Meanings
plural simple pasts
- grammarA 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 & antonyms
nounA 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.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe form of a verb used to describe an action that happened before the present time and is no longer happening.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
“Simple” because the tense is formed without any auxiliary verb.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish præteritum, datid
- præteritumthe simple past tense
- datidthe simple past tense
Dutch onvoltooid verleden tijd
- onvoltooid verleden tijdthe simple past tense
Esperanto estinteco, estinto
- estintecothe simple past tense
- estintothe simple past tense
- preteritothe simple past tense
Finnish imperfekti, preteriti
- imperfektithe simple past tense
- preteritithe simple past tense
French passé, imparfait
- passéthe simple past tense
- imparfaitthe simple past tense
- passé simplethe simple past tense
German Präteritum
- Präteritumthe simple past tense
Greek αόριστος
- αόριστος (aóristos)the simple past tense
Hungarian egyszerű múlt
- egyszerű múltthe simple past tense
Norwegian Bokmål preteritum
- preteritumthe simple past tense
Persian ماضی ساده, گذشته ساده
- ماضی ساده (mâzi-e sâde)the simple past tense
- گذشته ساده (gozašte-ye sâde)the simple past tense
Polish czas przeszły prosty
- czas przeszły prostythe simple past tense
Portuguese pretérito perfeito, pretérito perfeito simples
- pretérito perfeitothe simple past tense
- pretérito perfeito simplesthe simple past tense
- passado simplesthe simple past tense
- pretérito simplesthe simple past tense
Romanian perfect simplu
- perfect simpluthe simple past tense
Russian просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя, проше́дшее вре́мя
- просто́е проше́дшее вре́мя (prostóje prošédšeje vrémja)the simple past tense
- проше́дшее вре́мя (prošédšeje vrémja)the simple past tense
Spanish pretérito
- pretéritothe simple past tense
Swedish preteritum
- preteritumthe simple past tense
Turkish geçmiş zaman, -di'li geçmiş zaman
- geçmiş zamanthe simple past tense
- -di'li geçmiş zamanthe simple past tense
- geçmiş zamanın hikayesithe simple past tense
Cite this entry
simple past. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/simple%20past
“simple past.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/simple%20past. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “simple past,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/simple%20past.
Source: simple past on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.