simple past

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simple past

Where it comes from

“Simple” because the tense is formed without any auxiliary verb.

noun simple pasts

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.
Similar: preterite, preterit

Translations

Every language

noun the simple past tense

Español	pretérito
Português	pretérito perfeito, pretérito perfeito simples, passado simples, pretérito simples
Français	passé, imparfait, passé simple
Deutsch	Präteritum
Ελληνικά	αόριστος aóristos
Română	perfect simplu
Русский	просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя prostóje prošédšeje vrémja, проше́дшее вре́мя prošédšeje vrémja

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MLA

"simple past." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/simple%20past. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

simple past. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/simple%20past

Chicago

"simple past." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/simple%20past.

BibTeX

@misc{simple_past_2026,
  title = {simple past},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/simple%20past},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}