Preterite vs. Past

Preteriteadjective

showing an action at a determined moment in the past.

Pastnoun

The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.

‘a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past’;

Preteriteadjective

Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.

Pastnoun

(grammar) The past tense.

Preteritenoun

(grammar) A grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past.

Pastadjective

Having already happened; in the past; finished.

‘past glories’;

Preteriteadjective

Same as Preterit.

Pastadjective

(postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.

Preteritenoun

a term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense

Pastadjective

Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.

‘during the past year’;

Preterite

The preterite or preterit (; abbreviated PRET or PRT) is a grammatical tense or verb form serving to denote events that took place or were completed in the past. In general, it combines the perfective aspect (event viewed as a single whole; it is not to be confused with the similarly named perfect) with the past tense, and may thus also be termed the perfective past.

Pastadjective

(grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

‘past tense’;

Pastadverb

in a direction that passes

‘I watched him walk past’;

Pastadverb

Passing by, especially without stopping or being delayed.

‘Ignore them, we'll play past them.’; ‘Please don't drive past the fruit stand, I want to stop there.’;

Pastpreposition

beyond in place, quantity or time

‘the room past mine’; ‘count past twenty’; ‘past midnight’;

Pastadjective

Of or pertaining to a former time or state; neither present nor future; gone by; elapsed; ended; spent; as, past troubles; past offences.

Pastnoun

A former time or state; a state of things gone by.

‘The present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often a very remote past indeed.’;

Pastpreposition

Beyond, in position, or degree; further than; beyond the reach or influence of.

‘Until we be past thy borders.’; ‘Love, when once past government, is consequently past shame.’;

Pastpreposition

Beyond, in time; after; as, past the hour.

‘Is it not past two o'clock?’;

Pastpreposition

Above; exceeding; more than.

‘Not past three quarters of a mile.’; ‘Bows not past three quarters of a yard long.’;

Pastadverb

By; beyond; as, he ran past.

‘The alarum of drums swept past.’;

Pastnoun

the time that has elapsed;

‘forget the past’;

Pastnoun

a earlier period in someone's life (especially one that they have reason to keep secret);

‘reporters dug into the candidate's past’;

Pastnoun

a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past

Pastadjective

earlier than the present time; no longer current;

‘time past’; ‘his youth is past’; ‘this past Thursday’; ‘the past year’; ‘the present leader’; ‘articles for present use’; ‘the present topic’; ‘the present system’; ‘present observations’;

Pastadjective

of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office;

‘a retiring member of the board’;

Pastadjective

a verb tense or other construction referring to events or states that existed at some previous time;

‘past participle’;

Pastadverb

so as to pass a given point;

‘every hour a train goes past’;

Past

The past is the set of all events that occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future.