Preterite
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- 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 In English, the term preterite is often superseded by simple past or past simple, although it is still often heard in its adjectival form (for instance: "The preterite form of 'to come' is 'came'.").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."
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Preterite in indo-European languages
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 as the Bavarian dialect event 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:
| -ar verbs (hablar) | -er verbs (comer) | -ir verbs (insistir) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -é (hablé) | -í (comí) | -í (insistí) |
| tú | -aste (hablaste) | -iste (comiste) | -iste (insististe) |
| él | -ó (habló) | -ió (comió) | -ió (insistió) |
| nosotros | -amos (hablamos) | -imos (comimos) | -imos (insistimos) |
| vosotros | -asteis (hablasteis) | -isteis (comisteis) | -isteis (insististeis) |
| ellos | -aron (hablaron) | -ieron (comieron) | -ieron (insistieron) |
French
In French, the preterite is usually called 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:
| -er verbs (aimer) | -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 imparfait 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. In the formal or literary form of the language, however, passato remoto is still commonly used.
Typical conjugations:
| -are verbs (parlare) | -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)
See also
de:Präteritum en:Preterite als:Präteritum wa:Durant Indicatif Erirece fi:Imperfekti es:Pretérito imperfecto