How Do You Spell PRETERITE?

Pronunciation: [pɹɪtˈɛɹa͡ɪt] (IPA)

The spelling of the word "preterite" can be confusing because it contains several silent letters. The IPA phonetic transcription for "preterite" is /ˈprɛtərɪt/. The "p" and "r" are pronounced as expected, but the "e" is silent. The "t" is pronounced, but the second "e" is silent. The "ri" in the middle is pronounced as a single syllable with a long "i" sound as in "eye". And finally, the "te" at the end is pronounced like "it" with a short "i" sound.

PRETERITE Meaning and Definition

1. The term "preterite" is primarily used in linguistics and grammar to refer to a specific verb tense in various languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, and English. In English grammar, it is also commonly known as the "simple past tense."

   In its essence, the preterite tense signifies actions or states that occurred and were completed in the past. It is used to express events that happened at a specific time and are now considered finished.

   From a grammatical perspective, the preterite tense is characterized by the inclusion of regular and irregular verb forms within a sentence. Regular verbs in the preterite tense are typically formed by adding an -ed ending to the base verb, while irregular verbs have unique forms specific to their conjugation. For example, in English, the regular verb "to walk" in the preterite tense becomes "walked," while the irregular verb "to be" becomes "was" and "were."

   In languages such as Spanish and Portuguese, the use of the preterite tense extends beyond just completed actions in the past. It can also indicate a series of events, a past habit, or the beginning or end of an action.

   Overall, the preterite tense is a fundamental grammatical structure that allows speakers to convey actions or states that happened and concluded in the past.

2. In gram., a term applied to a tense which denotes time complete or finished, as, I have written; called also the perfect tense.

   Etymological and pronouncing dictionary of the English language. By Stormonth, James, Phelp, P. H. Published 1874.

Common Misspellings for PRETERITE

• prwterite
• pretewrite

Etymology of PRETERITE

The word "preterite" has its etymology from the Latin word "praeteritus", which is the past participle of the verb "praeterire" meaning "to go by, pass". This term was adopted into English in the 14th century to refer to the grammatical tense used to indicate completed actions or events in the past. It is primarily used in the context of verb conjugation in various languages.

Similar spelling words for PRETERITE

• pearl-bordered,
• prather,
• praetorial,
• BRDURD,
• portrayed,
• praetorium,
• britart,
• protracted,
• pourtrayed,
• Bertrade,
• priderite,
• protrade,
• Broidered,
• portrait,
• perdured,
• pretor,
• protrude,
• BRDURD/DNA,
• purtraid,
• Bartered,
• portered,
• Perhydrate,
• preterit,
• partword,
• perhydride,
• protractedly,
• pretermit,
• protirelin,
• breadwort,
• bridewort,
• self-portrait,
• portrait-painter,
• breadroot,
• pourtrayd,
• prater,
• preterition,
• brightred,
• preterist,
• purtrayd,
• brederode,
• peritrate,
• preterite-present,
• predried,
• portiered,
• Parturiate,
• bordered,
• protract,
• pretreat,
• praetorian,
• Prothro,
• prudery,
• protura,
• Portrait-gallery,
• praetor.

Plural form of PRETERITE is PRETERITES