Meanings
plural past imperfect tenses
- uncountableusuallyA grammatical tense which expresses the past as an action which was still going on at the point in time described, say someone "was ...ing" something, as opposed to the already accomplished counterpart past perfect tense (where the action took place even further in the past)
Synonyms: past imperfect, preterimperfect, imperfect
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA grammatical tense which expresses the past as an action which was still going on at the point in time described, say someone "was ...ing" something, as opposed to the already accomplished counterpart past perfect tense (where the action took place even further in the past)
Translations
Dutch onvoltooid verleden tijd (O.V.T.)
- onvoltooid verleden tijd (O.V.T.)grammatical tense
Finnish imperfekti
- imperfektigrammatical tense
French l'imparfait
- l'imparfaitgrammatical tense
Polish czas przeszły niedokonany
- czas przeszły niedokonanygrammatical tense
Portuguese pretérito imperfeito
- pretérito imperfeitogrammatical tense
Punjabi ਅਪੂਰਨ ਭੂਤਕਾਲ
- ਅਪੂਰਨ ਭੂਤਕਾਲ (apūran bhūtkāl)grammatical tense
Vietnamese thì quá khứ chưa hoàn thành
- thì quá khứ chưa hoàn thànhgrammatical tense
Cite this entry
past imperfect tense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past%20imperfect%20tense
“past imperfect tense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past%20imperfect%20tense. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “past imperfect tense,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/past%20imperfect%20tense.
Source: past imperfect tense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.