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Glite Dictionary
past simple

past simple

3.1
A verb form that shows an action or state happened and finished in the past
  • noun
  • /pæst ˈsɪmpl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : pretérito perfecto simple
  • When I was learning English, I practiced writing sentences in the past simple, such as "They played soccer last weekend."

Examples

  • The teacher explained that the past simple is used to describe events that occurred in the past, like "He finished his homework."

  • I take sentences with non-stative verbs in the past simple to be instances of narration.

    Academic text (2005)

  • In English grammar, the past simple form is used for actions that happened yesterday, such as "She visited her grandparents."

Synonyms

simple past
vspast simple
  • Specialized
1 1.6

A verb form that shows an action finished in the past

includes both past actions and states not continuing now
preterit
vspast simple
  • Specialized
9.9

A past tense that shows actions finished at a specific time

is the general name used in English rather than a technical term

Surface Forms

past simple singular
past simples plural

Morphology

past + simple

The compound meaning is directly compositional: 'past' denotes actions before the present and 'simple' signals the basic/non-continuous form, so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to the basic past verb form. Cross-linguistically many languages use equivalent labels for this tense, making the construction immediately interpretable by B1 learners.

Etymology

Past simple comes from the words past (time before now) and simple (one basic form). It describes verbs we use for actions that happened and are 'finished', so think of it like a single photo of something that already happened.