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past tense

   Also found in: Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
past tense
n.
A verb tense used to express an action or a condition that occurred in or during the past. For example, in While she was sewing, he read aloud, was sewing and read are in the past tense.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.past tense - a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past
past
tense - a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time
preterit, preterite - a term formerly used to refer to the simple past tense


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
I make mention of the race, as of the Yorkshire schoolmasters, in the past tense.
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens, Charles View in context
By the way, the questions were all written in the past tense.
The Adventures of Peter Pan by Barrie, James Matthew View in context
I have to speak of him in the past tense, for gone is Oliver from the Gardens (gone to Pilkington's) but he is still a name among us, and some lordly deeds are remembered of him, as that his father shaved twice a day.
The Little White Bird by Barrie, James Matthew View in context
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