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Præteritum (Simple past tense)

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Definition af præteritum

Præteritum, også kaldet simple past tense, bruges til at tale om en afsluttet handling, som har fundet sted før nu. Præteritum er den grundlæggende form for datid på engelsk. Handlingen kan have fundet sted for nylig eller tidligere i fortiden, og handlingens varighed er ikke vigtig.

Eksempler
  • John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
  • My father died last year.
  • He lived in Fiji in 1976.
  • We crossed the Channel yesterday.

Du kan altid bruge præteritum, når du siger hvornår noget er sket, så det er knyttet til bestemte fortidsudtryk.

  • hyppighed: often, sometimes, always
    I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
    I often brought my lunch to school.
  • et bestemt tidspunkt: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
    We saw a good film last week.
    Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
    She finished her work atseven o'clock
    I went to the theatre last night
  • et ubestemt tidspunkt: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
    People lived in caves a long time ago.
    She played the piano when she was a child.

Bemærk, at ordet ago er en nyttig måde at udtrykke afstand på i forhold til fortiden. Det står efter tidsperioden: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.

Vær forsigtig: Præteritum på engelsk kan måske ligne en tid på dit eget sprog, men betydningen kan være anderledes.

Dannelse af præteritum

Præteritumsformer af regelmæssige udsagnsord
Bekræftende
Grundled + udsagnsord + ed  
I skipped.  
Nægtende
Grundled + did not + navnemåde uden to
They didn't go.
Spørgende
Did + grundled + navnemåde uden to
Did she arrive?
Spørgende nægtende
Did not + grundled + navnemåde uden to
Didn't you play?
To Walk
Bekræftende Nægtende Spørgende
I walked I didn't walk Did I walk?
You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?
He walked He didn't walk Did he walk?
We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?
They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?
Præteritumsformen af udsagnsordene to be, to have, to do
Grundled Udsagnsord
  Be Have Do
I was had did
You were had did
He/She/It was had did
We were had did
You were had did
They were had did

Bemærkninger om bekræftende, nægtende & spørgende former

Bekræftende

Den bekræftende form af præteritum er enkel.

  • I was in Japan last year
  • She had a headache yesterday.
  • We did our homework last night.
Nægtende og spørgende

For den nægtende og spørgende præteritumsform af "to do" som et almindeligt udsagnsord, brug hjælpeudsagnsordet "did", fx We didn't do our homework last night.
Den nægtende form af "have" i præteritum dannes normalt ved at bruge hjælpeudsagnsordet "did", men nogle gange er det nok blot at tilføje not eller sammentrækningen "n't".

Den spørgende form af "have" i præteritum dannes normalt med hjælpeudsagnsordet "did".

Eksempler
  • They weren't in Rio last summer.
  • We didn't have any money.
  • We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.
  • We didn't do our exercises this morning.
  • Were they in Iceland last January?
  • Did you have a bicycle when you were young?
  • Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Bemærk: For den nægtende og spørgende form af alle udsagnsord i præteritum, brug altid hjælpeudsagnsordet 'did''.

Præteritum, uregelmæssige udsagnsord

Nogle udsagnsord er uregelmæssige i præteritum. Her er de mest almindelige.

to go
  • He went to a club last night.
  • Did he go to the cinema last night?
  • He didn't go to bed early last night.
to give
  • We gave her a doll for her birthday.
  • They didn't give John their new address.
  • Did Barry give you my passport?
to come
  • My parents came to visit me last July.
  • We didn't come because it was raining.
  • Did he come to your party last week?
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