Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

simple past

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.90 in modern English

Syllables
sim-ple -past
IPA
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A 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.

Etymology

“Simple” because the tense is formed without any auxiliary verb.

Inflected Forms

simple pasts (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

past perfect past continuous past perfect continuous past participle present present perfect present continuous present perfect continuous

Synonyms

preterite preterit past simple

Questions

What does simple past mean?
A 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.
Where does simple past come from?
“Simple” because the tense is formed without any auxiliary verb.

How to pronounce simple past

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “simple past”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “simple past”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “simple past” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.