"simple past" meaning in English

See simple past in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: simple pasts [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} simple past (plural simple pasts)
  1. (grammar) A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have. Categories (topical): Grammar, Tenses Synonyms: preterite [grammar, linguistics, human-sciences, sciences], preterit [grammar, linguistics, human-sciences, sciences] Translations (the simple past tense): şühudi keçmiş zaman (Azerbaijani), præteritum (Danish), datid (Danish), onvoltooid verleden tijd [masculine] (Dutch), estinteco (Esperanto), estinto (Esperanto), preterito (Esperanto), imperfekti (Finnish), preteriti (Finnish), passé [masculine] (French), imparfait [masculine] (French), passé simple (english: these terms have slightly different meanings in French, they are not synonyms) [masculine] (French), Präteritum [neuter] (German), αόριστος (aóristos) [masculine] (Greek), egyszerű múlt (Hungarian), sîmpl'ye pâssé [masculine] (Norman), dema borî [feminine] (Northern Kurdish), preteritum [neuter] (Norwegian Bokmål), preteritum [neuter] (Norwegian Nynorsk), ماضی ساده (mâzi-e sâde) (Persian), گذشته ساده (gozašte-ye sâde) (Persian), pretérito perfeito [masculine] (Portuguese), pretérito perfeito simples [masculine] (Portuguese), passado simples (note: (the English simple past)) [masculine] (Portuguese), pretérito simples [masculine] (Portuguese), просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя (prostóje prošédšeje vrémja) [neuter] (Russian), проше́дшее вре́мя (prošédšeje vrémja) [neuter] (Russian), pretérito (Spanish), preteritum [error-misspelling, imperfect] (Swedish), geçmiş zaman (Turkish), -di'li geçmiş zaman (Turkish), geçmiş zamanın hikayesi (Turkish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for simple past meaning in English (6.9kB)

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "simple pasts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "simple past (plural simple pasts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w"
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        },
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          "kind": "other",
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        },
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          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Grammar",
          "orig": "en:Grammar",
          "parents": [
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            "Language",
            "Social sciences",
            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
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            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Tenses",
          "orig": "en:Tenses",
          "parents": [
            "Grammar",
            "Linguistics",
            "Language",
            "Social sciences",
            "Communication",
            "Sciences",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "past perfect"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "past continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "past perfect continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "past participle"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "present"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "present perfect"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "present continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "present perfect continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "present participle"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future simple"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future perfect"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future perfect continuous"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future-in-the-past simple"
        },
        {
          "sense": "grammatical tense",
          "word": "future-perfect-in-the-past"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have."
      ],
      "id": "en-simple_past-en-noun-PtqFVU71",
      "links": [
        [
          "grammar",
          "grammar"
        ],
        [
          "tense",
          "tense"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "topics": [
            "grammar",
            "linguistics",
            "human-sciences",
            "sciences"
          ],
          "word": "preterite"
        },
        {
          "topics": [
            "grammar",
            "linguistics",
            "human-sciences",
            "sciences"
          ],
          "word": "preterit"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "az",
          "lang": "Azerbaijani",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "şühudi keçmiş zaman"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "præteritum"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "datid"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "onvoltooid verleden tijd"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "estinteco"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "estinto"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "preterito"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "imperfekti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "preteriti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passé"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "imparfait"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "english": "these terms have slightly different meanings in French, they are not synonyms",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passé simple"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Präteritum"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "aóristos",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "αόριστος"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "egyszerű múlt"
        },
        {
          "code": "kmr",
          "lang": "Northern Kurdish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "dema borî"
        },
        {
          "code": "nrf",
          "lang": "Norman",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "sîmpl'ye pâssé"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "preteritum"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "preteritum"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "mâzi-e sâde",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "ماضی ساده"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "gozašte-ye sâde",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "گذشته ساده"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pretérito perfeito"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pretérito perfeito simples"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "note": "(the English simple past)",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passado simples"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pretérito simples"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prostóje prošédšeje vrémja",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prošédšeje vrémja",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "проше́дшее вре́мя"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "pretérito"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "tags": [
            "error-misspelling",
            "imperfect"
          ],
          "word": "preteritum"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "geçmiş zaman"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "-di'li geçmiş zaman"
        },
        {
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "the simple past tense",
          "word": "geçmiş zamanın hikayesi"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "simple past"
}
{
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "past perfect"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "past continuous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "past perfect continuous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "past participle"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "present"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "present perfect"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "present continuous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "present perfect continuous"
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    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "present participle"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future simple"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future perfect"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future continuous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future perfect continuous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future-in-the-past simple"
    },
    {
      "sense": "grammatical tense",
      "word": "future-perfect-in-the-past"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "simple pasts",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "simple past (plural simple pasts)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English exocentric compounds",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "en:Grammar",
        "en:Tenses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "grammar",
          "grammar"
        ],
        [
          "tense",
          "tense"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(grammar) A tense used to describe something that happened in the past, formed by the inflection of a single word, without any auxiliary verb such as be or have."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "human-sciences",
        "linguistics",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "linguistics",
        "human-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "word": "preterite"
    },
    {
      "topics": [
        "grammar",
        "linguistics",
        "human-sciences",
        "sciences"
      ],
      "word": "preterit"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "az",
      "lang": "Azerbaijani",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "şühudi keçmiş zaman"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "præteritum"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "datid"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "onvoltooid verleden tijd"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "estinteco"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "estinto"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "preterito"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "imperfekti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "preteriti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passé"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "imparfait"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "english": "these terms have slightly different meanings in French, they are not synonyms",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passé simple"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Präteritum"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "aóristos",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "αόριστος"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "egyszerű múlt"
    },
    {
      "code": "kmr",
      "lang": "Northern Kurdish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "dema borî"
    },
    {
      "code": "nrf",
      "lang": "Norman",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "sîmpl'ye pâssé"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "preteritum"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "preteritum"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "mâzi-e sâde",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "ماضی ساده"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "gozašte-ye sâde",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "گذشته ساده"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pretérito perfeito"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pretérito perfeito simples"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "note": "(the English simple past)",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passado simples"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pretérito simples"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prostóje prošédšeje vrémja",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prošédšeje vrémja",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "проше́дшее вре́мя"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "pretérito"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "tags": [
        "error-misspelling",
        "imperfect"
      ],
      "word": "preteritum"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "geçmiş zaman"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "-di'li geçmiş zaman"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "the simple past tense",
      "word": "geçmiş zamanın hikayesi"
    }
  ],
  "word": "simple past"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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