pretérito
Portuguese, noun/pɾeˈtɛ.ɾi.tu/
pretérito is spelled P-R-E-T-É-R-I-T-O (9 letters) and appears 1.0 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 32,500th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Pretérito is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “the preterite tense” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “tempo verbal passado que indica uma ação passada”.
What does pretérito mean in English?
adjective
- 1
of the preterite tense
- 2
past (having already happened)
- 3
Brazilslangshocked, taken aback
noun
- 1
masculinethe preterite tense
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. que passou
noun: 1. tempo verbal passado que indica uma ação passada
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of pretérito
- pretérita feminine
- pretéritos masculine plural
- pretéritas feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pretérito?
- Brazil /pɾeˈtɛ.ɾi.tu/
- Portugal /pɾɨˈtɛ.ɾi.tu/
- Portugal /pɾɨ.ˈtɛ.ɾi.tu/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pretérito
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pretérito in Portuguese?
pretérito appears 1.0 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).