WHAT IS THE PAST AND THE PAST? (WITH EXAMPLES) - LITERATURE - 2025

The past and past tenses are common verb tenses in Romance languages, used mainly for the expression of past actions under certain conditions.

The past is also known as the simple past perfect or simply past simple; the copreterite is formally known as the past imperfect.

These verb tenses originate from Latin, and are present, under different names but similar uses, in Romance languages ​​such as French, Italian, Portuguese and, of course, Spanish.

The past and co-past tenses are usually opposed in terms of their use, since one denotes an absolute character at a certain time, and in the other, the temporal delimitation of the statement is not so important.

From both verb tenses other compositions are born, in the case of Spanish, that allow a greater specificity of action and time in the sentences to be constructed.

In the Spanish language, there are formal peculiarities regarding the use of the past and co-past depending on the region, since the linguistic evolution in America has created its own grammatical situations or constructs that differ from the formal postulates that the Royal Spanish Academy has implemented.

Uses, characteristics and examples of the past tense

The Royal Spanish Academy defines the past, grammatically, as the enunciation of an action located at a time prior to the moment in which it is expressed.

In short, it is the enunciation of an action that occurred in the indefinite past. The main attribute of the past simple is to highlight the completion of the action within the stated time.

The past tense of Romance languages ​​allows greater variability and richness of conjugation in the face of different contexts when assembling a sentence.

It contrasts above all with the Germanic languages, which only have a past form that does not vary in itself, but based on the context provided by the rest of the sentence.

Examples

Being one of the most used verb tenses, it allows the three types of conjugations (-ar, -er, -ir). Examples:

• I spoke (speak); I ate (eat); I got out (get out)
• You took (take); you understood (understand); you lived (live)
• He / She toasted (toast); He / She had (to have); He / She departed (departed)
• We sing (sing); We fear (fear); We said (say)
• You fished (fished); You read (read); You laughed (laugh)
• They hunted (hunted; They moved (moved); They asked (asked).

The malleability of language has allowed exceptions over the years in Romance languages.

The construction of expressions that start from contrary postulates has become common. Some uses of the past can be considered within these cases: its use to infer future actions. Example:

• Don't call at 5 because at that time I already left.

In this case, the statement refers to an action that has not yet taken place, but that is immune to any type of modification or external influence before and after being expressed.

It is a common manifestation of everyday and informal expressions, especially to refer to situations that occur at the same time as the enunciation.

It can be concluded that the uses of the past simple contribute to presenting closed or completed events and actions in a temporal context.

Although its general and formal use places it in the past, its application can be considered for the present and future times.

Uses, characteristics and examples of the copreterite

The RAE defines the copreterite under the formal name of the imperfect past, which manifests an action in the past whose temporal limits are not of great importance and neither is the completion or culmination of the action determined.

The past, co-past and compound past are the main verb forms in Romance languages ​​to refer to an action carried out, mainly, in the past. The copreterite allows greater ambiguity or continuity of the stated action depending on the other elements of a sentence.

As was mentioned with the past tense, in Germanic languages ​​the past tense is present, but not through the specific conjugation of the verb, but rather conditioned by the context of the sentence.

In Spanish, the copretérito has a fairly wide use, which has also become normalized in everyday speech as a generalized way of referring to the past. Like the past simple, this verb tense allows it to be conjugated with the three verb forms.

Examples of using copreterite

• I loved (love); I brought (bring); I was driving (driving)
• You acted (act); You put (put); You chose (choose)
• He / She played (play); He / She wanted (to want); He / She was sleeping (sleeping)
• We begged (beg); We knew (know); We prevented (prevented)
• You force (force); You were worth (to be worth); You fought (fought)
• They changed (change); They thanked (thank); They ran away (run away)

In Spanish, the copretérito can be used in particular situations that do not specifically represent the enunciation of a past action. An example of this is the expression of two simultaneous actions:

• I watched people go by while trying to study

For everyday cases, the use of the copreterite is quite common when using descriptions:

• He was a tall, thin man. His hair was quite long.
• It is also used in phrases that express courtesy:
• Did you want something?

Despite being one of the most used verb tenses in Romance languages, including Spanish, regionalisms have had a slight influence on its use in certain situations, giving the past a colloquialism and informality that has allowed it to be used in contexts of the past as "generalized" verb tense.

In some cases, and like the past, the past can be used to infer future actions; However, although these applications are informal in nature, their massive use in the daily enunciations of Spanish-American societies should not be ruled out. Example:

• What time was the meeting tomorrow?

In this case, a future event is indicated, known to both participants, which may be subject to external modifiers. Another example:

• The train left at 16:00.

Depending on the context, it may be stating an action that occurred in the past (whose completion is unknown), or an inference to the future.

References

1. Araus, ML (2014). Fundamental problems of the grammar of Spanish. Madrid: Arch.
2. Bermúdez, F. (2005). Verb tenses as evidential markers. The case of the past perfect compound. Philological Studies, 165-188.
3. Negroni, MM (1999). The distinction simple past perfect / compound past perfect. A discursive approach. Ibero-American Journal of Discourse and Society, 45-60.
4. Royal Spanish Academy. (2005). Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts. Obtained from rae.es/recursos/dictionary/dpd
5. Royal Spanish Academy. (2008). New grammar of the Spanish language.
6. Royal Spanish Academy. (sf). Spanish dictionary. Obtained from dle.rae.es.