What is the difference between preterite and simple past tenses in the English language?

Answer 1

In the English language, there is no difference between the "preterite" tense and the "simple past" tense. They are synonyms, they refer to the same thing. The use of the phrase "the preterite", however, is not as common as the use of the phrase "the simple past", and so "the simple past" is preferred in everyday usage.

In French, for example, the situation is the same. "Le prétérit" is more commonly referred to as "le passé simple".

Now, strictly speaking, the preterite, in English, is the "perfective aspect" of the "past tense" (not to be confused with the "perfect"), but because English does not have an inflection for perspective aspect, we use "the preterite" to refer to "the simple past".

The simple past is used to indicate an action which occurred in the past without reference to duration, to continuance or to repetition. Examples:

• I ate the apple.
• She walked to school.
• Thomas answered the question.
• Shakespeare wrote the play.

Examples of sentences which are not the simple past:

• I had eaten the apple.
• She was walking to school.
• Thomas has answered the question.
• Shakespeare had been writing the play.

Answer 2

In English, "preterite" and "simple past" usually refer to the same tense, which is used to describe actions that occurred and ended in the past. Both terms can be used interchangeably to talk about completed past events without lingering effects on the present.