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preterite

This website has been a great help in learning german since my basic grammar is so bad. I always look to this site to explain any grammatical terms I meet. I haven't however found a definition in the site of what a preterite is. From Google it looks like the 'ed' at the end of a word and this site takes me to the simple past however it doesn't specifically define it can you help?
Thanks.

Re: preterite

Simply, 'preterite' means 'gone by', and we express this with the (Simple) Past Tense.

It is then - how do we form the Past Tense in English? Is it about forming the Past Tense you want us to talk about?

Re: preterite

Thanks for the reply.
I meant it might be worth just having it as a simple definition in your glossary or in addition to the simple tense. The word preterite seems to be used quite alot in foreign language definitions and may also be useful on your site.

Re: preterite

I will discuss this with Craig, but if it were to be included, then for my part, I could see it being listed as only:

preterite (see Simple Past Tense)

'preterite' and 'imperfect' are pretty much obsolete now in English, as we use the basic terms 'Past Tense' and 'Past Progressive' (or 'Past Continuous).

Re: preterite

Ah ok. Thanks again for such a great website!