is (rendis) |
| il | -a (aima) | -it (finit) | -it (rendit) |
| nous | -âmes (aimâmes) | -îmes (finîmes) | -îmes (rendîmes) |
| vous | -âtes (aimâtes) | -îtes (finîtes) | -îtes (rendîtes) |
| ils | -èrent (aimèrent) | -irent (finirent) | -irent (rendirent) |
Italian
In
Italian, the
preterite is usually called
Passato Remoto ("simple past or past absolute"). Like in Spanish and French, it is a past tense that indicates an action taken once in the past that was completed at some point in the past (translated: "verbed"). This is as opposed to the
imperfetto tense, which refers to any repeated, continuous, or habitual past action (translated: "was/were verbing"). In the oral language, the passato remoto is not used anymore and is replaced with the compound
passato prossimo except in the southern part of the country. In the formal or literary form of the language, however, passato remoto is still commonly used.
Typical conjugations:
| -ire verbs (finire) | -ere verbs (credere)* | | io | -ai (parlai) | -ii (finii) | -ei (credei) |
| tu | -asti (parlasti) | -isti (finisti) | -esti (credesti) |
| lui | -ò (parlò) | -ì (finì) | -è (credè) |
| noi | -ammo (parlammo) | -immo (finimmo) | -emmo (credemmo) |
| voi | -aste (parlaste) | -iste (finiste) | -este (credeste) |
| loro | -arono (parlarono) | -irono (finirono) | -erono (crederono) |
*some verbs, including credere, also have endings -etti (1st person singular), -ette (3rd person singular), and -ettero (3rd person plural)
Judeo-Spanish
In
Judeo-Spanish, the
preterite indicates that an action taken once in the past was also completed at some point in the past. This is as opposed to the
imperfect tense which refers to any continuous, habitual, unfinished or repetitive past action. Thus, "I ate felafel yesterday" would use the
first-person preterite form of eat,
comí, whereas "When I lived in Izmir, I ran five miles every evening" would use the
first-person imperfect tense form,
koría. Though some of the morphology has changed, usage is just as in normative Castilian.
Typical conjugation:
| -er verbs (komer) and -ir verbs (bivir) | | yo | -í (avlí) | -í (komí) (biví) |
| tu | -ates (avlates) | -ites (komites) (bivites) |
| el eya | -ó (avló) | -yó (komyó) (bivyó) |
| mozotros | -amos (avlamos) | -imos (komimos) (bivimos) |
| vozotros | -atesh (avlatesh) | -itesh (komitesh) (bivitesh) |
| eyos | -aron (avlaron) | -yeron (komyeron) (bivyeron) |
Portuguese
In Portuguese, the preterite is the
pretérito perfeito. As in other Romance Languages, it denotes an isolated event initiated in the past, and completed before the present. It contrasts with the
pretérito imperfeito (
imperfect).
The
pretérito perfeito originated in the
perfectum (present perfect) of Latin, and it may still correspond to the present perfect of English in some cases. For example, the translation of the question "Have you heard the latest news?" is
Já ouviu a última notícia?, not
*Já tem ouvido a última notícia?Typical conjugations:
| -er verbs (correr) | -ir verbs (partir) | | eu | -ei (amei) | -i (corri) | -i (parti) |
| tu | -aste (amaste) | -este (correste) | -iste (partiste) |
| ele | -ou (amou) | -eu (correu) | -iu (partiu) |
| nós | -ámos (amámos) | -emos (corremos) | -imos (partimos) |
| vós | -astes (amastes) | -estes (correstes) | -istes (partistes) |
| eles | -aram (amaram) | -eram (correram) | -iram (partiram) |
Latin
In
Latin, the
preterite or
perfect tense refers to an action
completed in the past. If the action wasn't completed, one would use the imperfect tense.
Typical conjugation:
| ¦¦ Dūcō, Dūcere, Dūxī, Ductus | | ego | -ī (dūxi) |
| tū | -isti (dūxisti) |
| is | -it (dūxit) |
| nōs | -imus (dūximus) |
| vōs | -istis (dūxistis) |
| eī | -"runt (dūx"runt) |
Dūxī can be translated as
"I led," "I did lead" or
"I have led."*
Grammatical tense*
Grammatical aspect*
Wiktionary list of irregular verbs
