Preterite vs Indefinite - What's the difference?
preterite | indefinite |
(grammar, of a tense) showing an action at a determined moment in the past.
Belonging wholly to the past; passed by.
* Lowell
(grammar) The preterite tense, simple past tense: the grammatical tense that determines the specific initiation or termination of an action in the past.
Without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite.
Vague or unclear.
Undecided or uncertain.
(mathematics) An integral without specified limits.
As adjectives the difference between preterite and indefinite
is that preterite is (grammar|of a tense) showing an action at a determined moment in the past while indefinite is without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite.As a noun preterite
is (grammar) the preterite tense, simple past tense: the grammatical tense that determines the specific initiation or termination of an action in the past.preterite
English
Alternative forms
* preterit (US) * praeterite * (archaic) *Adjective
(-)- Things and persons as thoroughly preterite as Romulus or Numa.
